Simone took to Vietnam as a duckling takes to water. Right at the airport on arrival in HCM City, she endeared herself to all my Vietnamese friends who had come with me to the airport to receive Simone and Rashmi, when she said raising her right hand ‘Vietnam’ and ‘Ho Chi Minh’. The news of this endearing behavior spread fast to my collaborating institutions in Vietnam, Oil Plant Institute, HCM City and Legumes Research and Development Center, Field Crops Research Institute and National Institute of Plant Protection, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hanoi. Everybody wanted to meet Simone and see her saying ‘Vietnam’ and ‘Ho Chi Minh’ raising her right hand.
There was no food in Vietnam that Simone did not relish. There were elaborate dinners and lunches thrown in our honor by my friends and Simone enjoyed all the attention she got during these events. She wanted to eat by herself with chop sticks, of course dropping half of the food on floor. If she did not like something- she was very assertive in saying ‘stop it’ and ‘no’ ‘no’. If there were other children in the restaurants, she will immediately make friends with them.
While in Ho Chi Minh City, we visited famous Cuchi tunnels. On my earlier visits, I had seen the real tunnels and had ventured into them. But this time, we could see only a small underground ‘model’ of them to give visitors a ‘feel’ of the original tunnels, which have now been closed due to security and safety reasons. I don’t remember if we took Simone into the ‘model’ tunnel, but Rashmi and I did ventured into only to give up at the first exit.
In Na Trang Bay, where we spent two days, we went to a resort to have mud bath. Initially, Simone was hesitant to enter bath tub, but later on she started enjoying it.
Simone also enjoyed immensely her visit to Ha Long Bay, a world heritage site. We had hired a private boat where the boat staff also prepared our lunch on the boat. There were two staff of the Legumes Research and Development Center accompanying us to take care of Simone during this visit.
Music anywhere makes Simone dance. When we took a boat ride in river Hanoi for dinner, where Vietnamese cultural program of dance and music was presented, Simone was in her elements. Not only did she dance a lot, she was also most vocal in expressing her appreciation for these performances. In the end, musicians performed specially for Simone. Similarly, when we went one day to a five star hotel for evening drinks, Simone was the lone guest appreciating live western music played in the coffee shop.
Whenever we went out for shopping, which we did often during our stay in Hanoi, Simone wanted to be independent and did not like holding hand of Nana. We would buy something for her and keep the items in a small bag for her to hold and carry. She wanted her separate shopping bag. While walking along the footpath, she would stop and smile at other children and girls and ladies, who invariably would stop by and try to have conversation with her. Everybody wanted to touch her and hold her. While leaving the scene, she would always say ‘bye bye’ to them.
Simone became immensely popular in Hanoi. If she had contested an election in Vietnam, she could have easily won. After this visit in March 2009, I have visited Vietnam twice and the first question asked to me by everybody is ‘How is Simone?’.
Simone, you are a wonderful child and a source of joy to all of us.
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