It has become sort of a tradition, that we do a little Halloween get together. I can’t really say it’s tradition, because at this point, it had only been the second time we’ve done it.
But we’ve been around each other for so long. Doing all sorts of things together (unafraid dancing included) that I am convinced that I’ve known these friends of mine for more than I actually have– and that we’ve been doing this halloween party for years.
In Halloween, we can dress up in a whatever way we like. And that is always fun. I’m always so impressed at how my classmates pull off their looks. Back home, I was part of an organisation that did a lot of stage performance. So dressing up in this way was something that I was afraid I would not be able to do when I move away. But here we are, on the second year, of dressing up crazy.
Of course, dressing up for halloween means, you get a lot of help to wear a ‘look’ for the night that, at first you wouldn’t want to be photographed in. (For fear of your parents seeing).
So you kind of hide your face in photographs a lot.
The theme for these was “Belgium” – go figure.
I must say, we did Ina’s Zebra make up. I’m quite impressed at how it turned out! I was afraid we’d end up making her look more like a Kiss band member, but we succeeded with Zebra. That’s cool.
Of course, wardrobe malfunctions happen.
But there’s nothing in the world that cannot be fixed!
This is Salomé Victor. Salomé has been the grand orchestrator of the Halloween get togethers for the past two years– and surely for many years to come.
At some point in the night, Bappy lets loose and forgets that he’s hiding from the camera at all! Bappy and Pien make the best dance partners. They can dance for hours non-stop, moving like they’re not afraid.
Maryam is one of the keepers of all the nomads’ secrets — from academic recordings, to those of gatherings. She has e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!!
The epic Halloween Nomads and Non Nomads party is something I look forward to happening again. I took tons of photographs of these friends of mine in different occasions, always with the promise of sending the photos to them ‘one day’. It takes a lot of time for me to be able to do so but I guess now is the right time to show them. Our masters ended a little over two months ago and a part of me wishes that I had sent them the photographs earlier. Now, we are as we were before we began this great adventure, scattered all over the world somewhere, apart from one another.
I wonder when the next “Epic Nomads Halloween Party” will happen again. Realistically, it might take a while. — much longer than it took for me to send these photographs. But I take comfort in knowing that somewhere scattered out there all over the world, I know a few people who know Halloween, and how to dance free.
VENICE DE CASTRO ATIENZA 