-^-for posterity-^-

my favorite restaurant doesn’t have a name. i go there about five times a week and it’s cheap as anything. oh, don’t go there for the variety: there are only about five dishes that they serve and two of them look like they’re made of grubs.

it’s located on mac dinh chi street on the lower level of a house. there are six tables inside. chairs are small and low to the ground and the walls are covered with dish soap advertisements. the two dishes i vary between are some sort of pork and spinach over rice and some sort of fish and spinach over rice. oh, and a fanta.

the people there are the main attraction. there are two middle aged women who run the place. they look very similar and are both missing teeth. they are a little chubby and always wear the same outfits. (that’s how i tell them apart) they appear to be in their forties but are probably younger. there is always an older man there too and when i arrive, he always sits next to me and tries to talk with me. he is missing hair and took to me rather quickly. it’s wonderful practicing and the food’s good. you get over the repetition.

there is also a little girl. about six years old. she has long mop hair and always is yelling something. piercing voice. she has no shoes but always finds something to play with. she runs around flatfooted and her feet slap the ground. i always tease her and ask her questions but she speaks too quickly for me to understand. she grows frustrated with my stupidity and quickly frowns. i think she likes me.

there is also an old lady that sits on the floor in the back. she washes the dishes. she never says anything and only smiles when i say something stupid. the two middle aged women bring her dirty dishes and she washes them under a faucet. surrounded by soap and piles of clean bowls. she always wears a tan outfit. looks like pajamas.

you order by standing over the food and pointing. it’s all prepared and sitting out in the open. hygiene? i taught the one lady how to say banana but she only says nana.

i go there because they all know me and they all smile when i enter. it’s a wonderful oasis of sincere relationships in my present desert of loneliness.