Feb 3, 2009
January 20, 2009.
We know this post is long. It was a long day, but well worth it. We hope reading this is, too.
3:30 AM: Rise and shine!
For some reason it's easier to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to witness history being made than it is to get up for an 8 o'clock class. If only our professors could promise a newsworthy lecture every morning...
The seven of us rolled out of our respective beds, couches, and floors and into the endless layers of clothing we would soon be thankful for packing. As we downed coffee and jammed muffins into our pockets, we briefly wondered if waking up eight hours before the swearing in was even necessary. The answer, we'd quickly find out, was yes.
4:15 AM: Stand back, doors closing.
We walked through the chilly pitch-black morning to the Vienna Metro station in northern Virginia where the line to purchase Metro tickets was already overflowing out of the station and into the parking lot. Being well versed on Washingtonianism, we bought our tickets the day before and bypassed the hour-long line to join the dozens beyond dozens of people already waiting on the platform. We managed to find seats for five of us...pretty good, considering.
5:30 AM: Lean on me.
Our early start was later than some. The Metro had
opened at 3, so the normal 30-45 minute ride into the city was delayed due to tourist Metro traffic on the trains in front of us. No worries, though. We made it into DC before the sun had risen and joined the throngs of people walking blindly towards the National Mall. After walking a few blocks, our adrenaline-aided hike to the Mall came to a dead stop. We were now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with breathing room only among HUNDREDS of people boasting every age, color, shape, and size. The world in one city block.
At this point, patience and a sense of humor were necessary for the following reasons:
1. It was freezing.
2. If you weren't claustrophobic to begin with, you were learning why that fear exists.
3. It was freezing.
4. It was early.
5. It was freezing.
6. After hearing the horrific news stories about the Black Friday Walmart tramplings, we realized how much of a reality a "death-by-trampling" really is.
7. Oh, and it was freezing.
These two necessities ran rampant throughout the crowd as indicated by random Obama chants and spontaneous singing. One group started singing "Lean on Me," but it only took a handful of seconds for everyone to join in. Funny how fitting that song was.
7:30 AM: What?! We're in the wrong line?!
We woke up at 3:30 that morning for one reason: to get a within-Capitol-view spot on the Mall. We had read that the Mall opened to the public at 4AM, so when our crowd had not budged an INCH towards that direction in the span of two hours, we started wondering why.
We were in the wrong "line."
When we got off the Metro, we had specifically told a DC police officer that we were wanting to see the swearing in and not the parade (tourists were advised to choose one over the other due to massive amounts of people). He had directed us to the wrong location. Sooooo...we pushed our way out of the parade group where we sucked in oxygen for the first time that morning and realized that it was, in fact, a lot colder outside of the crowd than inside of it.
DC cops have crowd control down pat. Frustrating for the crowd, but logical for the controllers. When we had escaped the parade traffic, we were directed to a specific intersection. When we got there, a policewoman directed us to walk four more blocks. When we got THERE, two policemen directed us back to that first intersection. We had walked in a 20 minute CIRCLE so that the crowd would disperse and become slightly more controllable. Thanks.
8:45 AM: This land was made for you AND me.
We made it.
Our goal of seeing the Capitol did not happen as we stood allllll the way back by the Washington Monument. We could care less. As far as we were concerned, we had a perfect view of one of the many jumbotrons and were currently standing among 2+ million of our fellow Americans. Gives us the chills to even write that.
(Erin on the left, Lauren on the right)
Go ahead. Say it..."WOW."
If you've noticed, we have yet to indicate which candidate received our votes (This was the first presidential election we were old enough to vote in, by the way. An exciting one, yes?) We won't because it doesn't matter...it didn't matter. All of January 20, 2009 can be summed up in that picture.
