Friday, January 16, 2009

Baboushkas!

Went to my friend Jamie's annual "Nana Olga's Borscht and Perogies Thanksgiving" party last Saturday and it was a hoot! Saw some serious baboushkas there! I wore my favorite jewelry from high school and a Russian hat (not pictured). Tonight I am in the throws of packing for a trip to the Inauguration! I had to try on some East Coast outfits because it was 86 degrees today and our thin blood will be a disadvantage in Philly (where we stay w/friends Neil and Noelle and see the Liberty Bell), outside of Baltimore (where we will stay with my family-yea!) and DC where we will probably need to pull an allnighter in the cold because all streets and bridges going in will be closed. I will be wearing one of these snuggly outfits so look for me on TV with the tears of inexpressible joy! I will actually be in the ticketed area thanks to my friends Adam and Kathleen who belong in the eternal pantheon of awesomeness. Sam is writing an article for Vice magazine, so he will be out in the crowds, getting the street beat. Every year I teach my primarily Hispanic kindergarten kids about Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. I always have pangs of regret telling the children about racism when they may have never had any idea of it, since they live in such homogeneous neighborhoods. They are always shocked and saddened. This year was different. In November, I had them vote for the U.S. president in our class (I did not bias them at all, I merely gave them photos and asked if they had seen the candidates on TV). Obama won by a large margin, although a few girls voted for McCain because they saw a female V.P. and said they liked the idea. I missed 2 days of school during the elections due to food poisoning. I dragged my shaking body up to the Korean church and voted nonetheless. I cried when Obama won. I had been a fan since reading an article about his family in Vanity Fair well before he ran and I followed his deft campaign doggedly. The obvious ramifications and implications of his win were not lost on me. However, when I returned to school 2 days later, the kids were SO excited that it blew my mind completely. For them, they were shown that they could be or do anything with no limits. I feel like this is some sort of inverse 9/11 sea change and things will be forever changed for the better for everyone. Of course, I am not alone, DC will be swarmed on Tuesday with believers. Which brings me back to MLK who also brought so many believers to DC to hear about his dream that he might have seen realized had he not been killed in the pursuit of it. I taught about the signifigance of this particular MLK Day, the signifigance of the Lincoln Bible that Obama will be sworn in on, we sang a song and read a book about Obama, we wrote a paragraph about the 44th Commander in Chief and I told the kids to look for me at the Inauguration crying tears of joy with the multitudes. I told them I will be seated and waving a lot to them with my fluffy cream colored coat. Sam and I decided to go before anything had fallen into place. I had written all of the senators, congress people and superdelegates that I thought might send an inspired teacher but to no avail. I had been saying just a few nights ago, that maybe we would get lucky like when Charlie found the golden ticket gleaming in the sewer in the original Willie Wonka movie. We were lucky that the Beastie Boys were doing Obama Benefit concerts and Adam was so amazingly generous. While I am in DC, the substitute will read them the story "If I Were President". They will watch the ceremonies on TV in class and I will be like their "Where's Waldo?". Even if they don't see me, in their wish fullfillment fantasies, they will be convinced that they did. Afterwards, they will draw a picture on baby blue paper of Obama and his family at the White House or of Obama doing his job as President. I can't wait to get back and see their visions of the future.