small view

about two years ago after a long weekend of camping, a few friends and i loaded into my car and drove down to east la to hear a rising politician speak. i had seen barack obama speak on tv a few times. there was decent chatter about the senator for illinois, but i myself did not know too much about him beyond what i had read in his book. i was told the rally was in east la to see if obama could truly appeal to a larger audience. we all packed into the outfield of a high school baseball field and waited in anticipation. i stood next to a small, rounder older lady. she was wearing jeans,  jean jacket and had mardi gras beads strung around her neck. she wore dark black sunglasses and her dreaded hair was tucked into her oversized hat. in her hands, she held two barack obama books. she exuded joy and excitement, barely able to stand still and telling everyone around her who they were about to see. when barack did come onto the stage, she fumbled her tiny camera into my hands.

"take a picture, son! please! i can't see barack now, but i want to see him later. for now, i will just listen."

at 6' 3, i can usually see stages without a problem. today was no different and i snapped several pictures of barack, speaking in his signature look: white collared shirt, tie and sleeves rolled past his elbow. he announced that he would run for president in november 2008. i listened to his words and thought how far away november 2008 seemed. could this actually happen? for a good part of the primaries, i was living in differents parts of the world and saw some very different opinions on mr. obama. alaskans were not too excited about him. argentines thought clinton would win. chileans thought clinton would win. everyone was tuned in. i read articles throughout traveling on the election and how each candidate would affect the greater world beyond the united states. towards the end of my trip, i sat on a boat on a lake in peru with my good friends and travel companions, emily and layne. we were being lashed into by a group of argentine, mexican and french travelers about american politics over the past few years. it was rather humbling and humiliating to find such malcontent for the united states. somewhat dejected, i struck up a conversation with a swiss man at the back of the boat. he wanted to continue to talk about politics. i told him how hard it can be abroad and find yourself constantly on the defensive about your country, finding ways to acknowledge the wrongs done and the good we have provided as well.

"you should never be ashamed of where you are from", he replied. "especially you, because you have the power to change the world. so for those of us who can only watch, please vote and make a difference in the world". 

and here we are, december 17, 2008 and we are about a month away from barack obama being inaguarated as the fourty fourth president of the united states. a monumental accomplishment for our nation and a reminder at how limited my imagination can be.