Obama!

Last night I attended a huge party thrown by the embassy at the Ramada in Gammarth. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I certainly was surprised when I got there. The embassy went all out and did an excellent job. There were hundreds of people, mostly Tunisians and other Americans. It was held in a huge ballroom, there was tons of free food and drink and four big screens on the wall with either websites, movies, or CNN screening on them. A corner of the room had five computers with internet access. I spent the first hour and a half mingling and then headed over to the mock election table to volunteer. Any non-American was allowed to vote in the mock election. At 12:30 we closed the votes and tallied them up. Final results: McCain- 18, Obama 290. There were about 6 random write-ins as well. At 1ish people began leaving. By two, we had dwindled down to a solid group of about 50 people (mostly Americans, but some curious Tunisians as well).


We stayed glued to CNN all night long. Our program rented two rooms for us and some people drifted upstairs for a while to nap. The McCain supporters mysteriously vanished. I spent the entire night sitting on the floor... and then lying on the floor when we just couldn't sit up any more. I brought my laptop along with me and opened it up every hour when new states closed to check out the results on my own. I was able to talk to a bunch of my friends from home on and off all night long. It was great to be able to share the experience with them even though I am so far from Chicago. A little after 5 am the polls closed on the west coast. I actually found out from my boyfriend that Obama won right before CNN announced it here. There was screaming, jumping, many hugs. It was an extremely emotional moment for us. I grew quite jealous of my friends in Grant Park. The concession and acceptance speeches made everyone even more emotional. Americans abroad tend to be more liberal, an overwhelming majority of us support Obama. Obama winning will immediately have a direct effect on my life. Now I can be proud to be an American abroad and I can proudly say that I voted for Obama. In my time abroad I've always had to defend my country to people I meet. I'll still have to defend many things, old mistakes don't go away, but at least now I have some positive things to say.


At 7:30 am I stumbled into bed. I woke up at 2pm. I still feel sick with fatigue. I was so exhilarated after the win that I seriously considered going to school. I'm really glad I didn't now because I think I might have caused myself to become physically ill. I'm going to take it pretty easy today and go to sleep early. Tomorrow I leave on my week long trip to the South! I'm really ready to get out of Tunis and see more to this country. I'll be having my 21st birthday on the road as well. A big thanks to all my relatives who have sent me birthday cards. It really has been nice to get them.