Halloween in Puerto Rico

Many places around the world celebrate Halloween but they all celebrate it differently. Here in our neighborhood in Puerto Rico, we celebrated Halloween on Sunday. There was a party at the park  with treats. There were a lot of kids with creative costumes. I dressed up as a cat and my brother used make-up to look like he'd been in a fight. We dressed in costumes that would keep us cool since the weather is so warm.

One of the kids was dressed up as Rey from the new Star Wars movie. One of the boys was dressed like Zorro. One kid was dressed like a vending machine! I was surprised because almost all of the kids spoke English.

After about an hour, we went trick or treating altogether  Our neighborhood is a mix of apartments and houses. About seven houses had decorations so we knew we could trick or treat there. Some of the adults and kids were saying a chant that went like this:

Halloween, tricortri
dame chavos, no mani

This means:
Halloween, trick or treat
Give me money, not peanuts

At home in Shrewsbury, we usually have a little party at our friend's house then go trick or treating after that. Many of the houses have Halloween decorations so we have a lot of houses to visit.

 I think it was interesting to spend Halloween in Puerto Rico.

Trying Local Foods: Breadfruit

There are many different kinds of unfamiliar fruits in Puerto Rico. One of them is called a breadfruit or pana in Spanish. The pana tree can get up to 25 M (82 FT) tall. They are monoecias meaning the male and female flowers are growing on the same tree.  When the flowers bloom, the male blooms first. There is also a special liquid in the tree called latex that can be used to make rubber gloves and some kinds of paint. 

Our pana is the big green circular fruit right in the middle - next to the pineapple and under the bananas.

There are also recipes using panas.  You can make curry using coconut milk and spices. Boiled panas are a famous dish.

We decided to make pana French fries. We started by peeling the pana. Then we cut it into rectangles. We coated them with olive oil and salt and cooked them in in a hot oven until they were crispy. 

We cooked our pana fries along with sweet potatoe fries.

This is my brother James and me trying the pana fries.

I didn’t think they were very good. We all thought they tasted sort of like potatoes and bread…..OK but no one’s favorite.

Introduction

Hi to all my friends in Mrs. Darling's class at Paton School! I'm in Puerto Rico with my family for eight weeks and I'll be home-schooled during that time.  I'm looking forward to sharing some of what I do and what I learn with you.

 

The first time I saw an Iguana it grabbed my attention. It was giant!

It had a spiky back and striped tale. I saw at least five iguanas the first day I was here. I saw them in a park, walking on the grass, and climbing on trees. Have you ever wondered about where Iguanas live? Green Iguanas live in the north of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands and southern Brazil. They spend most of there time in trees except when they are mating, laying eggs or finding a new tree. Some people keep Iguanas as pets! But if they do, they only stay alive for about a year. If they’re kept as pets they feed on dark green leafy vegetables, yellow, red, orange and green peppers, beans, and a lot more. If you ever see an Iguana you will be amazed. They are really cool animals.

Here are some of the iguanas I saw!