Malgados 5: Oh Happy Day

This is the phrase that came to me this morning as I sent a text message to everyone in my contacts, telling them that we were there, being part of history. And that is what it was, a happy day.

I have been priveledged to experience one other day like this, nearly 15 years ago. It was April 27, 1994, the day Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa. I was 13 years old walking on the streets of Muizenberg, South Africa with my mom. I could taste the joy that those people felt having just voted for the first time after aparthied for their national hero. We were warned of possible violence, but what we saw was dancing in the streets.

On November 4, 2008 I felt the same sense of elation and good will between people. And this time, it was happening in my country. It was my election. And, now, it is my president. Today, I was among those dancing in the streets, cheering and full of emotion.

President Obama represents hope for the future because of his message and because of who he is. As so many people have pointed out, he embodies a little bit of each person in this diverse country... minorities, recent immigrants, people who have struggled, people committed to their families, communities, and even us, third culture kids. And today, I commit to memory what he has been so quick to remind us. He may be the leader of change, but we are the foot soldiers. It is up to all of us, in the many roles that we each play, to make that change happen.

Today we celebrate, tomorrow we work. Let's remind this to one another on those dark days when all we want to do is give up and go back to bed.

Here is our story and some pictures from our day.

We got on the bus at 6:30 am to get down to the mall around 8 am. Since we got on the Metro at the first stop, we all got seats, while people waiting at other stations weren't even able to get on the trains at all.

At the mall we stood with the Capital Building in front of us and the Washington Monument behind us, about 4 jumbotrons back. While we couldn't really see what was happening on the Capital Building, it was pretty incredible to see it at all. We also had a great view of a jumbrotron and fantastic sound...we didn't miss a thing.

And, since we missed the concert on Sunday, the 3 hours waiting for the ceremony to start went by quickly as they showed it on the screens and we sang along with the crowd. That was pretty cool.

Finally, I tried to upload a video of the crowd's reaction as people waited for Obama to come on stage. It was too long to upload, but it was amazing how you could hear the difference between the crowd's reaction to Bush and then to Obama.