Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Since there was a crew of people at our house (roommates, friends, friends of friends), it took a little longer than expected to get out of the house, but we were on the move toward the mall at about 8:00am. The only organization of the whole crowd were some scattered signs that stated orange line, blue line, or silver line to direct the ticket holders to their appropriate line. Unfortunately we got mixed up somewhere in the masses of the orange and blue ticket lines and I felt like we would never get out. The crowds were so massive that you would just walk where you would see some sense of movement and not take notice until a few minutes later of where you were really headed. Somehow as we were doing that, I think we almost ended up on 395 S?!!?? I swore by the end of it that we would in fact be in Virginia and watching inauguration from there. Finally after an hour and a half and ventures through 3 quadrants of the city (Northeast, Southeast, Southwest), we finally made it to a spot of hope by the Washington Monument. This must have been the destination of choice because I talked to about 5 other people afterward that ended up there as well. Needless to say, I did not spot them in the crowd of millions. Again though, the uplifting thing about this insane walk and wait was that everyone somehow remained in a good mood and I felt a real sense of community with my fellow Americans.
It was about another 1 1/2 hours of watching tiny glimpses of a jumbo tron of who all was arriving before the actual swearing in began. During this time, the cold and standing at times felt unbearable (ok, maybe slight exaggeration) but then I would look at this family in front of me with two young boys and realize that it was truly a historical event to be at and that if they could do it, then I could to. As soon as the ceremony began, the millions of people were silent in awe. I am wondering how I could get some type of technique like this to work in my classroom???? Even though I was probably a mile away and watching in on a big screen, I felt like I was truly a part of this event as I joined in with the cheers and excitement of the crowd. At times I thought I might cry or hug my neighbor, but instead I just cheered along with fascination. After the excitement ended, it was back to another 2 hour trek to try to get home. Keep in mind that in normal circumstances this walk should only take 30-40 minutes. Once inside my house, we all warmed up by fire and stayed glued to the parade until late in the evening.
The next day in school I was again excited to discuss this experience with my students. They were all equally excited to talk about it and surprised me with just how much they knew about the day's events and about Barack Obama. One student even knew that one of the upcoming changes would be that Hillary Clinton would be the new Secretary of State. Not so bad for a level one English learner! I give credit to the other ESOL teachers who have also been doing lessons on Obama and inauguration so that students are informed of the history they are living through. I did have several students who also went to the inauguration and they were also energetic to share their experiences with the class.

We are one

On Sunday, January 18th, I attended the "We are one" inauguration concert for Barack Obama and was given just a taste of the amazing phenomena that took over DC last week. Let me try to begin to describe my experience. I began the day by preparing brunch at my house for a group of friends. While on the metro at 9:00am, I already saw crowds forming of out of town visitors bundled up in layers of clothing, armed by maps and enthusiasm, ready to go to the concert. This was my first real contact with the inauguration hype that was filling the air. Strangers were chatting with others on the metro (this RARELY every happens in DC as the metro is usually characterized by people rushing off to high power jobs who are overworked and trying to catch up on rest, itunes, sudoko, or the latest NYtimes bestselling novel). Back in my house, my roommates and friends spent the entire brunch talking about plans for the day, our impressions of the city changes, and basically just getting excited for what we were about to experience. We walked from my capitol hill home down to the Lincoln Memorial by walking to Union Station and then down past the Capitol building and the National Mall. As soon we approached Union Station, the scene began to change. The first evidence of inauguration were the vendors everywhere selling Obama paraphenelia (mugs, t-shirts, mousepads, calendars, and even an Obama puppet). We did comment, however, that up to the point of the mall, things seem quiet in a weird way. You certainly saw the structural changes (rows of port-a-potties, tour buses, etc), but you didn't quite yet feel the energy and buzz of people.
By the time that we reached site of the Washington monument, the masses of people were apparent. It was about 1:30/2:00pm and we made a feable attempt to get in line to the area by the Lincoln Memorial/WWII Memorial/Reflecting pool, but were quickly turned away. Thanks to Jeanna's quick thinking and strategic eyes, we jetted over to an area in front of one of the jumbo tron screens to watch the concert and had a full shot (although at a bit of an angle) of the screen. Although we were not watching the performers directly, just having a vision of the Lincoln Memorial in front of us and the Washington Monument made the experience significant.
The performance was a finely woven mix of speakers, historical quotes, and all American songs that the crowd could easily sing and dance to (well dance as much you could in your 6 inch X 6 inch space crammed against other people...so I guess it was really more just head bobbing). I have never been at an event in which so many people were all focused on just one thing together with such a shared sense of hope, optimism, and smiles for their neighbor.
Thankfully that positive energy carried out as we walked home because otherwise it could have been mass chaos trying to get out of packs of people. We literally shimmied for about 30 minutes taking baby steps while being basically carried by the movement of the crowd that surrounded us.
I just watched the concert again on HBO online. Unfortunately they only played it on the site for one week so it is no longer available. My heart was beating fast watching it as I remembered the momentum of the crowd, the spark in the air, and the great sense of shared community.