Dolls from Mexico

You may recall that I have been regularly sending Mexican dolls to Amy, the daughter of a former teaching colleague of mine.  When she was little, I would always bring back dolls from my travels for her.  Here is a photo taken decades ago.  Amy is sitting on my lap and holding a toy "guanaco" (a South American animal similar to a llama) which I bought for her on a trip to Peru and Ecuador.

 

Now that Amy has two daughters of her own, I have resumed the tradition, and I am sending dolls to a second generation.  Last week I took two dolls to the UPS store to be boxed and shipped to their home in Maryland.

I purchased the one to the right a few trips ago at a handicraft fair in Mexico City.  (I might have even posted a photo of it on the blog at that time.)  It was handmade by a lady from the state of Michoacán.

The one to the left was bought on my latest trip to Mexico City.  I was in the district of Xochimilco on the city's far south side.  As I walked down the street, I passed a barber shop that had a bunch of crocheted dolls on display in the window.  I went inside.  No one was getting their hair cut, but there were more dolls for sale, and a woman sitting and crocheting another one.  There was a wide variety, from cartoon characters to dolls in traditional Mexico attire.  Her work is superb, and the next time I am in Xochimilco I will look for that barber shop again.

Last night Amy sent me an email to let me know that the package arrived, and that today her daughters will open their present.