Inauguration day was a hardship, but it was worth it. We left the apartment at about 7 and tried to catch the metro downtown. But after three packed trains passed us by, we gave up and decided to walk. About a mile later, we arrived at the Capitol where we found a sea of thousands of people standing in various, intersecting lines that had no apparent beginning or ending. We decided to break around the mess and try to enter at a different gate. All the street entrances south of the capitol were closed, so we had no choice to continue following the misinformation fed to us by police about alternative street openings. Somewhere around 10th street, several in our group of 7 began to fall into despair, refusing to believe we would in fact make it into the national mall. I remained on Team Hope, believing that eventually we would make it in, and at 19th street, at about the Lincoln Memorial we found our entrance. Joyously, we weaved our way to the base of the Washington Monument and found a Jumbo-tron. We waited for about an hour in the unsympathetic cold, watching former presidents file in to celebrate and witness this historic moment.
Where we stood, it was not easy to hear the speakers, but the crowd was mindful and respectful of this. When Obama gave his inaugural address, the crowd would cheer briefly, but then would immediately silence. I felt a collective responsibility among the crowd, to take care of the other people gathered there together.
The most moving aspect of the speech for me was Obama’s call to Americans to sacrifice and be involved. I appreciate that he admits that he can’t solve all our problems ourselves, nor can government alone solve our problems. I hope that the collective atmosphere I felt as part of that crowd, translates across the country and inspires people to participate in this country to together solve the myriad of daunting predicaments we find ourselves in as a nation.
My friend was lucky enough to purchase two parade tickets and we were convinced that we could make it to both the swearing in and the parade. This was far more difficult than we anticipated. There were roadblocks and military police everywhere, forcing us to make a loop all the way around the city to go back down to the entrance gate to the parade. When we arrived, about an hour before the parade was to start, they had already closed the entrance for ticket holders. We were stuck waiting in the line with people just trying to get onto the street of the parade. I have never spent a more uncomfortable 45 minutes in my life. We were packed shoulder to shoulder, front to back with about 200 strangers trying to get through two tiny, slow-moving security gates. People concerned about Obama walking during the parade needn’t have worried. When we did get to security, we walked through metal detectors, were scanned by a wand, and had our purses emptied and swiped.
They wouldn’t let us to our seats because it was too late to cross the street so we were once again, stuck in the packed crowd. We were lucky though, because when Obama passed our section at 11th and Penn, he was walking. There were about seven rows of people in front of me so when he walked by I just held my camera up on continuous shooting while I wove around catching a glimpse of Barack and Michelle through a window of elbows, iphones, and waiving arms.
I’m sure that the rest of the parade was awesome, but I had seen all I needed to see and my cold face couldn’t take anymore of the freezing cold. We tried to get a table at a restaurant but they said the wait was “indefinite.” We shopped our way back to the apartment, collecting hats, t-shirts, buttons, and shopping bags to commemorate this event (and do our part to stimulate the economy). We didn’t make it back to about 7pm, 12 straight hours on our feet since we had left in the morning. It was a hardship, but it was worth it to have our feet on the ground at the National Mall, to witness this historic new beginning for us all.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Coming to the end
Hello readers!
After days of excitement and busy schedules, I'm finally able to blog. Let me recap the past few days.
On Sunday the 19th the law student group found their way to D.C. After a trip to the hospital and (I'm guessing) plenty of rest breaks, the drivers arrived at our D.C. condo by 11pm. Having a little bit of an idea that the next days were going to be crazy and fun, we decided to call it a night. Our condo was two bedrooms and one and a half bath in the NE side of D.C. We were at a great location on the New York station on the red line (only one stop away from Union Station). The area has a history of being a bit rough, but because of its excellent location has become the new up and coming neighborhood.
On Monday, our group decided to part ways so all of us could explore the city. Randy Langford, his niece Kristen and I has a BLAST walking around town... and there was a lot of walking! We started out by walking the few miles to the capital. We walked around all sides of the capital and found our way to the Supreme Court. As law students (and Kristen who's an attorney in Laredo) we all looked at the Supreme Court with awe. Everyone we met along the way were incredibly nice and helpful. D.C. definitely welcomed us with open arms. After we visited the capital area we walked over to the Newseum. That place was the BEST museum I've ever been to! I'm a news junkie and loved every bit of it. A few of the exhibitions include the Pulitzer photo gallery, the 1st Amendment exhibit, and an entire section of the Berlin wall and watch tower, an the Great Books exhibit (which had original versions of the Magna Carta, The Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and many more priceless books). Of those my favorites were the Pulitzer Photos and the 1st Amendment gallery. The Pulitzer photos really prove that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, the pictures brought out tons of emotion. At night we went out for some food and to check out the local scene. We went to a bar called Hawk and Dove and to 18th Amendment, which are both on the SE side of D.C. Taxi's were easy to get, the crowds on Monday were well managed and we all had a great time.
