it is 6:10 am, and I am so tired I am seeing spots. We have spent the last 10 hours moving from bar to pub to bookstore trying to stay abreast of the election results. The lack of sleep, caffeine overload, greasy food, and smoke so thick the place had to be regularly aired out all helped create a certain level of nausea . Or maybe that was the anxiety. Whatever it was, it was shared amongst the three of us - me, thd kie, and her schoolmate Cate.
The girls played cards, talked, thumb-wrestled, ate, drank, and were bored. We did an awful lot of walking in the dead of night through a town that is literally freezing cold.
It was worth it.
We ended up at The Globe - were we probably should have started off. They only had one screen, but it was big, and the crowd as all Obama... The lead up was tense, the anxiety, giddiness, drunken messes, and exhausted contributed to a strained party atmosphere. The girls found seats on the stairs for a while, and I stood. Eventually some long term squatters gave up and the girls stole a few chairs in the back. I followed, still standing.
The cheers, the shouts, screams, whistles, sheer elation lifted the room - not just the spirits, but the room itself, and filled me with a peace, a relief, and gratitude I wasn't expecting. The CNN headline Barack Obama Elected President was expected yet truly surreal.
There were tears, ongoing shouts, clapping, dancing, champagne, and people collapsed where they were. I have never experienced anything like it.
And lest you think this was all American, let me assure you that while the majority of the people in attendance were US citizens concerned about our future there is an equally strong contingent of world citizens who are just as concerned about their future and who acknowledge our President impacts the direction of the world... they campaigned and pushed and waited with bated breath as well.
This wasn't a win for just you or me or the Democrats, this was a win the world was waiting for.
The girls played cards, talked, thumb-wrestled, ate, drank, and were bored. We did an awful lot of walking in the dead of night through a town that is literally freezing cold.
It was worth it.
We ended up at The Globe - were we probably should have started off. They only had one screen, but it was big, and the crowd as all Obama... The lead up was tense, the anxiety, giddiness, drunken messes, and exhausted contributed to a strained party atmosphere. The girls found seats on the stairs for a while, and I stood. Eventually some long term squatters gave up and the girls stole a few chairs in the back. I followed, still standing.
The cheers, the shouts, screams, whistles, sheer elation lifted the room - not just the spirits, but the room itself, and filled me with a peace, a relief, and gratitude I wasn't expecting. The CNN headline Barack Obama Elected President was expected yet truly surreal.
There were tears, ongoing shouts, clapping, dancing, champagne, and people collapsed where they were. I have never experienced anything like it.
And lest you think this was all American, let me assure you that while the majority of the people in attendance were US citizens concerned about our future there is an equally strong contingent of world citizens who are just as concerned about their future and who acknowledge our President impacts the direction of the world... they campaigned and pushed and waited with bated breath as well.
This wasn't a win for just you or me or the Democrats, this was a win the world was waiting for.
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