before, during, after

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Somehow Peter's co-worker got us on the guest list for the inauguration party at the Ambassador's. I thought it was going to be just embassy worker bees, and we had to walk three miles in the snow: this is my excuse for showing up wearing jeans with a white belt and Keens. Well, this is no excuse for the white belt, except they are cool. On the way out of the embassy, we walked past the wall where the portraits of the President, Vice-President and Secretary of State hang. After seeing Bush, Cheney and Rice for so long on State Department walls, it was strange to see the wall, where the portraits normally hang, blank.

We walk into the main "salon" at Spaso House and the room is electric, filled with people dressed far nicer than we are–one guy was in a tux–a jumbotron screen, and tv cameras.

The lights go down, and they show the Presidents taking their seats. President George the First gets a big cheer from the Ruskie audience for wearing a Russian hat, they see it and go nuts. Aretha starts singing, in her hat with the bow you can see from space. "Freedom, freeeeedom," they show the Golden Gate Bridge and I start crying and pretty much don't stop until we get back home.

Obama walks down the stairs going out to the podium and looks so beautiful, then speaks with this great combination of gentleness and power, that I think he may be the Buddah. "This guy is even better than David Cook," I say to myself.

After the swearing-in the lights come back up and everyone stands around hugging. I feel like we all just got married. I have never felt so hopeful in my life.

We exit the salon and the reception rooms are filled with flowers, banners, American flags, tables with caviar on toast, shishleek (Russian brochettes), mushroom pastries, dumplings in creme sauce, fresh fruit and veggies, all kinds of wine, beer, Beringer champagne and shots of Russian wodka.

Peter says we have to drink to Obama.

After two glasses of champagne, I am a champion mingler. We even mingle with Obama:

At midnight we walked home in the snow, the ground slushy, the Russian White house in the distance.

We came in through the embassy and the wall was no longer blank, we were greeted by two new faces:

Comments

12 responses to “before, during, after”

January 23, 2009

Tina

You were lucky to be invited to the inauguration party at the Embassy. How cool.
I watched in on a projection screen at work but it wasn’t as sharp a picture as at home but great to see it so large. Such an emmotional event. You weren’t around for JFK but it reminded me some of his swearing in but on a much higher level. It was hard to then go back to my computer to work. I kept clicking on ABC’s website to check out what was going on during the afternoon and that night I was glued to the TV.

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January 23, 2009

The Expatresse

Oh, how fun!
I have a friend who was at the US Embassy in Kyiv. She says the same thing: everyone just ebullient.

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January 23, 2009

melissa

It was a smart speech. I like that Peter is embracing his Russian-roots: There isn’t a better way to toast to new leadership than vodka

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January 23, 2009

MoscowMom

I’m so glad you got to go to that party! I heard about it while at the Starlite Diner party and I hoped that’s where you were 🙂 If anyone could finagle invites, I figured you two could…!
I was on such a “high” after Tuesday night that I used Obama’s speech with my seniors (I edited it to removed parts of speech, vocabulary that they had to transform into the proper form). I then had my other classes guess what questions the Obama girls must have had about moving to the White House and becoming “First Kids.” They came up with such good questions! Then I read them the letter that Barbara and Jenna Bush wrote to the girls — and had them write down the answer to question they had had, what the Bush girls had liked most about being First Kids, and what piece of advice did they think was the most important for the Obamas to remember. The students really enjoyed, and me, too! (I felt like dork, though, when I got teary-eyed at one point reading the letter and had to hide it!).
Once I’m no longer a walking germ factory, I really want to have you guys over!

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January 23, 2009

MoscowMom

OK… Just saw what I wrote and realized that I’m too sick to be blogging! Holy cow, typos R us!

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January 23, 2009

g

Whoever cheered for Bush’s hat should have to offer him political asylum. My favorite part was Aretha’s fabulous head gear:)

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January 23, 2009

clay

Wonderful!
And good idea Peter, let’s drink to Obama. (I’ve been practicing for quite a while.)
ps. I’m reading Dick Day’s new short story collection. “Something for the journey.” It’s lovely!

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January 23, 2009

mc

I’m sorry I think you should be invited, and a little funkness in your attire is totally appropriate.
Aretha is one of the few people that can make me feel religious (Chamber brothers as well, when they do people get ready). It’s a great feeling of hope having a young smart persident. And it’s great to already see a change in the way the world views America.
mc (king of the type-os)

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January 23, 2009

Melissa

Yea America!! Looks like a great party. Hope you are enjoying your new post. Things here are great. Still unemployed, but LOVE being home with the kids.
BTW…kudos to you for wearing a tucked in shirt with the wite belt, you are rocking that look!
Cheers,
Melissa

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January 26, 2009

Sue-Ann

Wow, your party sounds far more glamorous than ours which included too many people cramed into our little terrace house in manchester (UK) and small children fighting about who got to sit where and wave which (home-made) flag. But we also celebrated as a way of marking the occasion – a great day for the US and a day of hope for the rest of us!

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January 27, 2009

Mom

Thanks for the great pictures. Yes that was a rude awakening to see 3 millon people in Washington to see history made. Oh, and that hat! The comedians had a ball with that.
Have fun in Findland Peter! You think you are cold now just wait.

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March 31, 2009

Ava

Love this post! I’m glad that we may be able to “re-set” the US/Russian relationship. I traveled to Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Perm in September and was surprised and pleased to discover a very high level of support for Obama.
Thanks also for your beautiful photos of St. Petersburg!

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