It’s Sunday morning, your head is a bit sore and you are thirsty as a camel after one month in the desert.

These symptoms could mean that you’ve been participating in this year’s Halloween festivities in Isla Vista.

For a person that from another country, this celebration of Halloween is unbelievable, and it’s a long way from trick or treating your parents’ street. In many other countries, Halloween isn’t really a holiday that you celebrate. Nowhere else have I ever seen so many people on one street, and especially not in costumes.

It’s hard to explain Halloween in Isla Vista to someone that has not been there. It is like nothing else; it’s like taking the craziest parties from Cancun, Aya Napia, and Ibiza and cramming them into one weekend.

The atmosphere is so positive and most of the people are having a good time, with the exception of those getting cited and arrested, and on some parts of Del Playa, the big party street in Isla Vista, several hundred people jumped up and down while singing.

Last year, authorities issued 393 citations and made 351 arrests, mostly alcohol related. Hopefully things went smoother this year when about 200 officers kept an eye on the celebrations.

I think it’s good that the Police are present, otherwise things could easily get out of hand. I don’t think the majority of people partying would like a riot.

Walking down Del Playa in a costume along with thousands of other people is a surreal experience. People are everywhere, and when it comes to dressing up, the imagination of some individuals is impressive.

There are parties going on everywhere, and if you got tired walking on Del Playa, you could just walk into a party, say hello to a few people, and rest your feet if they are weary or dance if you’re the mood.

Back on Del Playa, if you look to your right and there was a group of guys dressed up as Germans with lederhosen(knee-breeches), and if you managed to pull your eyes away to look the other way, you saw another group of people dressed as Smurfs.

A little bit further down the street I passed a Spartan army on their way to conquer a party. Playboy bunnies and police officers were two of the most popular costumes this year for the ladies, and a lot of guys had gone cross-dressing for the weekend.

People try to out do each other with their costumes, and this year the people walking on Del Playa could see everything from giant beer cups to Chewbacca and Han Solo. Pikachu was walking with his head in his hand looking like he had a long night, and Winnie-the-Pooh was talking to a couple of pirates. If you got lucky you might have caught the Rocky vs. Clubber Lang fight to the sounds of Survivor’s, “Eye of the Tiger.”

So while I’m looking through the pictures of the weekend and swallow a couple of Tylenol, I realize I can’t wait for next year.