I set my alarm to wake me up at 6:15 so that I could get ready to be out the door of Jenni's apartment by 7:00, instead I woke up to a party on D Street. People were just having a celebration of the end of what many consider to be one of, if not the, worst administration in American history (or at the very least since the Civil War). People were singing "Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye!" (AKA that song sung at the end towards the ends of blowout games in the sports world) chanting "OBAMA!" and "YES WE CAN!" at the top of their lungs. I saw people dancing right outside of the building.
From there I got ready to go and headed out at around 7:00. After attempting to trudge through the crowd I figured it'd be best for my to take a detour and hit the Metro. The Metro at Gallery Place wasn't so bad. It was the Metro Center stop (where I had to change from the Red line to the Blue line) that everything started to set in. After forcing my way onto a train I headed towards Federal Center where the Blue section of stands (where I was supposed to be) was located, or so I thought. Due to overcrowding at the station, the Metro authority decided to close the station temporarily. So instead we headed towards the Capital South stop. Now Capital South was the location of the Orange entry way, not the Blue. So I had to wait in a ridiculous line that stretched around the offices of the House and Senate. After waiting for almost three hours, almost getting hit by a few cars that were inexplicably allowed to pass through the lines, meeting Tony Dungy (the newly retired former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts for those of you who aren't big NFL fans), and having my phone die I almost decided to head back. Instead I went down to the front of the line and convinced someone to let me and some other people who were in front of me to jump a mini-barricade and cut almost the entire line. From there I was almost crushed against more mini-barricades as I made my way to the sole security checkpoint of the entire Blue section. Yes that's right there was ONE check point for over 10,000 people. Once I made my way through I went to find the best spot to settle in, but instead was pointed towards a broken "fence" that separated the Blue and Orange sections and ended up with a seat right about dead center. Now, I wasn't too close, but when I put my camera one full zoom I was able to snag some pretty solid shots of Biden and Obama getting sworn in as well as Rick Warren (who I know is not everyone's favorite guy, but he is a pretty good speaker).
After celebrating with the masses as Obama finished his inaugural address, which was amazing if I may say so myself, I was pointed to leave in the wrong direction. Once I figured that out I trekked back to the Mall where I was quickly trapped due to the security barriers that prevented me from going to where I needed to go. After about two hours at the Mall I finally started heading towards what I was told was the right way. But once again I was pointed the wrong way, this time by a D.C. cop as opposed to a member of the military as it was before. Once again I had to get directions. Finally a pair of surprisingly friendly police officers (most of the on-duty officers were pretty rude) sent me in the right direction. So about four hours after President Obama (say it out loud it's pretty fun) finished his inaugural address I reached Jenni's building. My feet were sore, my legs were tired, and I wanted to pass out as I hadn't really eaten or had anything to drink outside of some water and a bag of chips from a CVS, but Obama's Inauguration was easily one of the most memorable days of my life.
A little after getting my phone charged up my grandpa sent me an email. In it he reminded me of how important today was and how lucky I was to be able to be a part of it. The part of his email that really struck me though was when he said, "Hopefully you'll be able to tell of this great event to your grandchildren like I told you about seeing FDR while perched on my grandfather's shoulders," when FDR visited Cleveland in October of 1932.
The one thing I have to say about today other than how big of an impact this event has had on my life, was how ridiculously unprepared the city was for the crowds that arrived. They were supposedly prepared for between one and four million people to show up, and yet it was total chaos. Two people were hit by Metro trains, I saw around four people need medical assistance on my way out. Security was quickly overwhelmed, and the parade route prevented some people from going back to where they were staying in D.C. On my way back the Metro was essentially shut down. People were unable to move at all in some sections of the streets surrounding the Capital. It was very surprising to see that our even with all of the added security, all of the extra police, soldiers, and FBI agents, that D.C. had so much trouble handling the crowds today. With months to prepare for it, I would have figured things would have been run a little more smoothly.
Well that's all for me from D.C. I want to take this moment to thank Kellyn Moran and Laura Houser for allowing me to cover these amazing past few days. I want to thank my parents for paying for my flight, and of course I want to thank Jenni and Craig for their hospitality while I was in D.C.
Look for my article in Friday's Miami Student which can be found either on campus or at www.miamistudent.net
I'll post more photos tonight.
Thanks again and CNN had nothing on us! (OK, maybe they did)
-Adam Hainsfurther '11
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