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As some of you know, I have a college age daughter who is currently part of a study abroad program in Sri Lanka. There are 8 kids in the program from a consortium of Colleges which sponsor the program. For the first part of the program, they have lived with families in Kandy and have both taken courses at the University there and had a cultural studies course that took them to the ancient cities and to other areas. The last month is an independent Study that they propose and the program facilitates. She gave me permission to repeat her comments.
The first course they took was an intensive course in Sinhalese. All of the kids in the program are for Obama, though one had started as for Edwards. What is more interesting is that they are asked EVERYWHERE they go about Obama. My daughter has said that people there are incredibly interested in the election and really hope Obama will win - saying he is a good man. Of Clinton, they say we already had a Clinton - who said good things, but they trust neither one them. They think that HRC lies too much. No one has mentioned McCain she says - apparently the focus is on the Democratic race. (The obligatory Kerry reference to keep this on topic is that the excitement that Obama could really change how America is viewed is consistent 100% with what they are hearing - from all types of people.)
In Kandy, my daughter was with a Buddhist family. Her independent study is in a town with a Muslim population, who have been in Sri Lanka since the 12 century when they came as Moorish traders, where she is with a Muslim family. These people lived until 17 years ago in towns that are now in areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers. They were neutral in the Civil War, but were exiled because the Tigers wanted only people intensely loyal to them in the areas they control. In the area where my daughter is many people have rebuilt their lives while others are in refugee camps. Her project is based on a psychology independent study she took that dealt with forming identity. Here, I think what she said was that she wants to see how people form their identity when they lose the permanence of their community.
She has been asked through the translator about Obama even in the refugee camps. Here, where the quality of water is a problem - people are still following this race with great interest. She has yet to meet anyone who has not been been for Obama.
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