I got up about six and came down and turned on the television and got CNN and discovered that my candidate won -- a nice feeling. About 7 we went to the American Albanian Chamber of Commerce election breakfast at the Rogner Hotel. Wolf Blitzer was live on the big screen TV. Got to see a replay of Obama's acceptance speech -- pretty good, I thought. I didn't see McCain's, but everyone said his was good too. (Their was an election night party there too, but we didn't go. It started at 1:00 p.m. New York time, so I didn't see the point. But a few stalwarts at the breakfast had been there all night. The event was covered live by Albanian TV, and the ambassador was interviewed, as was the public affairs officer, who is Albanian but grew up in Chicago, and the Deputy Chief of Mission, who is from New Orleans. Some other folks were interviewed but I didn't know them. I picked up an Obama button from an almost empty bowl. The McCain button bowl was spilling over. Chelsi posted a picture of her and Cindy on her blog.
It is hard to convey how happy the Albanians are that Obama won, and Europeans in general. Like Chelsi said, everyone was congratulating us. They harbor no illusions that life is going to better for them by virtue of his election, but I think they think they will be listened to and respected. It always amazed me the number of people who would bring a lawsuit, and I'd sit through the trial wondering how in the world they thought they were going to win, and after they lost discover that all they really wanted was to tell their story to an impartial audience, to be listened to. The fact they lost their case was secondary. (To be sure, all losers didn't think this way, but many did.)
And in the vein of being listened to respectfully, here is a link to Dave Barry's column from this week. Fix yourself a martini and sit down and read it.
Yesterday we had a chili cookoff at the Ambassador's residence. The second floor is his living quarters. The first floor is given over to entertaining, with a commercial kitchen, a large dining room, a formal "living" room for guests to assemble for formal events, and with a large covered porch, and down some stairs is an immense patio. It is where we have most of the functions for the mission at large. Cindy won second place for her white bean chili, so "we" won a dinner for four at the Far East restaurant. I think we have one Japanese and two Chinese restaurants in Tirana, a town of one million. Seems strange, but to put it in perspective, the girlfriend of one of the guys at the embassy is visiting him for a month. She is from Indonesia. They say Jakarta has only one Italian restaurant! How can that be? She came over and I taught her how to make veal ragu and polenta. But I digress.
The chili cookoff was attended by many Albanians and a smattering of other foreign nationals. I talked to several, and all were ecstatic over Obama's victory. I thought I was happy, but nothing compared to these folks.
I think it has to do with how others view America's place in the world. For many overseas, America is still their dream, the apotheosis of "goodness." They don't think we're perfect; they're not shocked by Wall Street greed or corrupt politicians. But they are upset over what they see as America's loss of direction -- the torturing, the ugly immigrant bashing, the casually vapid denigration of all things Islam, and on and on and on. I think they're so happy because they think America is about to become an ideal again, something to emulate and to aspire to.
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