OBAMA!!- November 5th

November 5th
Sitting in the lobby of our guesthouse in Ayuthaya, Thailand today I felt an emotion come over me that I barely recognized. I was sitting on a wooden bench holding Lynn’s hand and feeling my whole body charge with electric potential, my fingers tingled, my throat tightened, my heart raced. I watched the hundreds of thousands of people in the crowd facing President Obama chant “yes we can, yes we can”. I was surrounded by people from all over the world, all interested in this incredible moment in history. You could literally taste the energy in the room. The owner of the guesthouse turned on CNN and sat down right in front of the TV. He had lived in the US for 16 years and had left parts of his heart in the Texas soil. It was the most powerful feeling of joy and peace and stability… and then it came to me- the emotion was pride. I am proud to be an American. Not to say that I wasn’t proud to be American before, I have always loved our country built on freedom and liberty, I just wasn’t proud of the way we interacted with the world and its many diverse countries. I wasn’t proud of the way we were seen in the global community. As an American abroad I was blessed to meet locals who could separate the American people from the American government. But when would the American people ever want to find solace knowing that the world looks at them separate from the government that has made America the way it is today? I have not met one person on this trip around the world that hasn’t had a word or two to say against Bush, and as they vent their frustrations I listen patiently as they are usually all too true. I prepare myself subconsciously to discuss our recent American politics as soon as someone enquires about my nationality. I also haven’t met one person who doesn’t support and encourage Obama. It is shocking to see the prevalence of concern about American politics. Everyone from your tuk-tuk driver, to the guesthouse owner, to avg. Joe on the street wants to talk about the presidential election with you. “Go O-BAM-A!” resonates through the Thai streets.
As the 44th president spoke on Thai TV I felt a thick blanket of concern and stress fall from my shoulders, it was a cloak that I didn’t even realize I had been wearing for the last 10 months. I felt reborn, I feel like America has been reborn. I know the road ahead will not be easy but Americans are ready to work for change. I am certainly one of them.

Happy Birthday America.