Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Election Night - Rome, Italy

I have been trying to post pics for an hour. I will try to post them later in the week

I went to the Democrats Abroad Pancake Breakfast at 3:00 a.m. this morning to watch the results.

When Virginia and Ohio went blue it was a wrap. CNN projected Obama the winner and the place (which was packed) went crazy.

There were lots of hugs and tears. The crowd of Americans and Italians was diverse and it was great to see how many college students were there.

I thought McCain's speech was very gracious. His audience was not.

I hope I didn't sound like an idiot during an interview.

I love Michelle Obama and Jill Biden.

I can't believe Sen. Obama is the President Elect of the United States of America. Still processing.

YES WE DID!

28 comments:

dorinalouise said...

it's just so amazing! nyc went wild. my girls were ringing bells and banging pot lids out the window while people were yelling and cheering in the street, car horns were honking . . . and friends and family were calling each other on their cell phones . . it's good to hear what's happening there in rome . . it's nice to feel good about "my country"(!) and it's important to remember we're one world. now i better get some rest!

Beatriz Macias said...

We went to the US Consulate's party in Milan. We left at 4:00 AM. Ohio going for Obama was welcomed with cheers. There was an Italian journalist trying to find one person there who was a McCain supporter, and she could not. We were drunk with happiness (the open bar help some) and we went to bed with a smile on our faces.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely brilliant, in so many ways!!!

Cleopantha

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

dorina - Yes we are one world. I'm glad the candidate that got that won.

beatriz - there were a couple other events here in Rome. I'm surprised that at a non partisan event there wasn't a McCain supporter. Maybe the supporters went to a different event.

cleopantha - yes it is.

'A Tuscan view.....from Umbria' said...

What a great day for the whole world.
Even our tiny village is buzzing with it.

Diana Strinati Baur said...

I am so happy. I can't believe it.

Petulia said...

So happy! You can tell there is positive energy everywhere

Jen said...

I'm just shaking with joy still this morning.

And I agree with you both on McCain's response and on his supporters' bad behavior.

What a day in history.

Maybe there's true hope for us yet.

Anonymous said...

I didn't see McCains concession speech or see his audience react but give them a break. This election was highly charged. If Obama lost you would have had a lot of very unhappy people too.
In time the reality will set in on the new president and the highly democratic congress and temperws will be calm.

PretaMulatta said...

this is the first time in a VERY long time that i have been so excited about something that seemingly, affects everyone in the entire world.

here in brooklyn, we're all praying that this is the change we need 2 send our world in the right direction.

and MAN does it feel good!

erin said...

awesome. it was so great here at our party too. you summed up a lot of my thoughts. we just all sat in complete silence, with some tears, listening to his speech.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Words can't express the feelings, it still brings tears to my eyes. I am proud to be an American. Yes, McCain's speech was a gracious one, and yes, his supporters.. well, hopefully they will come around and realize like President Elect Obama said last night that he is their President too!!

glamah16 said...

Yes we di. I will be posting pictures from my viwe in Chicago. It was incredible and tear inducing.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Amanda - everyone here is talking about it too.

diana - I know how you feel.

petulia - I hope it last for a while. There are some tough months/years ahead.

jen - maybe there is,

j. doe - I have worked on heart breaking losing campaigns, like Ann Richards loss to Bush. You didn't see the speech. McCain gave a lovely speech. I get that emotions are charged. I cried my eyes out when we lost but I also respected Ann and didn't boo her winning opponent when she mentioned his name. Poor sportsmanship was not cool with her and we knew it.

pretamullata - doesn't it!

erin - There were some student from Virginia and they were just sobbing they were so happy.

gypsygirl - I really liked McCain's speech. It seem heartfelt. It couldn't have been easy.

glamah16 - I read over 250,000 people were in the park to hears Obama's speech. wow.

dalia said...

that's so amazing that you had that kind of reaction out there... the times, they are a-changing!

Anonymous said...

I am so happy and full of pride today. I worked hard, donated and am elated at the outcome.

I concur with your assessments of the night. Was twittering all night and when he won- I just couldn't believe it- called my sis and we cried on the phone together. Then C. and I finished a bottle of chilled Prosecco.

Great night. Great man. Great country!

Anonymous said...

I was scared for a minute there, but it all came out right. And yes, we're celebrating with you.

Thank you America for doing the right thing.

Can you hear the world breathing a sigh of relief? I can - and I haven't stopped crying tears of joy the whole day long.

Now, where's that prosecco...

AOS said...

