Here's a brief chronicle of the beautiful night, as experienced by myself and Eric, in pictures. We had intended going to the Democratics Abroad Election Results party in Mitte but all the tickets were sold out. However, we ended up having the perfect election night by ourselves. With the way we were feeling, nothing could dampen our spirits.
We were also suitably fed, thanks to Eric's famous all-American burgers. I know that burger looks like it's nearly the size of my head but it's just the angle the photo was taken...I swear!!!
Luckily we get CNN here in Berlin so we were able to watch the excitement unfold both on the telly and the internet. Most of our photos of the night are actually of the telly, or of us watching the telly so this is an improvised action shot, which was probably shortly before I went to bed. Yes, I admit it, I ended going to bed at around 2am (I'm sure my friend Angus is cashing in on some kind of bet there). However, I did get up every hour on the hour to see what was happening. It was about 5am that Eric came in to tell me the wonderful, stupendous news that...
...Barack Obama had been elected the next president of the United States of America!!! If you are going to be woken up in the middle of the night that's the way to do it.
This a picture Eric took of himself at the time of hearing the news. The happiness, the joy!
It was amazing to see Barack Obama and his family come out on stage for his acceptance speech. It really struck me what a journey they had all been on during this election campaign. It really was some campaign, not only against McCain and Palin but through the democratic nominee elections too.
I have to admit that I ended up crying at one stage through the speech. The significance of the moment was something else, that the nightmare of Bush was finally over, that not only America just elected it's first African-American president but also someone I feel will steer the country with a good heart and in the right direction. It felt like a great day not only for Eric, as an American citizen, but for me too as a citizen of the world. It was a beautiful, beautiful night/morning for us all.Love to hear how you all spent election night. Please share in the comments section.
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5 comments:
wow, you guys had a great nite ! sally and me stayed up and cried.
hey eric, got your woohoo/yahoo ! fone call. it was an end to a perfectly smiley day.
peace love and a new day for the world
the ben
I didn't stay up but was up at 4 am to check the internet news. I watched the speech on-line. It was awesome. I got chills and felt really choked up. I thought it was so powerful and moving when Barack would say " yes, we can" and the people would answer with a solemn but strong," yes, we can". Wow. I feel so proud to have been able to cast my vote for such an honorable, intelligent and wonderful man. Therese
November 4th was one of the happiest days of my life. I waited in line an hour to vote, and was so proud when I touched Barack Obama's name on the computer screen in the voting booth. I stared at his name on the screen for a few seconds, and thought how lucky I was to vote for him. I was anxious all day to see the results. I was nervous as I watched the election coverage on TV. When they announced that Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio, I knew that he was going to be our next president. I was very happy that he won my state, Virginia. His speech was very inspiring. I wish I could have been in the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago. I stayed up until 2:30 AM watching additional coverage of the election. I was too excited to sleep. We are going to have an Obama celebration when the family is together during the Thanksgiving holidays. Wear your Obama shirt! Eric, in the photos you don't look like someone who has been awake all night. I guess happiness makes someone look refreshed.
Ceci
We had a few folks over, a German prof, a Belorussian, a Minnesotan Africa Scholar, a North Carolinian Eastern Europe scholar, and us. It was spicy eggplant fritters, homemade walnut-sourdough, goat cheese, roasted red peppers from the garden, salty peanuts (I am from the south) and enough beers of the world to ring in the good cheer or else drink to the apocalypse. We bounced around on TV and online. Being an academic crowd, we watched an anti-Immanuel Kant attack ad paid for and approved by the committee to elect Friedrich Nietzsche. "Wrong on metaphysics. Wrong on ethics. Wrong on aestetics. Wrong for America."
When the polls closed in California, we broke open the champagne. I still have to remind myself it wasn't a dream. And my state came through, so I feel a little better about my neighbors (though not the ones who stole my yard signs the day after).
If anything I would loose money on you staying up that late. I thought if you stayed up after Midnight you turned into a pumpkin or something. Angus
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