Halloween Costumes

Have you ever wondered what happened to last years Halloween costume? Where it goes when you are no longer in need of it, once the Tela tubbies are no longer the in thing to dress up as. It comes to

Madagascar, that is where it goes. But like most of the rest of the world Madagascar dose not celebrate Halloween, so your Halloween costume becomes someone’s clothing.

I’ve seen a pair of pants that I am pretty sure come from a Monsters Inc. costume being sported as a little boy’s Sunday best. I thought the fur was a bit much but he was very proud of his new bright blue pants. I have also seen what I am positive was part of one of those skimpy devils costume turned into a shirt for a two-year-old boy. A very cute shirt mind you.

Many of the things that we discard in the developed world end up here in the developing world. I have seen some ingenious uses for those discards. Pretty much everyone in Madagascar that lives in the countryside owns a very large knife used for hacking down the jungle, it serves the same purpose as a machete but looks quite different – the handle is much longer and the knife looks kind of like a large kitchen knife from the states. They are extremely sharp knives so the blades are usually wrapped in something, mostly banana leaves or possibly an old piece of shirt, but I once saw a good friend of mine use a discarded mitten to protect his knife. A mitten would have no purpose in Madagascar if you used it as a mitten, but it makes a fantastic knife sheaf.

So that is the answer to what becomes of your old Halloween costume and the glove that lost it’s partner, now we just need to discover what happens to all those socks that disappear. It is very possible that they end up here in

Madagascar as well, I’ve seen a lot of mismatched socks here. When they wear socks that is.

1 Response to “Halloween Costumes”


  1. 1 Jackie Nov 17th, 2007 at 9:43 pm

    Amie,

    I’m so glad you’ve finally gotten your house. How about those cockroaches… does peanut butter work on them like the ants? Maybe?? :)

    It sounds like you had a wonderful time working with the doctors. I can’t even imagine… and how meaningful I bet that you were able to translate for them and help both parties.

    Thanks for the updates on your blog. It’s so nice to read them and hear what you are up to. Hard to believe it’s already almost Thanksgiving. I have never had a segment of time go by so fast.. maybe it has something to do with finally having a job and not spending endless hours in night class. Love you and miss you. Take care of yourself. :)

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