Soy de Los Estados Unidos.

Yesterday I got to watch the Inauguration in an "Irish Pub", in Granada, Spain, with a whole bunch of Americans. It was somewhat of a surreal experience and I think being abroad and being able to see the International has given me a completely different perspective of it all than if I had been in the States.

It's interesting to say "I'm from the US" because I never know what response I am going to get. Sometimes it's just kind of a nod and it seems that the person may be thinking "Oh no, not another American", other times it's admiration or surprise because they wonder why an American would come all the way to Spain learn Spanish instead of just go to Mexico. My class has people from Norway, China, Poland, England and New Zealand and it truly seems that the entire world is excited that we elected Obama.

My professor said that the Spanish are hoping that this means that Spain can renew their relationship with the US. When the current Spanish President removed the Spanish troops from Iraq, Bush would no longer communicate with him. When the King of Spain (who acts solely as a diplomat/political figure) tried to communicate with Bush he was always rejected. Spain sees this as an opportunity to begin a partnership with the US. I asked the three Chinese students in my class if the people of China like Obama and they said that they like him very much. They even said that the government of China also really likes him. One of the Englishmen here said that when Obama won, they threw a party in his office (but he does work for the U.N. so that's probably wasn't the norm). I can't imagine what the sentiment would have been had John McCain won.

I always knew that what goes on in the US is important to the world, but electing Obama seems to have taken things to a whole new level. President Obama has a lot of expectations to live up to, and we all know this, but I just hope that he continues to remember this in the next four years. For now though, I'm just glad that I can say with a little more pride that "Soy de Los Estados Unidos."