We woke up the morning on November 6th in Marrakech and were told of Obama’s victory by a 40-something French guy working at the front desk of a Riad who was all smiles. Everyone we talked to for a week congratulated us on the change of the “US regime.” We voted via absentee ballot and were ecstatic that our pony came in first this time. Even the sour-faced border security guard at the King Hussein Airport in Morocco lit up into a broad grin when he saw Laurel’s US passport, stuck his thumb in the air and said “Obama!”

This is a VASTLY different experience than we have had in the previous two years and that I have had in the past eight years. I am used to hiding my blue passport in airports to keep the disapproving looks from perfect strangers to a minimum, shying away from any and all public political discussions, and vast amounts of time have been spent apologizing for a government that I do not trust and a leader that I do not respect. There is such a feeling of hope for the future and for positive change in everyone who talks to us about the election. Who knows what the future holds for any of us, but we see this election as an opportunity for our country to turn a corner and build back some of the respect that we have lost in the world’s eyes.

I do need to admit that at some point in the day as I was thinking of Bush leaving the Oval Office I got the “Ding, Dong the witch is dead” song stuck in my head. I quitely snickered to my self in econemy class on th flight home.