My day started off at 2am. Thats when I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. I left the house at 3:30am, so I could get to the train station by 4am. When I arrived to the train station there were already, hundreds of folks in line for the train. After finally making it on the train with record numbers in attendance, I finally made it to my stop. When I got off on my stop it was another moment for me. The attendance in the train station, I'm sure was record breaking and the atmosphere was all about Barack Obama (pictures of that coming soon). After exiting my stop, I stepped out into what was the coldest day of my life. Yes, I'm talking 23degrees weather that felt more like 14degrees. I made arrangements to meet my friends from college there and of course they were late, so i tried to stay warm in the nearest bus shelter, while I waited for them. Not sure how much warmth was created while at the bus stop, but once again I encountered record setting numbers of folks heading towards the inauguration. To pass time a bit while waiting on my friends, I started talking to a cop that took cover from the cold. He stated that he had been working for the past 12hrs and had another 12 more hours to go. What he said next to me, I thought was very funny. (LOL) He stated that he was looking for someone to arrest, so he could take them in to get out of the cold and into some heat. After waiting on my friends some more, I decided to leave them because they weren't able to catch their train and had to walk, so we decided to meet up once they were there. I headed towards the mall to walk right into a road block of hundreds of people. It was there while waiting, I encountered my coldest weather. It was below freezing and everything was cold. I did a good job preparing for the cold, but the only thing I forgot were my toes. For the majority of the day they were basically NUM. After waiting, at the road block for about an half an hour the crowd got too large so they let us in the mall. You were lucky not to get trampled. I was greeted at the mall by an even larger crowd than the one that took place at the concert and yes it was still COLD. I finally caught up with my friends and we tried everything to keep us warm from forming a circle amongst ourself to doing jumping jacks. (LOL) When we thought we didn't have much more time to wait. We still had like 4 more hours to go and by then the mall was already filled up people who were sleeping on the ground, trying anything to stay warm. All this was achieved without any physical confrontation to my knowledge. As the morning got older the excitement grew with the rising of the sun, that gave us some warmth that we really needed . After managing to cope with the COLD weather it was show time. I was in awww from the introduction. At the moment I thought to myself that if and when the Barack movie goes into production, just the entrance of the ceremony will cost around $100 million or more which some movies don't even see that as their full budget. (LOL) I know this election for some of us was the first time we voted and as you see your vote individually does count. If this was your first time voting, what a wonderful way of introducing you to DEMOCRACY--FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE. One of the best speeches I have heard in my life time was by Senator Barack Obama which was topped today by that very same man who is now our PRESIDENT. The morning started off cold, but the day warmed up for this special occasion. History was made today with the whole world watching and I'm glad, I was their to witness it. I don't know what many of you felt while watching it on TV, but for me you had to be there to get the feel of it all. The people were amazing and I wouldn't have done it any different, except maybe wear another sock to keep my feet warm LOL. The images I gathered were amazing (yes you are still waiting on them and I can't wait to attend to them as well). However, due to my position in the crowd I tackled my photography from another angle of being more personal. I got the huge crowd shots, I got the flag shots, but I decided to make my images theme related. I haven't decided on a final name for the project yet, but hopefully between now and my plane ride back to Miami I will have it. This was a project, I thought of while at the concert and this was due to my position. Sometimes you're not dealt the best hand, but you take that hand and play it to the best you know how and that's what I thought I did. Soon, you will be the judge of this project. I also encountered a couple proposing to each other which I managed to get a few shots of which I will also post.
After leaving the mall we were not allowed to make it to the parade due to the large crowds, so we tried to find some food and rested for about an hour before trying to head home. Heading home was another adventure, because most of the train stations were closed and if they werent closed they were too crowded, so we decided to walk to another train station. When we arrived at the other train station we experienced the same crowded situation, so we continued walking. I don't know how far we walked, but it sure felt like that walk when P. Diddy sent those kids to get some ice-cream LOL After finally, making it to a train station and thinking I was home free. I took the train in the wrong direction LOL lucky me right LOL. On the train I met a guy who actually took a shot of the president in the parade and I worked on practicing my patience, so I didn't get upset. I just rode it out and enjoyed the little sight seeing. I finally made it home around 5:30pm after leaving the house around 3:30am. Once home I was greeted with some nice home cooking by my friend Roslyn's Mom. I wanted to go to some sort of Ball, but I'm too tired I wouldn't hold up well, so I'm staying in LOL.
That's pretty much how my day went. Thanks to all my friends who I had the privilege of sharing this special day with and Congrats to a very good friend of mine Adrian and his wife on their first born child. Good Night
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