i am literally crying
especially as someone who came to this country 16 years ago
and feels like i grew up into adulthood here,
...so much of my experiences here have shaped who i am, and what i believe, and have allowed me to embrace everything about me
(i see the difference when i am in nairobi, and cant relate to most of my friends who stayed)

i mean, i came to the u.s with a high school diploma
i had to work godknowshowmanyjobs in undergrad, but i still got into the ivy league
i was lucky enough to have a circle of idealistic friends- shit i remember almost failing a semester because we were too busy going to d.c to protest the iraq war, or our missing classes because we were canvassing for obama in philly
and i truly believe that's what enabled me to go to south sudan and spend 5 years trying to do better - the idealism

and then coming back... to baltimore.
the week when i was walking around feeling as though i am back in south sudan
where the soldiers are everywhere and there is a palpable atmosphere of fear every day
and then this year and a half.... feeling like... i don't know this country
who are these people?
should i be worried, because i am *the* immigrant (and i will take their jobs- and instead of competing, they'd rather just blame?)

last week watching the RNC i was absolutely terrified, mentally packing my bags (trying to figure out where tf im going next-
its not south sudan... my country is in flames- if you want to know what dictatorship looks like???

this (and michelle's) speech completely restored my faith
so ya. this convention was sorely needed.
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joe was at my school a month ago, and some friends got to take selfies with him (my friend was like, he just grabbed my phone and took the selfies himself!)
he's a treasure
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