Halloween has become second only to New Years for being a holiday that I like the idea of but loathe in reality—too much buildup, pressure, and expectations that are rarely met. However, after a glorious day, there was still time for costume making and a big (well, at least—or especially—for Swaziland) party that proved to be a very good time.
I started the day off going for a run with a few friends in a game park. Yes, you read that right—running in a game park! There’s a small game park, Mlilwane (pronounced mil-WA-nay), which I actually went to on my first weekend here, and it is only about a 20-minute drive from Mbabane. It’s incredibly beautiful, with a large pond, rolling hills, and wide plains, and because it is spring everything is becoming so vividly green.
There is no large, carnivore game, just nice friendly zebra, impala, warthogs, and wildebeest, so perfectly safe to stroll around. You can take a horse ride or rent a bike as well, which one of my friends did, while the rest of us ran (and walked at times) through the reserve. After about an hour, we headed for the pool. There is a nice, cool pool looking out over the park with a big braai area as well. I will have to plan a party there at some point. We all changed into bathing suits and enjoyed a refreshing swim after the midday run. It was great to do the run and then learn about the free pool because Mlilwane is that it is park of the Wild Card park program that I just signed up for. For approximate $50 a year (I get resident rates because I have a work permit), I get free entry into 80 parks in Swaziland and South Africa (including Kruger!). So I get free entry every time I want to go run among zebra and then jump in a pool? Take that $80 gym membership back in NYC!
Just as we were getting ready to make a move for a late lunch, clouds rolled in and moved us along. We ended up at Boma, a great pizza place, and picked up a few other expats in the area, so that we had a party of 10 for pizza. (Do you get the sense we only travel in packs here? It’s true.) After gobbling down pizza, it was time to head home and construct our costumes—at, ya know, 8pm for an 8pm party. Ah well. We made it to the party just after 10pm. An impressive feat that was only accomplished thanks to the creativity and skill of two other friends who assisted my friend and me who were—wait for it—boxes of wine. Here’s where I must give a shout out to my dear friend, Jess, who premiered this costume several years back—during the early post college years (perhaps a more appropriate time to showcase it). But let me tell you, box of wine crosses borders, and here in Swaziland, it is quite ubiquitous, especially at my beloved Pick n’ Pay grocery store, where the 3-litre Dry Red Wine box set me back E 59.95, or about $9.
And, as an ode to my former, non-SUV gas-guzzling ways, the costume was highly recyclable—I took used boxes from the laboratory warehouse, used calendar pages covered the boxes to give a white background, and Pick n’ Pay plastic bags were split and woven to form the shoulder straps to hold up the box. (However, the sustainability of the costume proved low—it took quite a beating throughout the night.) After cutting, taping, painting, drawing, weaving, and tying, we were finally ready to secure the bags of wine (carefully removed from the box) and attach it to a sling around one shoulder, and then pop the tap and spout out a hole cut in the side of the cardboard box. Finito!
It was a hit. We walked into the party (held at an amazing house a few kilometers out past mine in Pine Valley) and people were amused. Then they saw the full-functionality of the costume and they were blown away. I’m telling you, folks, this is a foolproof costume, what’s not to love? I succeeded in sharing all my wine over the course of the evening, and happily ended the night on the makeshift dance floor, although the cardboard box had called it quits some time earlier. Until next year as a box o’ wine….
