Last Stop: Asia

Before I tell you about Claire's visit to Asia today, I have a little update on yesterday's post. Specifically, I've been informed that I misinformed you about what I referred to as a "prayer doll". After several unsuccessful attempts to Google the real meaning of the prayer doll, I decided to ask Claire one more time, "What do you call this thing?" She replied either "prayer doll" or "prairie doll". Regardless, I couldn't find anything on the interwebs to confirm what she was telling me. So, this morning, I asked her teacher the same question. That's when I learned the doll Claire made is actually a Guatemalan worry doll (a handful of worry dolls is shown at right). Furthermore, the doll's purpose is not to ward off evil spirits - or bat-shit crazy half-governors of Alaska. Instead, the doll - when placed beneath one's pillow before bedtime - has the powers to take away all your worries of the day so you awake refreshed and ready to tackle whatever the next day brings. After learning this new information from the teacher, I spent my day creating my own army of worry dolls since it's in my DNA to spend 24 hours a day worrying about sh!t (usually about what other people think about me). Gosh, I hope I didn't offend anyone by saying that!

So today, Claire and her classmates were in Asia - South Asia and India to be precise - for the final stop on their Crafts of the World Tour. Fortunately (for me), the traditional musical instruments of South Asia are not craft worthy. Therefore, instead of an annoying instrument, Claire brought home an elephant head. But not a real one! No, it's just an elephant head she made out of a paper bag and construction paper. According to Claire, people keep elephants as pets in India, and their pooper-scoopers are really big. But the piece of art Claire's most proud of is the bejeweled clay bowl she made. Technically, it's not exactly bejeweled since Claire just placed the jewels in the bowl instead of embedding them in the clay. Regardless, she's very proud of it and is currently upset that it's sitting on the fireplace mantel until it's fully cured. I give her one day before she either loses or breaks the bowl. We'll see...

Here's Claire with her passport and her crafts of India. Have a great weekend!