Maya's 6th day in Hanoi . . .

In the morning I went to FTU and there I met a girl named Sam (you pronounce it shahm). She is a girl that will help us around or buying stuff when people don't speak English. I am surprised how many people speak English, still, most people don't.



After we ate lunch we took a cab and went deep into the Old Quarter. The Old Quarter is the old part of Hanoi. In the Old Quarter we went shopping and bought ao dai (you pronounce it ow die). Ao dai are sort of like dresses with buttons that go deep down onto your chest. They have four different flaps that wave around. On some you can see through the sleeves. I bought an ao dai that you can see through the sleeves. Ao dai also have pants.

Ao dai are worn for special occasions, like graduating from college. In fact, a whole group of girls wanted us to be in their pictures. They were wearing ao dai today and graduating from college!



When shopping we went to a store that was narrower than a door! Only the store people could go in the store because it was so small. I mean it! The store was filled with ao dai. On the side of the shop they also sold flags and t-shirts for boys.



They had two different styles of ao dai. Some were modern while others were traditional. The modern ones are thin while the traditional ones are more thick. There were lots of different colors. Sam and Sam's friend helped us buy them. I got a pink one with really light purple pants, my little sister has a pink one with white pants, and my big sister has a blue one with purple pants. But there were lots more colors. We tried them on outside on the sidewalk right over our clothes!