poor circulation

the other day i went to see a movie--a good movie--no, an amazing movie! hotel rwanda. please, go see it. it was so hard for me to watch. throughout more than half of the movie, i was shaking and forcing back gasps, screams, frustration, exasperation, audible tears, and much more. just ask friday. by the time the movie ended, i felt ill and exhausted. i could not understand why we, the U.S., stood by and did nothing. i could not understand how it got to this. i could not understand why it got to this. and i could not understand how we can still stand by and do nothing. there is so much genocide going on in the world, but that's not important enough to report on the six o'clock news. it pissed me off. what made it even harder to watch was the fact that many of the living and dead in the movie resembled many of my clients. as i saw faces i thought: fatuma, mohammed, abdi, isha, and so on and so on. i could put names to faces. and it made me catch a tiny glimpse into what my clients have gone through. it made me realize why some of my clients act the way they do. and it made me stand in awe of my clients' constant resilience, strength, and courage. my clients have been touched by the hand of death, and still they smile the biggest smiles i have ever seen when they see me. they greet me with love and respect: as sala'amu alaikum. and indeed, my friend, with all my heart, i leave you with the deepest request for peace upon you, as well: walaikum as sala'am. today, i took four clients to apply for an assembly/warehouse job. there were two men from cuba and two men from somalia. my somali clients speak better english than my cuban clients at this point. it was so interesting and inspiring to hear one of my cuban clients and one of my somali clients attempt to speak to one another. como ses llama? my somali client, in his best broken spanish, asked my cuban client. it was hilarious to see my cuban client's face when he heard this man from somalia speak spanish. they chatted back and forth, in broken spanish and english, about where they came from, their families, and their dreams. it was a beautiful thing. my clients are just that: beautiful. i am completely blessed to be able to work with such amazing people.
special thanks to friday for helping me make it through the movie...among other things...