After getting about 2.5 hours of sleep last night, I am absolutely exhausted, and I have an Art History exam tomorrow. (I spent about half the night at a convention center outside of Florence with way too many Americans watching CNN and BBC on big screens and then the other half of the night refreshing the SD Secretary of State election pages and chatting with friends online.) Thus, you will sadly have to wait a little while longer for my full reflections on what happened in America yesterday.
There is one point I want to make right now though.
I now know what it feels like to be patriotic.
I know that sounds a little weird and/or sappy, but the thought first hit me at Invesco Field, during Obama’s speech there, that, if he were to win, I might actually, you know, pull a Michelle Obama and be proud of America. I guess it turned out to be true. But what is weird is that I’m not the only one that it happened today. When I met a few other Midd students on the bus this morning on the way to class, the first thing one girl said was, “You know what’s weird? I actually think today I feel patriotic.” When talking to my friends on Skype this evening, people said the exact same thing. It’s also reflected in tons of people’s Facebook statuses.
In response to this, I find myself asking, is this a part of growing up, a part of having my own political opinions, a part of choosing to get involved? Or is this just Obama? Or is it both?
OK, more tomorrow.
Buona sera tutti!
-Em
PS: Don’t worry though, I don’t see myself becoming a Kenny Chesney supporting, flag toting, gun carrying citizen any time soon, or, like, ever.
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I also feel patriotic. The American Dream lives through Barack.