Abu Dhabi Responds to Obama

We all watched as CNN reported on people’s reactions around the world when the election was called. We were home and just getting up, since it was around eight o’clock in the morning. I’ve never really paid too much attention to elections in other countries, so it was interesting to see how in tune everybody was over here. As Americans, we are not used to openly discussing politics with strangers or even friends, but here, as soon as you tell anybody (especially cab drivers) you are from the US, the first thing they ask is “Obama?” I always respond with a “yes” and a smile. Even before the election was officially called, one of the porters at the Hilton shook Michael’s hand and congratulated him in the elevator. Since I was standing there with my belly, we assumed that it was because of the baby until he said something about Obama and how the first round was over. He was referring to the predictions being made that Obama would win. We were surprised, although we shouldn’t have been. The morning of the election, Michael went straight to work where he was congratulated three times. Ahmed even said, “He kicked his ass” which cracked me up. Everybody kept saying “congratulations” which for me seemed strange for this occasion. I’m used to being congratulated on personal accomplishments like graduating or getting a promotion. Michael hadn’t shared his political views with his local coworkers, so they assumed he would be happy with the results. What if we had hoped for a McCain Presidency? Being that Michael is the only African American in his office I asked him if others were being congratulated as well- they were. Eric (British) and Darcy (Czech Republic) were just as excited about the elections as we were. They hosted debate parties and had us over to replay Obama’s acceptance speech. I told Michael to come home to listen to the live version. They don’t have any TVs at his office and I didn’t think he should miss this historic moment. We watched in bed teary eyed. Nevertheless we didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity to watch it again on a bigger flat screen. So there we were in Abu Dhabi, four Americans and two Europeans, eating pizza, drinking champagne, and listening to Obama. Some things you just never forget.