The Inauguration

The world was buzzing. Every nation greatly anticipated the transfer of leadership. A beginning. A change. A hope.
Now the t-shirts with Obama's face make sense. Now the calls in the market encouraging me to "greet Obama" make me smile. A beginning. A change. A hope.
For right now the world loves Americans.
I joined the large crowd at a bar to watch the event. With 40 Peace Corps volunteers and a couple hundred people whose accents littered the globe, we were jammed butt to gut. When the announcer began I first wondered why they got the guy that announces wrestling events. I concluded that the world's viewing audience was in fact ready to rumble.
I "mall walked" my way through the room gathering the bits of conversations. But when the ceremony began the silence held a presence among wide-eyes, half-opened smiles and those rings of condensation on wood tables. The oaths, the speeches, the prayers...and the cello? Did you see how BIG that guy was smiling? His smile was the loudest at the bar.
Every so often the crowd erupted and the atmosphere was buzzed more than me.
As the announcer instructed the D.C. crowd to stand for the national anthem I remembered how my "enlightened intellect" in college forbade me from singing a song about war and borders. But right then I looked around at the faces of soul-searching volunteers employed and supported by Uncle Sam. A beginning. A change. A hope. At an Irish bar in an African capital.
If that doesnt send red-white-blue through your veins than you should check your pulse.
So I stood, with my fellow Americans, and we sang the Star-Spangled Banner. The English man next to me was infected with americanitis as he sang every word LOUDLY. At the conclusion with the cheers turning into another round of drinks, I turned to the Englishman and he said, "I bloody believe in America."
My Zamlish reply, "even me brother, even me."
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I just finished a week of training that officially ended my 3 month community entry period. The training was detailed information of project planning and understanding budgets of grants/donation money. So basically a lot of stuff I dont understand and will try to minimize as much as possible in my service.
Im a farmer. Im a listener. Im a writer.
I work with the soil. With the people. With my mind.
For?
A beginning. A change. A hope.