None of the patient families speak English. The custom here is not to give parents too much information, and that what the doctor thinks is best, is best. Grains and legumes in a Jaffna store. I ve become addicted to short eats, deep fried spicy snacks made out of potatoes, eggs, and vegetables. This weekend, for the first time, we were able to drive some 35 kilometers north of here to a beach.
Life s pretty good here, actually.
I am, though, looking forward to going back tomorrow. Before the LTTE launched the brunt of its assault on the peninsula in March, there were about 7,000 people in camps euphemistically referred to as welfare centers by the government. Since then, some 150,000 to 200,000 additional people have been internally displaced to the far western part of the peninsula by the fighting. A group of 12 families were displaced in March due to fighting in their town. Forty-eight people were crammed into an old but sturdy concrete home, many sleeping on the porch.