Oba"manía"

So I have to say that while I was disappointed not to be home to attend the inauguration of our new president, it has definitely been a great experience to be abroad while it was going on and hear the reactions of the people here. EVERYONE is talking about him. EVERYONE stayed inside their houses on Tuesday to watch the election.

The extended family members of my host family (i.e. host grandparents and uncle) were here that day with CNN en espanol cranked up starting at 8 am. Eeek. It was early. So there I was, the captive gringa who everyone watched to see how I would react.

But I think the greatest part has been to hear all the reactions after the inauguration. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Obama on the streets with family and friends. And everywhere I go, talking with the gringa about her new president is clearly an obvious conversation starter.

It's crazy but you can honestly feel how hopefully everyone here is for the new presidency. Today on the concho ride home we heard the radio announcers talking about the "Obamanía" that is occuring. And the driver, once realizing that my friend and I could yes, actually speak coherent Spanish, was so excited to tell us how great Obama was and how much he wished he could have been an American citizen just to have been able to vote for him. As he told us, Obama represented something good not just for America-- but for the world. Now all the rest of the countries of the world can have hope for change. And then came his prediction of the day-- that "within three months the humanity of the United States will be saved by Obama". We'll see about that one.

But for now, it's nice to see the United States viewed in such a positive light instead of such a negative one. It's definitely the change that we needed; it's refreshing to be abroad and feel so much support.