#6 January 20, 2009 Sore Feet

You may well ask why the title of this blog is sore feet. The answer: that is what I had by the end of the day.

First, of course, we got up at 4:40 a.m. so we could get to the Inauguration on time. We, amazingly, did it. Which means, of course, that the administration screwed up and the bus was two hours behind schedule. We spent a lot of time singing songs, talking about random subjects, and swearing at each other (others did this, not me). I have noticed that the more frustrating the circumstances are, the more inclined people are to swear.

When we finally got to the National Mall, it was jam-packed. I think there were a record-breaking five million people on the mall this morning. So we didn't get anywhere near the capitol. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even see the jumbo-tron that we were supposed to be able to watch. I was literally shoulder to shoulder and stomach to back with people I have never seen before in my life. And there were tall people with tall heads in my only line of vision.

So basically what ended up happening was I listened to the inauguration. Which was pretty powerful and moving anyway.

The crowd was wildly excited for Obama. Chants of "Obama! Obama!" filled the Mall. "Yes we can! Yes we have!" were the feeling of the day.

Until President Bush came on. No sooner had his face, or Laura's, or any of the rest of the Bush family appeared on the screen than the crowd began to boo him. It disappointed me. He was still our president, if only for twenty more minutes, and he still deserves our respect even though he isn't president. After all, we (and I'm saying 'we' as a collective people of the United States of America) re-elected him. He served two terms for us. And he did the best he could do under the circumstances.

And then Joe Biden got sworn in. I happened to notice that his Oath was a lot longer than the President's.

When Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in, I think he screwed up a bit. It may simply have been a problem with the acoustics and logistics, but I could've sworn that the judge had to repeat what Obama had to say. I smiled when I heard the stumble. Obama's not a god. He's a human being, and he's going to make mistakes. Don't be surprised when he makes them. Because I guarantee you he will. The slip-up in the Oath just reminded me that one of these days, Obama is going to seriously disappoint the people who voted him in. Because he's human and he'll make mistakes. It's just a matter of what the mistake was, and whether people will still have faith in him.

In a lot of ways, Barack Obama has more pressure than any other president has ever had. He has to have the fortitude and determination of FDR. He has to have the guidance and generosity of Abe Lincoln. He must have the diplomacy of Wilson, the tolerance of Jefferson, and the courage of Washington. Most importantly though, he will be representing the entire African-American population. People will look at any small weakness, in his character or his policies, and they will say, 'Oh, well, he didn't do it perfect, so no more black presidents.' As ambassador for black people, Obama must be immaculate in what he says, what he does, and what he makes policy. He will be allowed no Clinton scandals, no Bush shortsightedness, and no Grant drunkeness. This is the probation period, and Obama must succeed if the African-American people are to succeed.

Then Obama gave his Inaugural Address. It was astoundingly powerful. In this high-tech culture of instant knowledge, instant solutions, and instant gratification, Obama spoke of far-reaching goals, goals that would not be fulfilled in his first term, or even a second term, if he gets one. Obama spoke of hard work and the strength of the nation as a whole, against the overwhelming propaganda that the world caters to you. Obama extended the hand of friendship to those who had once been enemies, and summed it all up with the powerful statement, "America is ready to lead again." For the first time, I feel inspired to believe in Obama's goals, and see that they can be met. It may mean he's just a good speaker. But it may mean a whole lot more.

After the Inauguration, bad things again started happening. We walked down to Nationals Ballpark, where we discovered that the line was half a mile long and moving slower than a cat who feels he has nothing to do. I stood in line with friends for over an hour, and then we decided we weren't going to get to eat and left. Which meant I got no lunch.

So we went back to our hotels to get ready for the Gala. I had a few packets of chips, but I was still very hungry. We got on the bus and headed toward the museum where the Gala was to take place.

Where we got trapped by a bus line that extended for two miles and travelled slower than a cat who has been called to come, meaning that time went backwards. Worst yet, one of the kids led us on a sing-along of some of the most terrible songs I have ever heard in my entire life, coupled with horrible singers. A recipe for disaster, all-in-all.

We got to the Gala, and I was able to meet up with Mike and his friends. And then we got separated. And I started feeling sick. And I lost my ID card. And a hundred and one other pesky little things that made me sick and panicky. The Gala was pretty much a disaster for me, because I was feeling so sick to my stomach I couldn't enjoy it.

Then we got back home, and tomorrow at five I will be headed off to the airport with Mike and his dad. My roomate, Veronica, has already left. I hope to keep in touch with her after this.

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope, eventually, to put up a blog that has all the pictures from the trip I haven't posted here yet. This is pretty much the last chapter of my experience. And as I look back across the days, I discover that I met my expectations.

I did feel a part of history, and was moved by Obama's speeches. I met knew people and got to know them, and I had fun debating about religion and politics. And this conference was much, much better than the last one I went to. I believe this is mostly because I am older, less shy around new people, and more open-minded. I also think that having a focal point helped the conference to be better.

I had two highlights for this conference. One, was being there on Inauguration day and listening to Obama give his powerful speech. But for me, what was even more wonderful was something totally unexpected and last minute, even for the organizers of the conference. Desmund Tutu's message made a huge impact on me. A person can indeed stand up in front of a crowd of thousands, a crowd of both genders, all races, every religion, and still speak a powerful truth about God and his plan for the world. It was inspiring. I think more than anything else, I will take Desmund Tutu's friendly outlook, his faith in God, and his incredible ability to laugh at himself and keep on going to heart. I may not have told you this story, but at one point during his speech, Tutu said something along the lines of "You are seeing so much bad on the Internet. It's fantastic." What he meant, of course, was that it was fantastic (as in fantasy, hard to believe) that the Internet could bash kids over and over with this kind of trash. What it ended up sounding like was, "Yeah! It's great that kids get inundated with this stuff!" At this point, Tutu realized his mistake, and did a little hopping dance around the stage while laughing at his mistake. That was a pretty big error. And he just kept right on going in his speech. That's probably the most powerful part of his speech--the fact that he didn't get flustered or mad or upset, he just kept on going and finished with a wonderful message. But for me, it was the error that made the biggest difference.

Thank you once again, folks. You have no idea how much this means to me.
God Bless,
Erienne