This Is Our Victory

November 5, 2008. The world has waited for this day. Since my arrival in Calama in August, one question has presented itself in all of my classes: do you like Obama? For the past week or more, the questions and comments have escalated.

I unplug my computer and carry it across the classroom. As the majority of the class completes an exercise on emotion, three boys ask me about the US elections. One 15 year old inquiries about the process and asks me what it’s like in the US today.

I open cnn.com and let my student peruse the articles while I talk with other two about Fidel Castro, Barack Obama, and John McCain. Over the past few weeks, words such as fascist, nazi, dictator, and racist have come to the surface when discussing George Bush. From such a young populace, the hate for him mystifies me. I ask my students – Por que? Why? They don’t have any answers. They can only respond with that he is a terrible, evil man. My more educated conversations with adults reveal even more disdain for our politics…but with proper explanations. As most of you know, I am not a fan of George Bush…but I also don’t despise him. I think he’s a good person, just misguided and unprepared politically. Seeing both sides – does not happen here.

Beyond my own political views, I am relieved Barack Obama won this election. I hope that with this change, the world will view our politicians not as monsters. Fruitlessly, I have tried explaining to my students that our two largest parties are more similar, rather than different. I look forward to pointing to Obama’s request for McCain’s help to improve our government and policies.

The hatred for the United States government appears in so many faces here – Europeans, South Americans, Australians, and Kiwis. Most individuals I encounter during my travels have a strong opinion about US politics – from the 40 year old school teacher on a Bolivian bus to the international friends I meet at hostels. Sadly, most are even more informed than my fellow citizens regarding US and world happenings (ie: the many people who did not know where Chile was on a map when I decided to come here).

My hope for today is that this change will present us an opportunity to better the American image. So much of what we decide impacts all countries. I realize we operate as a good force in the world…now is the time to communicate that more clearly and harness the positive energy of this victory.