Halloween

Sombreros worn low as to shroud their identities. Three Mexicans wait outside my local supermarket. They stand abreast, hands in their pockets and shawls pulled across their chests huddling from the cold. It's not the time nor place to be dressed in traditional Mexican attire - 6:00 pm in the middle of Autumn in London. It initially strikes me as unusual but I soon remember that this is London. Eclectic London. A cultural melting pot of ethnicity and culture, Mexicans included.

Forgetting about the Hispanics I continue with my grocery shopping. Wandering through the supermarket isles I hear commotion over by the cold section. Peeking through the shelves in the direction of the ruckus I see 4 people grouped in a circle. I'm slightly taken back, standing there are the 3 Mexicans but they are not alone. The fourth party member is Batman. Thursday night 4 drunkards have dressed up and are playing drinking games near the alcohol section of the local supermarket.

It could only be Halloween. The annual event which excuses for you to dress up as anything or anybody you want. The restrictions that you have to be something ghoulish, hairy or brain dead no longer applies (quite common in society these days). Want to be a Marvel Super Hero? Want to be that trampy nurse? How about a pop star? Marilyn Mason? Amy Winehouse? The options are endless and the 31st of October makes it all acceptable.

So armed with a cut kit, plenty of makeup and a lot of fake blood I enjoyed my first halloween away from Sydney.