Dining with Squirrels

What a day!  What a country!!

I’m sitting in front of our old 18” tv dragged out of the basement this morning as our Big Daddy television wouldn’t wake up this morning.  The sun is shining and if there was one day in this dismal West Michigan winter to see the sun, today is it!

Barak Hussein Obama is being inaugurated today.

I thought  I’d share with you an email I received from a friend in Cameroon the day after the election.

I thought it amazing to read how the thrill we were — and are — feeling here had traveled around the world.  Read this:

Hi Everyone,

Today is a day of celebration here in Cameroon — and the word everyone is using is “HOPE!”  I don’t know if you are all Obama supporters, but in any case I thought you might be interested in how the Cameroonians I know are reacting to Obama’s victory.  I never understood how invested the whole world (including Yaounde) is in this election until yesterday when I was walking through our neighborhood.  Strangers would yell at me,  “Did you vote for Obama?”  When I said yes they would cheer and shout.  Today as I was walking to work, everyone was talking about Obama.  I passed some gardeners discussing his two grandmothers.  Further along two guards were discussing Obama and how this opens a whole new page in world history.   When I got to work, I had a meeting first thing with my Cameroonian boss.   When I walked into his office he said, “So, are you happy about Obama?”  When I said yes, he became jubilant and told how he hadn’t slept a wink the whole night.  With tears streaming down his face he said things like:

“Obama didn’t win with just the votes of the black people.  Many whites also voted for him – this shows me that the  majority of Americans are not racist after all.  We now understand that things have truly changed in America.”

“The fact that America elected a black president will bring healing and reconciliation throughout the world.   God will use him mightily!”

“I have hope for the world!  I have hope for Africa!  I have hope for Cameroon!  I have hope that in our country some day we can have a well-educated African man like Obama who will lead with honesty and justice!”

“Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is fulfilled!”

“The world has learned a lesson from America today – that we too can change things!”

Finally, he was almost too excited to meet with me.  He said luckily he had a doctors’ appointment this afternoon, which will give him an excuse to go home and celebrate.  “Who can work on a great day in history like this?”, he said.  These are the kinds of things I’m hearing from all the Cameroonians I have seen today.

The thing is that people here and in other countries talk about Obama almost as if he’s the Messiah.  Who could possibly live up to these expectations?

OK, that’s the word from Yaounde today.  Have a great one, everybody.

The world is watching.  Hope you all can too.
Blessings!!!