She immediately wanted to do a Bolivian doll...she loves her Bolivian roots, and so do I. But I considered.... what if I had to do this assignment, what kind of doll would I do? My family lineage has been here in the US so long, there really isn't a trace of culture from another land. I sometimes just feel like a plain ol' American.
But it's interesting.... on any given night, I'm serving chicken fried rice, spaghetti, tacos, or couscous for dinner. I listen to latin songs, classical music, country, and a little hip hop every now and then. We've been known to celebrate Chinese New Year, St. Patrick's Day, and Dia de los Muertos.
And I think back to some differences from when I lived in Bolivia, how I stood out from others around me. The 'rugged individualism' that Americans are known for really is true. For the majority of us, we raise our own kids, cook our own food, clean our own house, buy our own groceries, drive our own cars, pump our own gas, throw our own birthday parties. We smile and say hello when we walk down the street (at least some of us do) or when we enter a store. We hug. We're orderly and fair for the most part. (Quick example: do you place your flatware in the carefully molded plastic holder, or throw them in the drawer not caring where they land? I had no idea there was even the option to throw your flatware in a drawer haphazardly.) I'm not saying others aren't any of these things or don't do any of these things, but just remembering back to some broad generalizations here.
I'm not sure how you'd show any of this on a clothespin doll though.
I'm glad Isabela has Bolivia.
So when we looked at the blank clothespin, all I could picture was her wrapping it in some Bolivian cloth and drawing a stick figure happy face on it. And I'm sure that would have been fine.
But a little pinterest search found us this precious doll with a great tutorial. (Isabela loves pinterest just as much as I do.)
Three trips to two different stores finally yielded the round wooden doll head that makes these things so darn cute.
I thought Isabela had cut the cloth for her dress a little too short, but it turned out perfect. Her doll is a Bolivian dancer and to us, it looks like her skirt is twirling up, just like in the parades.
Isabela went on to write the longest paragraph of her life for this doll...reinforcing the importance of how great it is when a kid is interested in what they're learning about.
And I learned that even plain ol' Americans have something unique and special to be celebrated, as well.
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