Here are a few sentences from Lloyd Jones' Mister Pip, a really good (and short!) book:

"In the tropics, night falls quickly. One moment you can see the dogs looking skinny and mangy. In the next they have turned into black shadows."

I like that in describing the tropics, mangy dogs are implicit. Yeah, you have to describe sunset and other things, but the dogs are just understood. Just like in the beginning there was god, in the tropics there are mangy dogs.

There is an article in The Guardian about CIA links to mid-eastern intelligence agencies that thinly veil (if that) there use of torture: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/17/cia-palestinian-security-agents. It's something that I assumed happened, but it's different now that I work with people and have friends who have endured years of the same torture techniques mentioned in the article. One guy is a Burmese pediatrician who did several years and later came to the clinic to work. Two years ago I remember him being bit odd, now he's completely gone. In addition to simple irrational behavior, he's got all the hallmark signs: multiple layers of inappropriate clothing, always listening to a radio and often talking to it.

People who have spent a long time in Burmese prison all have similar traits -- they are trying to resume normal life but are uncomfortable most of the time, sometimes only relaxing in a closed room with just a few close friends. It's hard to work, they can never go back to burma.

I'm continuing to enjoy learning Burmese. I think that's been the one thing I've been most interested in and put the most effort into. It's fun day-to-day but of limited usefulness anywhere else, although I think I will compare the list of Burmese refugee resettlement sites in the US with the list of residencies I can apply to. A few programs might see it as a big plus. I don't like outpatient clinic, but Burmese refugees are ideal patients in many ways. I would gladly fill my schedule up with them, although they likely come with some serious psycho-social issues which I am not overly fond of.