Elections, Part 3

The presidential elections in the United States have been discussed on the news, in newspapers, and on the street here in Spain. There were three large election parties in Madrid last night–the Democratic one was the largest, but I only passed by that one. It was very crowded.

The second largest was held by the embassy, and I went to it. It was held in a large building called the Casa de America (House of America) on Madrid’s most famous street–the Paseo del Prado–which also runs by the Prado Museum and a number of other museums and libraries like the National Library where I’ve been doing some of my research.

On my way there on the metro, I met another American–Holli from San Diego who has been living in Spain for 10 years. She decided to accompany me to the gathering, and we had a good evening together.

Holli near the stairs down into the main area. I like the vote sign!

There were supporters of both McCain and Obama there. When we entered they gave us 3 pins–1 with McCain and Palin, 1 with Obama and Biden, and 1 with the Spanish and American flags crossed. They also gave us unofficial ballots to cast. 🙂

There was a large crowd downstairs and lots of flags.

The US ambassador to Spain Eduardo Aguirre spoke, and he has a strong Texan accent in English and a Cuban accent in Spanish. He was born in Cuba and immigrated to the USA when he was a teenager.

I had a chance to get a photo with “Obama” on election night.

Isn't he handsome? Though he's a bit thinner and shorter than I expected. 🙂

Holli and I had a good time, but they weren’t keeping us well-updated on the election results. Around 3 AM, we headed for home, but we stopped to take a fun photo with a couple of other guests from the party who had some masks with the candidates’ faces on them.

Do I make a good Obama? I love the ears on Palin and the long hair on McCain!

After getting home, I chatted over Skype with Puck in California, my brother-in-law Robert in Australia, and our friend Johnnie in Texas–with some IMing with our friend Cindy in Indiana, calls from Johnnie’s grandmother in Oklahoma, and a call to Grandma and Papa after Obama’s speech. It is amazing how connected the Internet allows us to be. I was up until 7 AM Madrid time, but it was worth it. It’s a momentous moment for the United States.