I live in VA and at 7pm i got scared. MCcain was leading 8-3 and he was up by 10 points in VA. I panicked. Something didn't see right. Then i spoke with my brother in Richmond, who said, we go this they haven't counted Richmond or Northern Virginia. Hope!!! When i saw Ohio and PA, it was over for me. Yes We Can!!!

Jessica said...

I made it until 3 am in Rome and then I had to go to bed. I so wanted to be awake when they officially called it, but once I saw he'd pretty much wrapped PA and OH, I felt good about being able to sleep. I said at work today that I have never felt so much pride as an American as I have today and for what we've decided to do as a country. All of my time abroad, whether in Rome or elsewhere, has been during the Bush admin and, let me tell you, it's not easy trying to explain or justify anything (because really, how can you when you don't believe in it). Anyway, things will be very tough, but let's hope the positive feelings last. Yes we can! PS. And for those of you who have not read Obama's book "Dreams of My Father," I suggest reading it immediately. Amazing.

Anonymous said...

tears of joy and giddy smiles have just about summed up my day!

The feeling really couldn't be better!

Obama was such a class act up on that stage last night and we couldn't be prouder!

Anonymous said...

Yes! Here in Virginia, we turned Blue! This hasn't happened since 1964!

Yes we can! I am so glad to be in the States, in Virginia. Once he won Ohio and Virginia. It was a "Done dada!"

Our country has grown up.

Felicia, This Time in Seoul

gibber said...

My sister said it right J.Doe. Having been on the losing end of many a campaign, I know what it's like to be pissed off at the other team. But we always handled it with grace. When Obama lost primary races, his supporters didn't boo Hillary. For the most part, her supporters didn't boo him (except at the very end). But it is very telling that McCain's supporters booed Obama's name. McCain was let down by his campaign AND his supporters who shouted things like Terrorist, Muslim, etc at rallies. It belittles the man he used to be, and last night just drove that point home.

That said, his speech was super gracious, as was Obama's. I thought Obama was pretty sober, and I'm sure a lot had to do with the sad irony that his grandmother died one day before he made history.

Anonymous said...

I am thrilled! An election day to remember and cherish for the rest of my life! I still can't stop crying every time I see coverage of Obama on the news!

Faith at Acts of Faith Blog said...

I love Michelle and Jill Biden seems way cool! Can we never have to here from Alaskan Barbie ever again?!! I'm trying to get inauguration tickets and info.

Liz Dwyer said...

I'm still processing too. I'm so glad you were able to celebrate in Rome. This really is a victory for the entire world!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

dalia - there were so many events here election night. The world is truly connected.

my melange - don't you feel good...like your hard work helped make it happen.

casalba - I saw some people drinking beer and wine at the election party. It was a little too early for me but I plan to make up for it this weekend. ha

assen - thanks for stopping by. I still can't believe Virginia went blue!!!

jessica - I know what you mean. I don't know what happened last eight years. There seems to have been no leadership. Just Cheney and Rummy running around doing what ever the heck they want. Yes things are going to be extremely difficult but at least Obama will be more engaged. I agree about his book.

eryn - he was. He didn't gloat and he talked about the rough road ahead. The size of that crowd was unbelievable.

felicia - The Obama campaign from the beginning said they were going to run a national campaign and put some red states in play. Everyone thought they were nuts. There were several states like VA that went blue for the first time since LBJ. Wow.

gibber - I thought about his grandmother too. I understand booing during the primaries but the other night, during a concession speech? If you don't like the opponent at least have some respect for the office of the Presidency.

girasoli - it's the Obama/Biden family shots and reaction footage of people all over the world that get me.

faith - good luck with tickets. I think we will be hearing more from Gov. Palin.

liz - yes it is!! The coverage here has been non stop.

Kataroma said...

I really wanted to go to the election night party that you went to but...the baby... I guess if I'd been really motivated I could have walked over there at 1am when my husband got home from work. But it would have been tough at 7am when the baby woke up.

Ah well...I've been on a real high since Wednesday morning when I found out Obama had won.

It's not just a victory for African Americans but also for Third Culture Kids like me. Maybe someone like me (or my daughter) who grew up all over the place and is a mish-mash of cultures can indeed be president.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

kataroma - I thought it was interesting how the GOP tried to use Obama's upbringing against him, "he's not really American". Given that America is a nation of immigrants I didn't understand their logic.

The world is getting smaller. There are going to be many more kids like your daughter. I'd rather have a president who has traveled and can related to people from other backgrounds than someone who is an isolationist.