Wednesday, January 21, 2009
12:12 AM (January 21, 2009)
I am back in my room and find it hard to believe that I have only been gone for 24 hours (and that the majority of that time has been spent on the charter bus). It was definitely a day well spent, even if I learned the painful lesson of how I should dress in triple layers for such cold day. I can’t believe how quickly such a historic event seemingly flashed by, but it’s one that I won’t ever forget.
6:00 PM
We’re on our way back to Duke! Everyone back on the bus and accounted for. Everyone’s talking about how historic the day was, as well as how they battled the cold and the hunger. There’s all-around agreement that it was a fun and memorable experience, well worth the time and suffering we put in.
For the time being though, the warmth on the bus is what is making me the happiest. It’s perfect welcome back because I’ve never felt so cold in my life. I’m exhausted. Time to sleep. Early goodnight.
For the time being though, the warmth on the bus is what is making me the happiest. It’s perfect welcome back because I’ve never felt so cold in my life. I’m exhausted. Time to sleep. Early goodnight.
4:56 PM
Back at RFK Stadium to board our charter bus. Mai and I both fell (deeply) asleep on the shuttle bus ride; when we woke up, everyone around us was asleep too. I guess we weren’t the only exhausted ones. On the walk back to the charter bus, we stop to buy a souvenir Obama t-shirt. We wanted something simple and classic, so it just says “Obama ‘08” on it with his campaign logo “O.”
4:00 PM
We caught a shuttle back to RFK. Fortunately, the lines had died down so we didn’t have to wait long in the cold.
3:00 PM
After giving up hope on making our way to the parade route, we’re walking with everyone else along the only exit out of the Mall – down 6th Avenue. We did manage to see the Presidential helicopter flying to the Capitol building over our heads, and we also saw some of the parked parade floats, namely floats for Obama and Biden’s home states of Illinois and Delaware.
Exiting with everyone from the Mall seems like the running of the bulls (but walking). People keep bumping into each other, jostling and pushing for position. The scene is a distant cry from the organization in the morning. Everyone is confused about which way to go, and even some of the volunteers and officers don’t know. We asked a couple of volunteers and U.S. Army soldiers where we could find food and get back to the RFK shuttle stop, and none seemed to know. We eventually found an officer who was able to point us to the shuttle stop. However, by the time we got to the stop and saw the crowd of thousands waiting, we needed to use a restroom, and fittingly, there were no restrooms around. Plus, we just realized, we hadn’t eaten anything but a hot dog all day and were starving.
All the buildings along the street were closed, and there were no porta-johns. That meant thousands of people leaving the Mall – hungry and looking for places to relieve themselves – with nowhere to go. We weren’t the only ones desperately looking for public restrooms and a restaurant either. Eventually, we found a small Subway restaurant, where Mai waited 45 minutes to use the bathroom and I waited 45 minutes to buy two sandwiches. It was the most delicious Subway meal I’ve ever had. And what’s more, we got to enjoy inside a warm building. It didn’t matter that we had to eat on the floor; we were just happy to be out of the cold.
Exiting with everyone from the Mall seems like the running of the bulls (but walking). People keep bumping into each other, jostling and pushing for position. The scene is a distant cry from the organization in the morning. Everyone is confused about which way to go, and even some of the volunteers and officers don’t know. We asked a couple of volunteers and U.S. Army soldiers where we could find food and get back to the RFK shuttle stop, and none seemed to know. We eventually found an officer who was able to point us to the shuttle stop. However, by the time we got to the stop and saw the crowd of thousands waiting, we needed to use a restroom, and fittingly, there were no restrooms around. Plus, we just realized, we hadn’t eaten anything but a hot dog all day and were starving.
All the buildings along the street were closed, and there were no porta-johns. That meant thousands of people leaving the Mall – hungry and looking for places to relieve themselves – with nowhere to go. We weren’t the only ones desperately looking for public restrooms and a restaurant either. Eventually, we found a small Subway restaurant, where Mai waited 45 minutes to use the bathroom and I waited 45 minutes to buy two sandwiches. It was the most delicious Subway meal I’ve ever had. And what’s more, we got to enjoy inside a warm building. It didn’t matter that we had to eat on the floor; we were just happy to be out of the cold.
12:40 PM
We left the Mall just before Obama finished his inauguration speech in order to get a head start on the crowd heading to the inauguration parade. Unfortunately, every north exit (from the Mall toward Pennsylvania Avenue) has been blocked off already; apparently the parade-viewing crowd is already full. We searched in vain for other ways around the blockade to get to the parade area, only to be mobbed by the rest of the exiting Mall crowd also looking for ways to get to the parade route. Never have I seen so many people. It looked like multi-colored ants had taken over the hill at the base of the Washington Monument. There weren’t this many people even at the Washington, DC, 4th of July celebrations I attended in 2000.
12:05 PM
Obama has finally been sworn in! A truly historic moment. People were mostly silent and respectful while he took the oath but went berserk as soon as he finished saying, “…protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." We’re lost in a sea of red, white, and blue flags. Never have I felt so patriotic.
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