Tuesday was a day to remember. Randy left the condo by 6:30am in hopes of getting a good spot and the rest of us made our way out by 8. We underestimated the crowd for sure, and as Liz mentioned in her post it took us several hours of confusion and detours till we made our way to the National Mall. For We entered the Mall near the WWII memorial, and saddly people were climbing all over the memorial in hopes of getting a better view. We all felt that was disrespectful to the monument and what it stands for, but the crowd became so daunting that I understood that people were finding space wherever they could. Trying to maneuver the crowds with a group of 7 was pretty difficult. To help find each other we had a poster that read "Texans for Obama" that we raised up so a lost team member could find us. That sign garnered lots of attention, applause and even people taking our photos! haha. Apparently, people didn't know that there were Texans for Obama!
We got to our spots and huddled to stay warm. It was difficult to see and hear what was happening but everyone in the crowd had a sense of cooperation that amazed me. D.C. did not prepare for the inauguration very well. Jumbotrons were few and far between and they were not as large as they should have been and speakers were not loud enough for the entire crowd to hear what was happening. As a shorty, I got a little frustrated when I couldn't see one of the jumbotrons but Nikki helped keep me in the loop by telling me what was happening on screen. When Obama was getting sworn in, the crowd hushed. You could probably hear a pin drop in that crowd of 2 million. I was very proud that all people were showing each other courtesy and kindness.
I thought the speech was fantastic. It was not over the top enthusiastic and it wasn't too grim either. It had a perfect tone for the hard times that many of us are feeling and it gave me a desire to do more to help move us all out of economic hardship. At the National Mall I realized how many people had come from not only all parts of the US but from all over the world. There were large groups of Germans and Austrians that were around us, and it was really heart warming to know that they wanted to be a part of this experience with us.
The way out of the National Mall was really difficult. Because all of the entrances were carefully controlled for security, there were lots of walls and fences that kept people from getting out quickly and efficiently. Instead millions tried to get out of a few small entrances, which led a lot to be frustrated and the the entire process taking over an hour. In the process of trying to get out, our group got separated. It took us hours to get home. I was one of the first to get back home and we got home by 4:30.. over four and a half hours after inauguration!
There were lots of crowds, lots of walking and LOTS of cold, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
I'll post some pictures soon!
After days of excitement and busy schedules, I'm finally able to blog. Let me recap the past few days.
On Sunday the 19th the law student group found their way to D.C. After a trip to the hospital and (I'm guessing) plenty of rest breaks, the drivers arrived at our D.C. condo by 11pm. Having a little bit of an idea that the next days were going to be crazy and fun, we decided to call it a night. Our condo was two bedrooms and one and a half bath in the NE side of D.C. We were at a great location on the New York station on the red line (only one stop away from Union Station). The area has a history of being a bit rough, but because of its excellent location has become the new up and coming neighborhood.
On Monday, our group decided to part ways so all of us could explore the city. Randy Langford, his niece Kristen and I has a BLAST walking around town... and there was a lot of walking! We started out by walking the few miles to the capital. We walked around all sides of the capital and found our way to the Supreme Court. As law students (and Kristen who's an attorney in Laredo) we all looked at the Supreme Court with awe. Everyone we met along the way were incredibly nice and helpful. D.C. definitely welcomed us with open arms. After we visited the capital area we walked over to the Newseum. That place was the BEST museum I've ever been to! I'm a news junkie and loved every bit of it. A few of the exhibitions include the Pulitzer photo gallery, the 1st Amendment exhibit, and an entire section of the Berlin wall and watch tower, an the Great Books exhibit (which had original versions of the Magna Carta, The Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and many more priceless books). Of those my favorites were the Pulitzer Photos and the 1st Amendment gallery. The Pulitzer photos really prove that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, the pictures brought out tons of emotion. At night we went out for some food and to check out the local scene. We went to a bar called Hawk and Dove and to 18th Amendment, which are both on the SE side of D.C. Taxi's were easy to get, the crowds on Monday were well managed and we all had a great time.
