Halloween:

It’s Halloween weekend! I know it’s not a big deal in SA, but since I’m friends with many exchange students they have not stop talking about it. It makes me a little sad to think that that they are not able to celebrate like they usually do. Luckily they could still party. And you all know that people at Rhodes love dressing up! I even got to try some Candy Corn and Reece’s Pieces, which are regarded as traditional Halloween candy.

Let’s backtrack a little. Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, and costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain- a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

Best Halloween
Costume: A Baked Potato!

I’m a little skeptical when it comes to the concept of ghosts and spirits. That being said I am open to the idea that it could be a possibility. Many of my friends have had paranormal experiences and it’s hard for me to rebuke them. 

The 1800 wars, students who were into witchcraft and many interesting circumstances creates the perfect backdrop to some of Grahamstown’s most intense ghost stories. Grahamstown, being an isolated historic town, has several sites associated with the paranormal. A lot of people claimed that Grahamstown is haunted. I’ve heard numerous stories about ghosts in my res, in the Journ Department and in the Bot gardens. Pretty creepy!

We might not celebrate Halloween here in SA, but I think I may just get some candy, stay in bed and watch Hocus Pocus. <3 Because it is all in good fun. 

She & Him’s hauntingly beautiful rendition of “I Put a Spell On You":