by Steph
11/6/2008 12:41:00 PM
Another wild shift in culture... we left the Western comforts of Kuta, Bali for the chaos that is Mumba/Bombay, India. We arrived at 11pm on November 4th and quickly settled into our hotel room to watch election returns. Just before 11am, with tears in my eyes, we saw and heard Barack Obama eloquently speak as the President-Elect of the United States. Literally - around the world, all eyes were on Chicago that day, it felt surreal! Every channel you turned to showed the now historic images of Obama's acceptance speech in Grant Park. Were any of you there? Maybe his stellar staffer, Lexi?? I scanned the crowd but didn't see any familiar faces (besides Oprah and Jesse Jackson). EVERYWHERE we have travelled in Asia, everyone's standard first question (“Where are you from?”) has been followed up with an expectant “Obama, next President?” Watching and reading the post-election coverage and talking to locals and travellers in India, it is clear that his victory has given inspiration and hope to people wanting change in their own country... and renewed many peoples' depleting faith in America/ns.