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Just about every morning here in Ea Kly, these are the first two people I see. I'm usually Mrs. Ha's first customer, and a couple of times, when she didn't open on time, I actually rattled her steel door, for I saw that there was light inside, and she was awake. I helped her set up her chairs.

The man is the motorbike taxi guy, the one whose one topic of conversation is my coffee habit, as in, "Two cups already?!" Or, "You actually drink four a day?!"

Today, he said just before I got up, "Don't go yet. It's sad when you go." That's how Vietnamese talk, with "sad" appearing often. They'd say, "I'm saddened into laughter!"



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