Mr. President

Yesterday the 44th president of the United States was elected into office.
Barack Hussein Obama not only stands as a bridge between generation x and the baby boomers, but he is the first black president to be elected.
Now I have to admit I was excited to hear him speak just because I knew he had been working on his speech for quite some time.. but i didnt care too much about the hype of the inauguration. One of my friends had invited me to go to DC, but I rejected because I didn't feel like spending the whole day in the rush and pushing through people just to hear a speech. Well the night before, my father made me feel guilty for rejecting my friends offer. He told me it would a good
experience - not only in history but to be there and feel everyone elses energy. he encourage me to go so at 11pm i call my friend up and make the plans.

5:45 am - I wake up, pack some snacks, drinks, etc and head off to meet my friends
( i wore 2 layers of pants, and 3 layers of sweaters knowing it would be freezing)
7:30 am - head off to silver spring metro
8:10 - am get to the metro station. it take 30 min just to get a card. once we actually got on a train they told us that 3 of the stops were blocked off bc of the surplus of people in the area. so after much planning we figured out a way to come up the National Mall from the south instead of the west. A few others followed our plan. We were the last group of people allowed to get off that stop. Many people were rejected and had to go home. Luckily one of my friend's sisters knew dc really well that was the only way we were able to get around. (The metro station was chaos, but the metro itself was not too crowded at this point)




10:00 am - We reach the crowd. according to the news there was approx 1.5 million people there. The ground outside was covered in trash like no other. people were sitting on the floor in the middle of the walk way. Despite the diverse crowd shown on tv, i would estimate that at least 50-60% of the people there were African American. I really didnt see as many Caucasians as i expected. I mean it was obvious why there were so many African Americans there but i still expected a different crowd. There were so many grown men crying around me.. i didnt know what to do.
I know this is an emotional moment in history and its a big deal bc less than 100 years ago African Americans couldn't even sign up to go to college. that I acknowledge, and I think it is amazing that we have come past that point.
but the amount of energy people really put on him i dont understand. I mean Obama isnt the messiah.. thats what people really make him out to be.
Yes, Obama is a clever man, great politician (he knows how to play his cards) and an inspirational speaker. I do have faith that he can make some change, and yes, his energy does inspire people. Thats great. But he isnt a superhero.
Before Obama came on stage, there was great silence. That silence, my friends, was very powerful. Imagine 1.5 million people: everyone standing, everyone eager, everyone is such great pain bc of the blistering cold, yet they were all so still and patient. That silence was golden. What other events can you get that many people to stand up in silence. it was out of the respect they had for him which really says a lot (whether u support him or not)

11:30ish they started the program. i couldnt see the stage from my eye, but i was much closer than a lot of other people. Some famous people there were jay z, beyonce, Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Aretha Franklin.. as well as ex presidents Carter, Clinton and i think someone else. (lol i cant remember). apparently i was on tv at least once (but i think more than that).. bc we were in the corner section where all the tv cameras were. Channel 9 was literally behind me the entire time. One of my friends didnt want to be on tv so he kept turning his head.. but 2 hours later his cousin from California called and told him that he saw him. lol what luck

the prayer was started with the line "Israel the most blessed country" (dont quote me on those words, BUT what they said was very similar to that) so much for separation of religion and state?

12:00ish Obama takes oath as president (after a few performances). the guy reading it to him said one of the lines wrong, so obama pauses for a bit. funny moment.. but its bound to happen. the whole world is watching you... imagine how nervous he must have been

***On a side note: I didnt like how people were booing George Bush. At first I contributed to the chants, but then it hit me that it really was not right or appropriate. I mean I personally am not a fan of the man at all.. but come on its his last day in office. even if he has done some of the worse things.. how would you feel up there? he still has feelings.. he is still a person too. as another fellow human being, people should have shown him some respect. ***


Obama makes his speech. If you want to read the speech here is the link.
The man can really speak.. I mean whether you get him or not, he def has a convincing tone.

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers"
I thought it was interesting how he addressed Muslims second after Christians.. which is something that would have NEVER have happened before. I wonder what type of response Americans are showing to that.
I loved the fact that he addresses non-believers as well. It shows that he is accepting and inclusive. Yes we are a diverse nation and you cant ignore that. you might not agree with another person's faith or lack of faith but it doesnt mean that they dont exist and that you shouldn't acknowledge them. (This is a whole other blog in its self)

12:30 right after his speech we left the national mall bc we knew if we stayed we would be stuck in chaos. im not going to even get into how cold it was. i cant believe i havnt even mentioned a word of it in my blog yet. basically my whole experience going was horrible bc of the weather. i swear i thought i was getting hypothermia. the numbness in my toes had increased to my knees. it was so bad that i couldnt really walk or stand. i wasnt even listening to obama's speech i was in such pain. seriously kudos to the survivors who stayed the whole time.
*** I just found out 46 people were hospitalized bc of hypothermia. more were taken with the ambulance..( i think the news said up to like 70 something)**
Of courses there were hundreds and thousands of people walking the streets of dc. it felt like i was in another protest again. it took us forever to get into the metro.
2:45 we finally get to downtown silver spring. i grabbed some chipotle while everyone else got moby dick :)
our ride back on the metro for the second time was really funny. i felt like i was in iran again. the trains were so packed that you couldnt move without touching someones body. some people had their faces on the glass. we thought it was safety harzad.
4:00 we grab some coffee and head out. i get to columbia around 5ish.
the overall experience was great and im happy i got to go, but i wouldnt do it again. the pain i experienced to be the cold wasnt worth it for a second time.
i was soo tired bc we had spent the entire day walking. once i was dropped off at the mall around 5pm (bc thats where we all met in the morning).. i decided to go the shopping since i was there anyway. i have no idea what was going through my head.. but i was there until 8:30pm. what did i do there? nothing. i just walked around some more.