Obama in Cairo

Several people have asked about how the US election of Barack Obama is being received here in Egypt. It is all very positive, thankfully. I am very grateful that he won, not only for my own safety and reception here in the Middle East, but it helps A LOT. Many people here, as in the US, saw McCain as another Bush – whom by the way the pretty much hate, in case there was any question about that.

I was on a plane overnight from Nov 4 until the early morning (US time) on the 5th. So we did not get confirmation of Obama’s win until we landed. Those who I spoke with on the plane were feeling confident that he would win. I was hopeful but nervous.

I spoke with an Egyptian man who has lived in the US for 7 years now. He went to college in the US and now works in biological engineering, making vaccines. He took advantage of the housing crisis and bought himself a house and he is a US citizen now. He wanted to confirm I voted before I boarded the plane. We both had. He recounted the story of his voting experience with a smile. When he told the poll worker, an elderly white woman, his name, “Ahmed” she said, “Oh, we had one of those earlier, such a strange name Ahmed.”

When we landed and got word of Obama’s victory, there was relief and celebration. I was greeted by all of my colleagues at the office with, “Congratulations! Did you here? Obama won!” Even my new neighbors, young, Egyptian college students said, “Congratulations!” The overwhelming sense is that Obama is and will be good for the US, good for Egypt, good for Iraq, good for the region and good for the world. With my limited Arabic skills, “good” and “congratulations” is really all I can make out.

A couple of my work colleagues have been a bit more vocal about it. They feel very positive about Obama’s (and our) victory. “Not only because he is America’s first black president and not only because he has ties to Africa but because he is a Democrat.” Several people here speak of the Clinton years as very prosperous time and want to return to that. But in my opinion people are also putting a lot of pressure on President Elect Obama to fix everything. They believe he can miraculously fix the US economy which in turn will stabilize economies worldwide, and immediately end the war. So in short, Obama’s victory is being received much like it is at home in Democratic communities – joyously and with a lot of high expectations.

I must add though that the celebrations here – or at least the ones I am aware of - are tame compared to the ones I hear and read about at home. Friends in DC and all over talk of jubilation late into the night and tears of joy watching Obama’s acceptance speech. I truly wish I was home to witness and be a part of that. Let’s hope by January I can get a TV with CNN so I can watch the inauguration – or at least find an expat community willing to share theirs.

If you can, I highly recommend going to DC for the inauguration. I was there fore Clinton’s 2nd and what a party it was!! But that’s a story for another time and another blog. All I'll say now is: Just, jump the fence and enjoy it all!!!