Inaugural Adventure

Hello, all! As I sit here in the common room looking back on the last 42 hours, it all seems like a blur. Let me try to describe a little bit about my travels to the Capitol and beyond.

After I wrote the previous blog post acknowledging that I couldn't sleep, my alarm unceremoniously went off reminding me that sleep wasn't going to happen anymore anyway. I stopped pretending, showered, and bundled up for the cold day ahead. At 3: 15, we got in the cab to take us to the Greyhound station. It was the same cabbie who took me to the airport for Christmas break, and he was equally strange this time around. We got to the bus station only to find out that the doors wouldn't be open for a while, so he said that we could sit in the car for a while to keep warm since he didn't have any more to do for a while. As we sat there and listened to him lecture in his almost-Jamaican accent about how we shouldn't call people nice unless we know them ("You may think I'm nice after being in this cab with me, but I could be the most evil man the world's ever seen"), the fare continued to go up. After about three dollar's worth of his advice, we decided it would be better just to get out. He thankfully didn't charge us for that in the end! After that, we stood with a group of Brazilian guys outside the bus station for about 45 minutes; good thing, though, as the bus loaded and left about 20 minutes ahead of schedule!

We got dropped off in D.C. with fairly no troubles, but then had to figure out how to get around the city. We walked down the road we were on because we figured it would lead to the Capitol, and we were correct in our assumption. From there, though, we were on the wrong side of the building and were stuck in the middle of ticket-holding throngs. Using a discarded map we found in the street, we decided to go through the tunnel under the Capitol, and ended up turned around the wrong way again somehow. From there, we walked out about 7 or so blocks and then up and ungodly number of blocks and then all the way back to the Mall so that we could avoid all the ticket checkpoints for the official spots.

The Capitol, as we walked from the Greyhound station

About 45 minutes later, we luckily ended up by the Smithsonian castle. We figured we'd just go back to the Lincoln memorial and hope to move up from there, but as we were walking we noticed a whole congregation of people helping others hop over the barricades. Legal? I'm not sure, but we took Obama's words seriously, said "YES WE CAN!" and hopped over the fence. With some elbowing and manouvering, we ended up on the side halfway between the Washington monument and the first big screen televison--a better spot than quite a few of the official tickets, actually. Everyone was quite packed in, though. I have never seen so many people cramped so close together in my life. I raised my arms up to take a picture once, and couldn't get them down again; I had to put them on my friend's shoulders for the rest of the thing. I'm glad that I didn't get pickpocketed; there would've been no way for me to stop them.

Claustrophobia, anyone?

The inauguration itself was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. Being with so many people who are just bristling with their excitement; it was an electric feeling. I heard quite a few different opinions in the people around me. On the one end, there was the woman behind me who shouted: "When they show Clarence Thomas, everybody boo. He's against affirmative action! Who does he think he is? It's like he hasn't ever looked at himself in the mirror." In the middle, there was the woman next to me, who told me "I'll be honest with you, I'm not real big on Obama. I'm here to cheer Bush leaving, not him coming." Then there was the minority of us who cheered when the Bushes were introduced. I was deeply saddened to hear many people boo and jeer at both Presidents Bush; granted, the only reason they booed Bush, Sr., is that they heard Bush and automatically assumed it was 43. A sentiment that I thought was very well expressed came from the woman behind me. When W. was introduced and everyone started booing, she started screaming at the top of her lungs for them to stop, and said "What does that say about us as a people? He did what he thought was right, and we voted for what we thought was right. He's a good man; y'all are rude." When Mr. Obama himself came out, the crowd went nuts. Our jostling sardine situation made us all sway quite awkwardly, but no one seemed to mind.

As for the ceremony, it was much what I expected it to be. Aretha's hat was quite a statement. Poor Chief Justice Roberts must've been nervous; with God's help, he'll have plenty more times to administer that oath. Obama's speech was very good, too; I was quite interested when he talked about how he would remain tough on those who will try to terrorize our country. While all of it was amazing, my favorite moment of the ceremony came before the oaths: when as a nation we prayed for the protection of our new president, ourselves, and our country. No one was afraid to offend someone by saying the "Our Father," and there was no offensive remarks by any of the nonbelievers themselves. It was incredibly moving.

After the inauguration, we walked for miles again to find a place to eat (not because we were picky, mind you; there literally was nothing for miles). We munched on McDonalds outside, then hopped on a Metro to College Park, Maryland, for the Virginia v. Maryland basketball game. We got there around 3 PM, and had nothing to do until 8. We went into the basement of their library, found some not-so-comfy couches, and fell asleep. They closed their library at 5 PM (?!?!?!), and so we went to the student union and slept there for about an hour more. You know, even though this is the most sleep-deprived I've felt in a long time, this is the most sleep I've had in a long time.... The game itself was ok; our first half was awful, but the second half was really fun to watch. Afterwards, we took a train to Arlington, VA, took advantage of Ihop's endless pancakes, and slept over at my friend's family's house. His mother drove us back early this morning (many thanks!), just in time for class.

The Comcast Center, Maryland's Basketball Arena

I can only say so much written. It was a very inspiring moment to witness the inauguration, I wish our new president the best of luck in his term, and I would be happy to talk more about it with anyone who's interested. Have a great rest of the week!