this morning ben & i woke up at 7am (that's 12am eastern standard time) in a hotel in istanbul and immediately turned on the tv, just in time for barack obama to begin his speech after the election win. after watching the coverage all day yesterday (here it's been covered on english stations bbc world & al jazeera network), we've heard many different perspectives from all over the world, including afhanistan, iraq, iran and many african countries, and all echoed one message: a message of hope.
today throughout our meetings at a local university located on the black sea, the conversation inevitably turned to obama's win, and the president, too, spoke of hope. he recalled a year spent in belfast, maine 40 years ago, a study-abroad opportunity presented to him as a high school student. he laughed when he recalled meeting the son of his host-parents, who looked him over & asked, before saying hello, if he had bought his clothing in new york city (assuming people in turkey would dress very differently). he described this year as one of the best in his life, and went on to say that 30 years later his 'american mom' came to visit he & his wife here in turkey, another memory he counts as the best in his life.
he also said he knows that american people are as a whole good, friendly people (his example: when visiting his wife's family in britain, he would never dare to look in the fridge for a snack, while in america, after 30 years, he would still feel comfortable peeking into the fridge of his host family).
he couldn't find a reason why we had chosen such bad leadership in recent history, but feels that this also seems to be a trend throughout the world- even here in turkey. electing obama has given him hope for america, hope for the future, and the leaders of the world.
i think his is a pretty good sentiment to illustrate how so many of us feel today. hooray for obama! HOORAY FOR CHANGE!!
1 comment:
YES WE DID!! What an incredible day to be an American. I am prouder than I've really ever been to claim this citizenship. I just sat and talked with a group of African American co-workers laughing, clapping, and yelling for joy. crying for joy that after so many years of "telling our black children that they could be president- because we have always told them in order to lift them up- but never really believing it was possible. Today, we can actually tell them and know it's true: IT IS POSSIBLE!!!"
And the disenfranchised teens I work with who just yesterday cast their very first vote in a presidential election. Today, they are actually able to have faith in a system that has done nothing but divide and damage them and their families. What a DAY!!!
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