8:34 AM

I’m with my friend Mai, and we’re finally on the Mall. The shuttle bus dropped us off a few blocks from the Mall, so we had to walk the rest of the way. We were herded like cattle with the rest of the general admission crowd down 6th Avenue; there were friendly volunteers everywhere greeting people with “Welcome to DC!” and providing directions.

One thing I was a little disappointed about: I stopped at a restaurant to grab breakfast, and they tried to price gauge by charging me $5.99 for a sandwich that was listed as $2.49 on their menu. Not cool at all.

The Mall itself is filling up quickly. We managed to find a spot about 2/3 of the way between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. While we can’t make out the people on the Capitol steps from this far away, we have a clear view of both the Capitol and one of the several jumbo screens on the Mall. Volunteers were handing out free American flags to everyone, so we took a few and plan on waving them indiscriminately. We can see several Secret Service agents on rooftops of the various Smithsonian museums along the Mall. Every few minutes, a military helicopter will also do rounds overhead. Once again, the all-out effort and organization has so far been most impressive.

The atmosphere is electric. Despite the freezing 20°F weather, people are huddled together chatting excitedly or even singing patriotic songs. They’re replaying last night’s inauguration concert on the Mall, so every once in a while, you can hear the crowd cheering or singing along with songs like “American Pie.”