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"Today is tet, the first day of the lunar calander." Tet is like the vietnamese new year where everyone gains 1 year of age no matter when their birthday was.
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Ha is growing a papaya tree and her brothers notice everything before her and she is mad "i vow to rise first every morning to stare at the dew on the green fruit shaped like a lightbulb"
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Ha's father went to go serve in the army and never returned Ha's mother prays and begs for his safe return "Each of us bows and wishes and hopes and prays"
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Vietnam is in a war rand news is spreading like wildfire "We keep talking about how close the communists have gotten to saigon, how much prices have gone upsince american soiders left, how many distant bombs we heard the previos nigh"
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Ha wishes for a lot of things on her birthday some are serios others are personal "Wish i could loose my chubby cheeks...i wish father would apear in our door way and make mother's lips curl upwards"
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Ha and her family went to see the president (not to hear his soeech but to get supplies) and the president seemed to be falsely crying "Then he cries actual tears,unwiped,facing the cameras. Mother clicks her tounge:Tears of an ugly fish. i know that to mean fake tears of a crocodile"
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The war is on the doorstep of Ha's village "A sirenscreams over miss Xinh's voice in the middle of a lesson on smiley and bald president ford we all know it's bad news."
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Ha's uncle son visits her and tells her family that there is a nvay ship that is letting navy family's board "
would a navy ship meet your approval?" -
The Viatnam war has reached Ha's village of saigon "In the distance bombs explode like thunder, slashes lighten the sky, gunfire falls like rain."
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Ha is sad that she has to leave her papaya tree so she and her siblings share the biggest fruit from the tree. "My biggest papaya is light yellow,still flecked with green...You children should eat fresh fruit while you can"
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Ha is on the a navy ship leaving saigon and going to america "our ship creeps along the river route without lights without cooking without bathrooms"
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Ha is getting sick of being at sea " Water,water,water everywhere making me think land is just something i once knew"
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Ha has finally got off the ship and is in America and now they need a home "Mother dosn't care what the man came looking for"
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Ha is in Alabama and her sponser looks like a cowboy "our sponsor looks just like an American should"
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Ha has moved into a new house but her neighbors dont seem to like her. "eggs explode like smears of snot on our front door."