The media portrays a violent America; our home plagued with crime and fear; our American bothers and sisters polluted with prejudices and materialism. Think again, America. While walking to the Mall, inauguration volunteers handed out nametags that read: "HELLO, FELLOW AMERICAN. MY NAME IS ____________." Their cheery "Good morning!" and "Welcome to DC!" greetings destroyed claustrophobia, restored excitement, and removed resentment of waiting in the wrong line. We were now standing among friends we had never met, our countrymen and women whose life stories we wish we had the chance to hear. We were introducing ourselves to people from every state (plus several other countries!!), every walk of life, every ethnicity. We were reggae dancing to Bob Marley's "ONE Love" with perfect "strangers" (a.k.a. new friends). We were laughing and basking in what many have died to give us: freedom.
Before the swearing in, the previous day's "We Are One" Inauguration Concert played on the jumbotrons. Picture this: the microcosm of America that stood on the National Mall sang "This Land is Your Land" IN UNISON. The Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger-led rendition of the song we all learned in elementary school had so much more meaning when the people of that "land" were singing it together. We took a video, but here's one from YouTube that's longer than ours and closer to the Capitol.
11:30 AM: We have a new president.
At 11:30, President-Elect Barack Obama became President Barack Obama. And that's that.
See the people in this picture? They're Obama supporters. They're McCain supporters. They're Clinton (Mr. and Mrs.) supporters. They're Bush supporters. They're (insert name here) supporters.
We don't know if you caught any news coverage of this day, but in case you didn't: no arrests were made. 2+ million people of different beliefs crammed into a tiny city on a day the government designated "A National State of Emergency" and no arrests were made. We can vouche for that. With the exception of a few, this was a peaceful, respectable, respectful crowd. That's the way it should be.
3:30 PM: We can feel our toes again!
Due to the tourist invasion, Metro was closed immediately following the inauguration. We walked from one quadrant of the city to another to a friend's apartment where we watched pieces of the parade and warmed up with hot tea. The day was just about over for four in the group and the night was just beginning for three of us. We had a BALL to get ready for!
6:00 PM: Good ol' Rocky Top.
As we were walking out of the apartment for the ball with our friend, Lindsay, we heard something familiar on the TV. The shot of President Obama bobbing his head to "Rocky Top" switched to The Pride of the Southland Marching Band. OUR band on national television! Were we proud? Oh yeah.
Back outside in the cold, we hailed a taxi. With roads closed off and parade/ball traffic, there was no way our cab driver could get us to our ball. No way.
So we decided to walk....in our gowns...in our heels...in the sunless cold...for 10 blocks.
About 3 blocks into our icy trek, we stumbled upon an empty rickshaw. As he was wheeling away, we shouted, "Rickshaw!!" We told him our story, so he piled the three of us in his two-person carriage and did everything...EVERYTHING...in his power to get us to the steps of the National Museum of Natural History for our ball. He took us down alleyways, around barricades, on roads closed to automobiles...and then we were there.
6:30 PM: The Health for All Blue Diamond Inaugural Ball
This time last year, Lauren interned with the American Public Health Association. APHA was one of the partners for this ball, so we were able to purchase discounted tickets. We were very lucky.
(Erin on the left, Lauren on the right)
Speakers at this event included Drs. Paul Farmer and Jim Kim of Partners in Health (go read Mountains Beyond Mountains if you've never heard of these men...NOW), several congressmen, the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the executive director of APHA, UN Goodwill Ambassadors, and others.
The ground floor of the museum was open for guests to explore, but only VIP guests could go upstairs and view the blue Hope Diamond after which the ball is named. We sat with a couple and talked about global health and public health education over hors d'ouvres before they let us use their VIP tickets to see the diamond. And the kindness theme continues.
Midnight: Koman ou ye, Dokter Farmer?
We snatched a picture with Dr. Farmer before heading back to Vienna. Lauren practiced her Creole with the man who pioneered global health (starting in Haiti) and then the night was over. We arrived in Vienna around 1 AM and drove straight back to Knoxville.
