Thursday, 30 September 2004 | Necklace

[Valladolid, Mexico]

Two little girls with long dark hair that hung in curtains in front of their faces stared at us from outside the restaurant. They giggled and blew us kisses, hiding behind the door frame before reemerging. One girl, the leader, kept holding her hands to her neck in a sort of choking gesture (which I later figured out was a reference to my necklace).

They timidly followed us down quiet, dark streets before finally approaching us. "¡Hola!" said the leader. Then, in English, she said, "money," and held out her empty palm and grinned. She lightly tugged at the necklace I was wearing, and pointed to a ring and to my bracelets.

I gave each girl a jelly bracelet and they ran off.