The Obama Experience

Inauguration Assignment
Hannah Ford
The Obama Experience
Jessie Himmelstern was one of an estimated two million people who flocked to Washington, DC, for the epic inauguration of Barack Obama. She braved the icy, freezing city at one a.m. on January 20th, with hopes of seeing her first presidential inauguration and, more importantly, witnessing Obama take the Presidential Oath live. What was Himmelstern’s main reason for attending the inauguration? “The experience. It was purely for the experience. I’m in DC right now; I won’t be here in four years. It’s a huge deal. I mean… It’s Obama.”
Himmelstern is a resident of Bogotá, Colombia, and attends American University in the Washington, DC, area. Due to the fact that she isn’t a full time resident Himmelstern could not legally vote for Obama. But, that didn’t squash or sway her passion for him. The enthusiasm of everyone around her and her group helped everyone keep their spirits up, for the most part. “People tried to crowd past us and when we wouldn’t let them, there was a lot of yelling,” she explained. It’s not surprising they wouldn’t budge. The group had left ten hours before the inauguration was to begin; they fought to keep their good spot.
Something she wasn’t expecting from the inauguration was how many people she would meet. There was a group of people near her company that was comprised of students from all over the country. One guy even began rapping for everyone to pass the time. “He wasn’t very good,” she said, laughing. She said it got really emotional when some people near her began to cry. However, when people were booing President Bush, she was really offended. “It’s just rude,” she said. “He’s gone now, just let him leave.”
Himmelstern said seeing the inauguration live was an experience like none other, but it was almost ruined by the trip home. From what she could see, DC was in a state of complete disarray. “No one knew what was going on. Police were directing us to streets that were closed, people were walking under bridges, over highways. Everyone just had the lost look on their face.”
However, to Himmelstern, the cold was by far the worst thing she experienced. “It was even worse than the fake rapper. I’m from Columbia, and lived in Florida after that. I can barely deal with this weather!” She said at one point she had convinced herself it was snowing (something else she’s never seen in real life) because it was so cold. “But, no. I had just gone numb. At least I got to see Obama.”

-end-