On the way back to Ha Noi from the northern village, we stopped at a
festival to listen for awhile a traditional signing contest, where teams from
local villages were competing.
A young girl in the audience was clearly taken with us, following and
watching from a distance. Finally, we got her to come over and talk
a little bit, with Thuy as interpreter. She wanted
her picture taken with Patti
and then tried to give her wristwatch to Patti as a souvenir.
Patti refused it but, as we were leaving, she rushed over and
gave each of us a shiny new 5000 dong coin as a souvenir. What an endearing child!
