dancing.in.the.streets.

[no beating around the bush here. i've done that long enough. it's time for freedom of speech in anna's world, time to cast out my long-held fear of expressing political opinions. you privileged readers, you, who get to read this historic blog post. haha. ;-) i guess i just feel grateful to be able to write it. and to live in light of what will happen next.]

so i paid my dues for exercising my right to vote:

yes, i spent my two hours in line to vote in the swing state of indiana today.

but what a beautiful sunny day it was on which to do so.

with lots of lovely people to wave to ahead and behind.

and what a wonderful investment of my time.

because. it. swung.

and.

Barack Obama.

WON.

now, 'dancing in the streets' is kind of a figure of speech for me, one that i've been whispering to myself whenever i felt peer-pressured to waver in my convictions about this election, and a story that i've occasionally voiced as delicately yet sincerely as possible to those who i thought might have open ears to some of the love-logic behind my opinion.

it comes from a kid. an almost-grown-up kid. a third culture kid whose family is mostly American but grew up mostly in the Middle East/North Africa. i remember the kid's name and can picture his tight curly mop of hair in my mind's eye right now. a creative kid who played guitar and helped lead worship at the camp i was helping to lead. a very intelligent kid who knows much more about politics than i could ever hope to. a kid who saw realistically some of the good and not-so-good on both sides of the ballot, and articulated these tensions quite thoughtfully. a kid who cares deeply for his sisters, his parents, his friends, his neighbors, his countries. a fun-loving kid who ran around and rode roller-coasters all day before settling down on the bus on which we had this conversation with a small group of TCKs interested in the political issues at hand.

at that point, the race for the Dem. nomination was still going on between Hilary and Obama. the kid was observing that although either candidate would be more welcomed by people in his country than a Republican candidate, Hilary might not garner too-too much respect in the Arab world because of her...well...femaleness, which wouldn't carry so much power in such male-dominated societies. so i felt compelled to ask: "and in your impression, what would be the reaction of people in your country and in that area of the world if Obama was elected?" and he said:

"they would be dancing in the streets."

and i thought: i would very much like for them to dance.

and i also thought: i would totally dance with them. i want to be able to dance with them.

and...as of a few sweet hours ago... so i can! tonight, tonight we can DANCE! unfortunately, it's more of an inner dance for me because i still have homework to do tonight, and most people around here are asleep, not to mention they're not necessarily quite as euphoric as i am.

so, although i may have to keep it on the down-low around this conservative campus, 'euphoric' is my new favorite word of the day. i found and claimed it on this neat page at the NY Times site where you can submit a word, every hour if you want, that describes how you're feeling post-election-day, as a supporter of Obama, McCain, or neither.

also on NY Times, an article said "It would be hard to overstate how fervently vast stretches of the globe wanted the election to turn out as it did." [and i'm so freaking proud to be part of those vast stretches.] it frames his victory in light of the fact "that for America to choose as its citizen in chief such a skillful straddler of global identities could not help but transform the nation’s image." [and i'm intensely interested in how the strengths of his TCK identity will serve him in this internationally influential role.] of course, i'm aware "that peace and happiness are not going to suddenly break out."

[except that - in a way or two - they. just. did.]

because - que hermosa - que bendita - a friend who was watching a different TV channel than i was, told me that he saw news clips of people, la gente, in Kenya.

dancing.

in.

the streets.

and they are not alone.

amen.and keep on praying, whether you feel like dancing or not.

peace!