So, I'm back to Greece after my fall break in Istanbul, in one piece and with stories to share. Unfortunately for my viewers at home, the stories are going to have to wait for a little bit. I really want to record Election Day here in Greece while it's still fresh and before I collapse from sleep deprivation, so the next couple entries are going to be out of chronological order. A full write-up of Istanbul is forthcoming, though, I promise!
The first thing that you have to remember about following US elections in Greece is the time difference. Greece is UTC+2, while the East Coast is UTC-5, which makes for a seven hour time difference between the closest time zones. It's even worse for the West Coast, which is where I voted, a nine hour time difference.
There was an election night party sponsored by a Greek television station that a lot of CYAers went to last night. I was not among them, because it was scheduled to end at four in the morning, and I really didn't want to be walking the streets that late. Until about noon yesterday, I was seriously planning to go to bed at a normal time and just see the results when I got up this morning. Then I reconsidered. This was a historic moment, and I really wanted to be up to watch the results. Plus, I've watched the election results come in for every presidential election that I can ever remember, and I don't want to break my streak. And I was behind on my NaNoWriMo.
The solution: I went to bed from about 11:45 to 2:15 in the morning, then got up and worked on my NaNoWriMo while I watched the election results come in. It was a lot of fun actually. I had a box of cinnamon cookies, and I wrote a couple of hundred words, updated my progress spreadsheet, switched my window to look at the latest election coverage off of the Seattle Times website, refreshed a couple of other pages that I had open, went back to my novel, wrote a couple hundred more words, updated my progress spreadsheet, looked at the Seattle Times, refreshed the other couple of pages.... And repeated this until about 6:15 this morning, when the banner on the Seattle Times webpage, instead of saying something about the current returns for the election, said "Obama Sweeps to Victory" and that he had secured the number of Electoral College votes needed to be elected 44th president of the United States. I managed to get in over 3000 words this morning too, so I'm no longer behind on my wordcount at the moment.
Knowing this, and having it be 6:15 in the morning, I went to bed, figuring that I would be able to get about an hour and a half of sleep before I needed to get up for class this morning (oh yes, did I mention that I had an 8:30 class this morning? Luckily, my professor pushed it back to 9:00 and said that she didn't expect any of us to actually be awake for it). I had been in bed for maybe 5 minutes when my roommate and a couple of our friends came in, just having returned from the election night party. At this point I decided that it was pointless to try to sleep, and so I went out in the living room and joined them. It was so intense. All of them were so excited, and nearly in tears, they were so happy that Obama had been elected. We tried to open up CNN on the not-always-working-because-we're-pirating-it-from-someone-else wireless in our apartment, and we finally got it working long enough to watch Obama's victory speech. It was so moving, and everyone was kind of crying and being a mess. Then we were following the state by state and district by district election returns not only for the presidential election, but also for the other races, especially Proposition 8, which was still in really early returns (fewer than 10 percent of precincts reporting) while we were doing this.
Time passes in this manner, aided by tea and cornflakes, and it was time for us all to go to class. I show up at class (site class today, meeting point the Acropolis metro station), and everyone is just as sleep-deprived and excited as I am. Our professor tells us that she didn't even want to have class today, but there was an edict from the administration that all 8:30 classes must go on. And of course, I am really sleep-deprived and running on adrenaline. I'm sure that you've all seen me in something of a similar state, but I was at the point when I'm really excited and energetic and silly and easily amused and talking very very fast. Case in point: when one of our classmates wished our professor a happy Guy Fawkes day as we were walking from the Acropolis metro station to our actual class meeting point at the Pynx (she's British), I started skipping and reciting "Remember remember the fifth of November." I feel very sorry for anyone who had to put up with me this morning.
Our class this morning is atop the Pynx, which is where the Athenian Assembly met. Our professor was reminding all of us how with the democratic process, where we were standing was where it all started. It was kind of amazing to stand where all of the important decisions that Athens made in Classical times were discussed and voted upon, especially this election morning. The view from the Pynx is amazing too, even with all of the smog that Athens is perpetually under. Our professor brought tyropitas to class with her this morning for a special treat to celebrate Election Day and because she knew that most of us were running on fewer than 3 hours of sleep if that, so that was really nice of her.
I suppose that at this point I really ought to give some feedback on what I think of the election returns. It should be no surprise to anyone that I am happy that Obama got elected, though I am reacting with less of the fervor that I observe other people reacting with. Maybe that's because I'm further geographically removed from the election, maybe that's because I just don't tend to get worked up over politics. Gregoire is winning for governor in Washington, which is good because Rossi kind of scares me with his stances on a lot of issues. Gregoire's not perfect, but at least she doesn't scare me. The propositions in Washington went the way I wanted them to: yes on assisted suicide, yes on public transit, and, most importantly, a resounding no on the latest Tim Eyman half-baked inititive. I'm really disappointed in the propositions from other states that I've been following, though. The gay marriage bans in Florida and Arizona passed, and Arkansas passed an initiative banning gay couples from adopting or being foster parents. And Proposition 8 in California looks like it's passing, which makes me want to cry.
Congratulations, everyone, you just got a look into Lara's views on politics. Savor the moment: it will probably never happen again.
Anyway, elections are craziness in Athens even as they are at home, a bit less intense, maybe, but definitely made more interesting by the lack of sleep everyone is experiencing. Now I get to go back to my apartment, get my stuff for my afternoon classes, and write a six-page paper before tomorrow. It's going to be a blast.
Sometimes it's just great being here.
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