The Presidency, Obama, and Tomorrow

The elections have been a big deal in Israel as I'm sure you all know. Israel is tied to the U.S. in a lot of ways - security, economy, military, politics, tourism, etc. Additionally, there are a lot of Americans who live in Israel both as visitors and citizens.

A number of people in my program stood up all night Tuesday-Wednesday to watch as election returns began to come in. They watched Fox News on a tv in the student center. I did not join them. I had to get up in the middle of the night to register for classes at DU for the Winter Quarter at 3:20 a.m. my time, so I watched some returns then. I also got up early in the morning to see more solid numbers - it was around midnight central time when I woke up.

I had hoped to be able to watch CNN or Fox News live online for results, but was unable to on Fox News' website and CNN only had their International Edition available, which kinda isn't very good. Instead, I watched MSNBC as well as clips from other news services. I also followed political results and news throughout and after the election process from CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Economist, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the Denver Post, among others.

When I bought lunch yesterday, Wednesday, I heard the Israeli news come on and then they played a clip of Obama's Winning Speech. Most Israelis I have met seem to be happy for a United States President Obama. My roommate questioned me on why I supported Obama and how he will be successful in making his "change". He has his doubts, although in the process of our conversation I somehow learned that he trained with the U.S. Military in Israel while he was in the Army.

Today, I got an English language version of the Jerusalem Post newspaper and a Hebrew language version of the Yediot Ahoronot newspaper. Both of them are covered with news, reactions, statistics, editiorials, etc. about the election. They are the November 6 edition as the results had not been announced in time for the November 5 papers in Israel. Logically though, I can't read much of the Hebrew newspaper and I haven't read the English one. While I'm sure I already know, I'd like to see what direction Missouri officially goes for President.

On another note, I had a Hebrew test today which went well. It focused on a story we've been learning about Hanah Senesh. I also went to the mall downtown, the shuk, and the Beduin shuk. I was unsuccessful in finding a sweatshirt, which I need, in Hebrew. However, I bought a fleece sweatshirt from the Israeli clothing company Fox in the mall.

Tomorrow, I am leaving at 7:30 a.m. for an Overseas Student Program trip to Eilat. We will be doing some hiking along the way and snorkeling in the coral reefs. It should be fun.

Ha, look at that. Tomorrow could be a double entendre between Obama and what I am doing. Craziness...