Today was pretty darn spectacular. We were lucky enough to get to see the President of the United States of America speak, addressing a large and welcoming crowd gathered in the square at the Prague Castle.
Coral woke about 5:30 and we left the house shortly after 7. I had checked and re-checked the schedules to make sure the trams and metros were still running correctly and we got the right bus which took us to the functioning metro which led us to the tram stop where we waited for 30 minutes. Finally a tram arrived and the masses filled it before we could get on. Then another tram arrived and the same thing happened - but people from the first tram got on the second tram as they were unsure if the first tram was the right one for the event. We then got on the first tram. Which didn't move. After standing inside a stationery tram for about 20 minutes Coral and I said goodbye to her friends we'd run in to and left on foot. We had to walk to the square by my school from the metro, and then up to the castle - no the first or second entrance but the last possible option to get to the castle. From there we were divided into groups according to who had tickets, stood in line, and were herded through security. Somehow, and this is where we got lucky, after security Coral and I turned right rather than left and ended up unknowingly walking down in to an open area that later filled with a few ticket holding people..... the main crowd was hundred of meters behind us while we were maybe 50 meters from the podium (as the crow flies, we were uphill a bit, walking may have been 60 meters or so).
After a wait he made his appearance and the crowd was warm and welcoming. He spoke eloquently on a variety of issues and acknowledged how the world had grown since his birth - a black President of the United States of America speaking to the citizens of Prague - there really could not be any clearer indicator of the struggle to overcome racism in America and the triumph of freedom and democracy in the areas behind the Iron Curtain (he is much much more eloquent than I).
He spoke of overcoming fear. How the struggle is not the rhetoric of freedom - but overcoming fear, living free of fear which I believe speaks to most Americans right now... our country has been dominated and dictated to by our fears.... He spoke of international agendas and progress with Russia working towards creating a nuclear arms disarmament. And the need to eliminate nuclear weapons entirely - not reduce or restrict - eliminate as one missile will have devastating worldwide effects. He spoke of the need to move away from fossil fuels - and the need to create a clean safe energy bank for all the nations in need willing to abide by a nuclear weapons ban. He spoke of real enforcement of international rules and true consequence - especially relevant today in light of North Korea's testing this morning. He talked of NATO the G20 and global warming.
There were cheers and shouts throughout - some delayed due to the time it took for the locals to read the translations - but it was awesome and uplifting and, for me, a piece of history made real. I will have this experience, a moment in time, where I was proud of my nation, and my leader, and surrounded by foreigners who embraced us - this time without distinguishing between the people and the President, but even more warmly because he is the people's President.
It was pretty cool.
On a lighter note - there was a lot of new media after the fact doing interviews and such. We had to walk back down from the castle in the crowds of tens of thousands, navigating our way. Coral pointed out a news team conducting an interview in English, and as I turned to look I stepped in a whole, screamed (aaaaah) , and yelled "Shit!" - so if you're watching the news... and you hear it... that's me!
And on a final note of a cataloging of our day... the trams and metro were basically inaccessible so we had to walk back down and across the Charles Bridge to get to the center. Some super genius on the bridge renovation crew decided to drive on to the bridge and the foot-traffic came to a complete halt!!! There were 30,000+ people behind me and the crush was unreal. It was pretty ugly. There was also a protest coming in a single file line at us, with their police escort. It was far from pleasant - but a minor inconvenience for the thrill of the day. We got off the bridge, ate lunch and went shopping... EXCELLENT DAY.
ALSO - today we got checked on the local bus - 7:30 am on a Sunday, out on the 'burbs of Prague!!!
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