Dawn of a New Era: President Obama Greets Cape Town

Election Morning at the U.S. Consul General's Home
We forced ourselves to go to sleep on Election Night at 11:00 pm, knowing that we would need to get up around 4:00 in the moring to catch the action with the polls closing. 4:00 am Cape Town is 9:00 pm in New York, so we knew that by then, the results of the election would be coming in. We woke up to some pretty good news, with Obama grabbing the early lead on the East Coast. We quickly woke the girls (not a pleasant scene), got dressed and into the car to go over to the Consulate Generale's house for the "Election Day Breakfast Party." We got there around 5:30, and found around 150 other Americans and Capetonians gathered around a number of large screen TVs, and a row of computer screens scattered throughout the residence. The house was decked out with lots of red, white and blue bunting and election paraphanalia, including life sized cut-ous of both McCain and Obama.

Of course, there was also an awesome breakfast spread. We made our way outside, and parked ourselves in front of one of the big screens. The girls went off to search out the fruit salads and the muffins, and Naomi and I hunkered in to watch the results come in. By around 7:00 am, they just predicted that Virginia went to Obama, and then right after that, the polls officially closed in California and they made the call: OBAMA IS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

It was an amazing feeling. We were in tears for the next couple of hours, not believing what we were experiencing. I knew I cared, but I didn't think I would be this emotional. It was only then that I realized how much pain I've been in for the past eight years, having our country be led by someone who I have absolutely no respect for, and worse, someone who has done such damage to our standing in the world, someone who has brought so much pain to so many. Thankfully, those days were almost over.

It was truly an amazing scene to be part of. Truly historic. And sitting on a hill looking over the city of Cape Town coming alive in the early morning light, you really felt that this was the dawning of a new day. I'm sure the girls will have no problem remembering where they were when...

The Pollacks in the Media Spotlight
I guess we were a bit photogenic sitting in front of the TV as a family, sobbing. Naomi and I were in tears, and Maya was in tears from her hay-fever --but it looked good. Anyway, a reporter from the local on-line news service "News24.com" asked us if she could interview us. So I went off to do a quick interview between the sobs. Some of my statements made it into this article, which I think you'll enjoy (sorry Mom for calling you a "conservative," but I took a little artistic license): http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2421320,00.html

Also, even though my interview ended up on the cutting-room floor, here is a link to the video of the breakfast at the Consul Generale's home. You can get a good feel for the scene, and if you watch closely all the way to the end (when the speaker of the South African parliament is talking), you'll get a shot of the "sobbing Pollacks" --all four of us!



http://www.24.com/news/2008/code/US_elections_results_300k.htm

YES WE CAN! YES WE DID!

The dawining of a new day, not just for America, but truly, for the world.

Blog ya later.

Seth./.