...just in time for class.
3:30 AM: Rise and shine!
For some reason it's easier to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to witness history being made than it is to get up for an 8 o'clock class. If only our professors could promise a newsworthy lecture every morning...
The seven of us rolled out of our respective beds, couches, and floors and into the endless layers of clothing we would soon be thankful for packing. As we downed coffee and jammed muffins into our pockets, we briefly wondered if waking up eight hours before the swearing in was even necessary. The answer, we'd quickly find out, was yes.
4:15 AM: Stand back, doors closing.
We walked through the chilly pitch-black morning to the Vienna Metro station in northern Virginia where the line to purchase Metro tickets was already overflowing out of the station and into the parking lot. Being well versed on Washingtonianism, we bought our tickets the day before and bypassed the hour-long line to join the dozens beyond dozens of people already waiting on the platform. We managed to find seats for five of us...pretty good, considering.
5:30 AM: Lean on me.
Our early start was later than some. The Metro had
opened at 3, so the normal 30-45 minute ride into the city was delayed due to tourist Metro traffic on the trains in front of us. No worries, though. We made it into DC before the sun had risen and joined the throngs of people walking blindly towards the National Mall. After walking a few blocks, our adrenaline-aided hike to the Mall came to a dead stop. We were now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with breathing room only among HUNDREDS of people boasting every age, color, shape, and size. The world in one city block.At this point, patience and a sense of humor were necessary for the following reasons:
1. It was freezing.
2. If you weren't claustrophobic to begin with, you were learning why that fear exists.
3. It was freezing.
4. It was early.
5. It was freezing.
6. After hearing the horrific news stories about the Black Friday Walmart tramplings, we realized how much of a reality a "death-by-trampling" really is.
7. Oh, and it was freezing.
These two necessities ran rampant throughout the crowd as indicated by random Obama chants and spontaneous singing. One group started singing "Lean on Me," but it only took a handful of seconds for everyone to join in. Funny how fitting that song was.
7:30 AM: What?! We're in the wrong line?!
We woke up at 3:30 that morning for one reason: to get a within-Capitol-view spot on the Mall. We had read that the Mall opened to the public at 4AM, so when our crowd had not budged an INCH towards that direction in the span of two hours, we started wondering why.
We were in the wrong "line."
When we got off the Metro, we had specifically told a DC police officer that we were wanting to see the swearing in and not the parade (tourists were advised to choose one over the other due to massive amounts of people). He had directed us to the wrong location. Sooooo...we pushed our way out of the parade group where we sucked in oxygen for the first time that morning and realized that it was, in fact, a lot colder outside of the crowd than inside of it.
DC cops have crowd control down pat. Frustrating for the crowd, but logical for the controllers. When we had escaped the parade traffic, we were directed to a specific intersection. When we got there, a policewoman directed us to walk four more blocks. When we got THERE, two policemen directed us back to that first intersection. We had walked in a 20 minute CIRCLE so that the crowd would disperse and become slightly more controllable. Thanks.
8:45 AM: This land was made for you AND me.
We made it.
Our goal of seeing the Capitol did not happen as we stood allllll the way back by the Washington Monument. We could care less. As far as we were concerned, we had a perfect view of one of the many jumbotrons and were currently standing among 2+ million of our fellow Americans. Gives us the chills to even write that.
(Erin on the left, Lauren on the right)If you've noticed, we have yet to indicate which candidate received our votes (This was the first presidential election we were old enough to vote in, by the way. An exciting one, yes?) We won't because it doesn't matter...it didn't matter. All of January 20, 2009 can be summed up in that picture.
