Inauguration

Okay, the long awaited post about my experiences at the Inauguration is finally here! Yay! I guess I'll just begin by saying that being here during this historic time of our nation's history was FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

I began the day on January 20, 2009 by walking from the Barlow center down Pennsylvania Avenue and then down to the National Mall. My friends and I left at around 9:00 in the morning and joined the thousands of other people who were excitedly making their way down to the mall in eager anticipation of witnessing our next President be sworn in. My friends and I had plans to watch the inauguration at the reception being held by the Utah Delegation in the Senate Building which is actually behind the Capitol building, but before we went there, we wanted to at least see a little bit of all the craziness that was happening down on the mall. So we joined the other hoards of people making their way in that direction.

If I was looking to be a part of a crowd, I definitely found it. The streets were pretty much filled, but still moving steadily with plenty of space between people, and at that time the south end of the Mall was very busy, but still quite open. As soon as we got near the Washington Monument, however, the crowd quickly thickened into a sea of people that was difficult to navigate through. We had to change directions several times because we frequently found ourselves in spots that were so crowded that there was absolutely no way to move forward, and if we didn't turn around quickly, we would have been swallowed up in the ocean of bodies and would have been stuck out in the cold for the next 3-4 hours with the rest of the crazies.

Luckily, we were able to find loopholes and work our way through the crowd until we found ourselves on the far east end of the mall. From there we worked our way around the city until we could finally get up behind the capitol building. At about 11:15 we found the senate building, and made our way inside, went through security, up to the top floor, and found ourselves warm, comfortable, and happily enjoying cookies and hot chocolate with a nice view of some big screen tvs with a few minutes to spare before the inauguration took place.

Here is a map: you can see my route in Black. :-)

The atmosphere throughout the whole city was one of excitement and anticipation. People were cheering and clapping all the way to the mall. When President Obama took the Oath of Office, everyone was shouting and applauding and spirits were high. I do have to admit that I got warm tingly feelings all over me when I heard Obama give his inaugural address. I wasn't much of an Obama fan before I came to DC, but my opinion of him is quickly changing to one of favor. I think he will definitely bring changes to our country, and I do believe that many of them will be constructive changes that will have a favorable impact not only in our country, but also in many countries around the world that have suffered from hasty and mis-informed decisions made by the Bush administration. From our location at the top of the Hart Senate building, we were able to see President Bush's helicopter lift off from behind the Capitol and fly over the mall as a departing salute as the mantle of power was transferred to our new President.

After the inauguration a few of us decided we would try to make our way towards Pennsylvania avenue to see the parade. However, once we reached the parade route which was completely blocked off with caged barricades and check points, we saw that there were huge lines of people waiting to go through security to get into the parade area. I was tired and sore from having walked probably 6 to 7 miles that day, so I decided to head back to the Barlow Center to watch the parade on TV. I was glad that I made that decision because the parade didn't start until a couple hours after I got back home. I was able to see part of it on TV after I had eaten a nice warm lunch and had changed into comfortable clothes. I saw the Presidential motorcade make it almost to the White House, I saw Obama and Michelle get out and walk part of the parade route, but that is the last thing I remember because the next thing I knew I was waking up after having fallen asleep on the couch and the parade was almost over.

Later that evening, a few of my friends and I walked down to Georgetown to see if we could see any movie stars because we are only a block or two away from the Four Seasons Hotel where many famous people stay and then go shopping in Georgetown. But apparently all those fancy people were already attending exclusive inaugural Balls somewhere else because we didn't see anyone. So we went to this cute little french cafe and had hot chocolate.

I am so glad that I was able to be here for this event. I think I picked a great semester to be here in Washington. A lot of people on the news remarked on how "cold" it was during the inauguration, but I didn't think it was really that bad. It was probably in the low 30's, which is cold, but not as cold as many other parts of the country. And I didnt' really have to stay out in the cold that long because I watched it inside the senate building. Considering that many people who had tickets to get into the areas close to the capitol were never able to get in because they were stuck in a tunnel near the mall through the whole thing, even though what I saw of it was on a tv screen that wasn't much different than what someone in San Diego would have seen on their tv, the fact that I actually got to see what was happening as it was happening and only a block or so away from where it was happening is still pretty cool. The only bad thing about what happened is that I think I got tendonitis from walking around all day in boots that were actually pretty warm and comfortable, but were probably not made for walking around all day in. My achilles tendon in both legs have been throbbing since Wednesday morning and it hurts to walk and go up and down stairs. I guess I should have stretched my legs before and after making such a trek around the city.

Anyway, even in the few short days since the inauguration, Obama has already made some huge decisions that are definitely going to enact a lot of changes throughout the world, so I am excited to see what else will happen under the new administration.