Sudan

I saw them a year ago, when they had just come from Sudan. They wore nice, warm clothes that looked bulky and missplaced, especially that mild evening. Their eyes and teeth shone white and brilliant against their skin, even across the room. And those eyes lit up when they sang.

They spoke no English, then. Less than a year ago. I saw the one about my age again yesterday. He spoke incredibly, answering my questions almost as easily and fluently as a native speaker. And when he said a little Spanish, which he had learned the same way... merely listening... I was blown away.

So there's my familiar face in the wake of a disaster. He said the most different thing in America was the quiet... I didn't understand what he meant for a moment. He said in Sudan there were always gunshots, always people trying to kill each other... it didn't even wake you up at night.

Kind of makes me feel bad for my exploding water heater and dog barf and mom breakdown problems. Kind of makes me feel really bad.