Creativity

Some people are born with the need to hoard things just in case it may be useful at some point in the future. This can become a bit of a problem when storage space is limited or you need to move house frequently. From the beginning of our married life we have had to learn the art of being more ruthless for both of the reasons mentioned above. However since living in Bolivia where it is less of a ‘throw away society’ and most things can be fixed it has paid off to hoard random bits and pieces.

There have been many occasions when we have been told or reminded, (because we didn't quite understand the message the first time) that Alana is in need of such and such a costume or thing for the next day. This has often required much imagination and a flurry of activity hunting through cupboards and drawers to see what scraps of material we have to put together to make something, usually in the space of one afternoon in preparation for the following day.

The first of such challenges was soon after we arrived in La Paz when Alana was needing a dwarf costume, the next was something on the theme of the sea. This year has proved to be more challenging with the need of a brown dress together with ears and a tail as Alana was playing the part of ‘mamma monkey’ in a little performance put together for fathers day.

The latest project was earlier this month when we were informed of her need of a dinosaur costume for the next day as part of the celebrations of the day of the child. How on earth does one make a dinosaur costume at such short notice! It turned out to be a rushed afternoon and a little stressful but in the end we were quite chuffed with the final result, and Alana was quite proud walking to kinder with her tail swinging behind her.

Its not only dressing up costumes that have been made but also occasionally other items that are either unavailable here or very expensive to buy. One such item was a changing mat for Isaiah, which we put together from cardboard, foam left over from reupholstering our dining chairs, old curtains from Alana’s bedroom in Sucre and an old shower curtain.