The media portrays a violent America; our home plagued with crime and fear; our American bothers and sisters polluted with prejudices and materialism. Think again, America. While walking to the Mall, inauguration volunteers handed out nametags that read: "HELLO, FELLOW AMERICAN. MY NAME IS ____________." Their cheery "Good morning!" and "Welcome to DC!" greetings destroyed claustrophobia, restored excitement, and removed resentment of waiting in the wrong line. We were now standing among friends we had never met, our countrymen and women whose life stories we wish we had the chance to hear. We were introducing ourselves to people from every state (plus several other countries!!), every walk of life, every ethnicity. We were reggae dancing to Bob Marley's "ONE Love" with perfect "strangers" (a.k.a. new friends). We were laughing and basking in what many have died to give us: freedom.
Before the swearing in, the previous day's "We Are One" Inauguration Concert played on the jumbotrons. Picture this: the microcosm of America that stood on the National Mall sang "This Land is Your Land" IN UNISON. The Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger-led rendition of the song we all learned in elementary school had so much more meaning when the people of that "land" were singing it together. We took a video, but here's one from YouTube that's longer than ours and closer to the Capitol.
11:30 AM: We have a new president.
At 11:30, President-Elect Barack Obama became President Barack Obama. And that's that.See the people in this picture? They're Obama supporters. They're McCain supporters. They're Clinton (Mr. and Mrs.) supporters. They're Bush supporters. They're (insert name here) supporters.
We don't know if you caught any news coverage of this day, but in case you didn't: no arrests were made. 2+ million people of different beliefs crammed into a tiny city on a day the government designated "A National State of Emergency" and no arrests were made. We can vouche for that. With the exception of a few, this was a peaceful, respectable, respectful crowd. That's the way it should be.
3:30 PM: We can feel our toes again!
Due to the tourist invasion, Metro was closed immediately following the inauguration. We walked from one quadrant of the city to another to a friend's apartment where we watched pieces of the parade and warmed up with hot tea. The day was just about over for four in the group and the night was just beginning for three of us. We had a BALL to get ready for!
6:00 PM: Good ol' Rocky Top.
As we were walking out of the apartment for the ball with our friend, Lindsay, we heard something familiar on the TV. The shot of President Obama bobbing his head to "Rocky Top" switched to The Pride of the Southland Marching Band. OUR band on national television! Were we proud? Oh yeah.
Back outside in the cold, we hailed a taxi. With roads closed off and parade/ball traffic, there was no way our cab driver could get us to our ball. No way.
So we decided to walk....in our gowns...in our heels...in the sunless cold...for 10 blocks.
About 3 blocks into our icy trek, we stumbled upon an empty rickshaw. As he was wheeling away, we shouted, "Rickshaw!!" We told him our story, so he piled the three of us in his two-person carriage and did everything...EVERYTHING...in his power to get us to the steps of the National Museum of Natural History for our ball. He took us down alleyways, around barricades, on roads closed to automobiles...and then we were there.
6:30 PM: The Health for All Blue Diamond Inaugural Ball
This time last year, Lauren interned with the American Public Health Association. APHA was one of the partners for this ball, so we were able to purchase discounted tickets. We were very lucky.
(Erin on the left, Lauren on the right)Speakers at this event included Drs. Paul Farmer and Jim Kim of Partners in Health (go read Mountains Beyond Mountains if you've never heard of these men...NOW), several congressmen, the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the executive director of APHA, UN Goodwill Ambassadors, and others.
The ground floor of the museum was open for guests to explore, but only VIP guests could go upstairs and view the blue Hope Diamond after which the ball is named. We sat with a couple and talked about global health and public health education over hors d'ouvres before they let us use their VIP tickets to see the diamond. And the kindness theme continues.Midnight: Koman ou ye, Dokter Farmer?
We snatched a picture with Dr. Farmer before heading back to Vienna. Lauren practiced her Creole with the man who pioneered global health (starting in Haiti) and then the night was over. We arrived in Vienna around 1 AM and drove straight back to Knoxville....just in time for class.
• • •
1 Comments:
I am SO glad i was able to spend this wonderful, historic, magical, freezing cold, beautiful beautiful day with you two!
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