Tuesday was a day to remember. Randy left the condo by 6:30am in hopes of getting a good spot and the rest of us made our way out by 8. We underestimated the crowd for sure, and as Liz mentioned in her post it took us several hours of confusion and detours till we made our way to the National Mall. For We entered the Mall near the WWII memorial, and saddly people were climbing all over the memorial in hopes of getting a better view. We all felt that was disrespectful to the monument and what it stands for, but the crowd became so daunting that I understood that people were finding space wherever they could. Trying to maneuver the crowds with a group of 7 was pretty difficult. To help find each other we had a poster that read "Texans for Obama" that we raised up so a lost team member could find us. That sign garnered lots of attention, applause and even people taking our photos! haha. Apparently, people didn't know that there were Texans for Obama!
We got to our spots and huddled to stay warm. It was difficult to see and hear what was happening but everyone in the crowd had a sense of cooperation that amazed me. D.C. did not prepare for the inauguration very well. Jumbotrons were few and far between and they were not as large as they should have been and speakers were not loud enough for the entire crowd to hear what was happening. As a shorty, I got a little frustrated when I couldn't see one of the jumbotrons but Nikki helped keep me in the loop by telling me what was happening on screen. When Obama was getting sworn in, the crowd hushed. You could probably hear a pin drop in that crowd of 2 million. I was very proud that all people were showing each other courtesy and kindness.
I thought the speech was fantastic. It was not over the top enthusiastic and it wasn't too grim either. It had a perfect tone for the hard times that many of us are feeling and it gave me a desire to do more to help move us all out of economic hardship. At the National Mall I realized how many people had come from not only all parts of the US but from all over the world. There were large groups of Germans and Austrians that were around us, and it was really heart warming to know that they wanted to be a part of this experience with us.
The way out of the National Mall was really difficult. Because all of the entrances were carefully controlled for security, there were lots of walls and fences that kept people from getting out quickly and efficiently. Instead millions tried to get out of a few small entrances, which led a lot to be frustrated and the the entire process taking over an hour. In the process of trying to get out, our group got separated. It took us hours to get home. I was one of the first to get back home and we got home by 4:30.. over four and a half hours after inauguration!
There were lots of crowds, lots of walking and LOTS of cold, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
I'll post some pictures soon!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Ball
Just got back from the Mid-Atlantic Ball, one of the 10 official Inaugural balls held this evening. It was in the convention center with four other balls. The remaining were held at various locations in the District.
Needless to say the convention center was quite a busy place. Coat check alone for five separate balls was enough to make one worry about losing their winter protection.
I cannot speak for the other events, but the Mid-Atlantic was a success. The Vice President showed up a little past 10 pm. He spoke and danced with his wife Jill. About an hour later the President and First Lady arrived. He said some words and they also danced. About an hour after their departure the party wound down.
Honestly, the balls are not fancy, even if they are black tie. The food is run-of-the-mill. We dined on pasta salad, veggie trays, and bowls of pretzels and chips. The bar was cash. And tickets were pricey. The music was decent (Wyclef Jean and the reunited Dead). In the end people attend to see others (politics is a small world) and their newly elected leaders.
Obamas dancing at the Mid-Atlantic Ball.
The President speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Ball.
The Dead's base drum head. Thought it worth noting.
The Vice President speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Ball.
Needless to say the convention center was quite a busy place. Coat check alone for five separate balls was enough to make one worry about losing their winter protection.
I cannot speak for the other events, but the Mid-Atlantic was a success. The Vice President showed up a little past 10 pm. He spoke and danced with his wife Jill. About an hour later the President and First Lady arrived. He said some words and they also danced. About an hour after their departure the party wound down.
Honestly, the balls are not fancy, even if they are black tie. The food is run-of-the-mill. We dined on pasta salad, veggie trays, and bowls of pretzels and chips. The bar was cash. And tickets were pricey. The music was decent (Wyclef Jean and the reunited Dead). In the end people attend to see others (politics is a small world) and their newly elected leaders.
Obamas dancing at the Mid-Atlantic Ball.
The President speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Ball.
The Dead's base drum head. Thought it worth noting.
The Vice President speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Ball.
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