Yesterday was a great day. People were talking about it as a historic day, which it truly was, although I think I will need to look back on it from a distance in time to fully realize the meaning of it. It's strange because we all knew that on Jan. 20th, Barack Obama would become president, but what I didn't realize was how huge an event it was going to be. I had to work on my lab meeting presentation for most of the day, but I took a short break at noon to watch the taking of the oath live on TV - it was projected onto a big screen in the main conference room in the hospital and people were sitting on the floor and crowded into the room to be able to watch it during the workday. Now I realize that there is no more liberal place in the US than NYC, and even within NYC, I was watching the transition with a bunch of doctors and scientists. With all that said, I was still amazed by the emotion that I could see in people's eyes and expressions. There were tears and cheers and applause, even though we were sitting in a conference room a couple hundred miles away from Washington, DC. Amazing atmosphere.
It was extremely difficult to concentrate all day: there was live broadcast all day on the internet, and I even came home for lunch to be able to watch a little TV. Then in the evening, there were the balls. Everyone was talking about Michelle Obama's dress and the first couple's first dance, which was very romantic, although Barack didn't seem like a great dancer, although I kinda expected him to be (oh the power of stereotypes!) I was excited when I heard that Sting was performing at the Neighborhood Ball, so I came home early from lab and decided to work at home instead. Now, I have seen Sting perform live several times, and I am a huge fan in general, watched all his movies and bought all his records, but the day has come when I have to say that he looked disturbing. Really hate the crazy facial hair and darker color.
Anyhow, the day was not about him, and his voice is still like it used to be, so I wasn't too disappointed. I really liked the presidents speech, especially where he mentioned science and technology - way to go - and he really spoke to everybody, not just African Americans, not just Americans, but all people who believe in equality and freedom. Even though I am not a citizen, I feel like he is my president as well. It's such an important step for the whole world, not only because of his politics, but because it shows that humanity can indeed overcome issues like racial discrimination (well, mostly... I am sure that people in small towns in the south would disagree), which is still such a huge problem all over the world, including Hungary. Just 40 years ago, like the President said yesterday, his father would not have been served in a restaurant in the South, and today, his son is president of that same country. I do believe that one day it will be possible even in Hungary for minorities like Gypsies to hold office and have equal opportunities. Maybe I am naive and overly optimistic on this first full day of the new administration, but without believing that it can happen, without having seemingly impossible dreams, the world would never progress. After all, so many older Americans said that they never thought they would live to see this day, they thought that maybe their children or grandchildren would, and now that dream that seemed so far away and unlikely has come true. No dream is unlikely or impossible, unless we believe them to be!
No comments:
Post a Comment