What are infirmaries?

Throughout the book, unfortunate circumstances lead to Loung being exposed to infirmaries on numerous occasions. Upon Keav's sudden illness and subsequent death, Loung hears her mother's stories of the dirtiness of the place where Keav lay dying, and later recalls that image when she once more encounters rows upon rows of sickly people, left to sit in their own waste and filth, decomposing day by day. The infirmaries she witnesses are all, with one exception, places which Loung associates with death and illness, however the infirmary in which she is unexpectedly reunited with her family holds a slightly more positive image. In the chapter "The Last Gathering," Ma, Geak, Chou, Kim, and Loung all accidentally find each other in an infirmary, during a time when they are all living apart with little opportunity to see each other. In this infirmary, they spend a week talking together, enjoying each others' company, and altogether spend a happy time which is the sole example of Loung finding joy within the walls of a place where people generally go to die.