Obama in the Netherlands

I spent the hours of President Obama’s inauguration in the confines of my lovely Dutch home in Smalltown, Netherlands. I started watching the inauguration on CNN Live here at 5:00pm, while getting in a good cardio workout on the exercise bike in my quarters. With great anticipation, and regret at not having made better plans to watch with a fellow American or two, I watched and waited as the many important people were presented… Obama’s children, The Clintons, Mr. & Mrs. George H.W. Bush, Laura & Mr. Bush… until finally, just before 6:00pm our president elect, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama was introduced. The crowded sea of faces roared before him as he stepped out into view. In my excitement, my eyes filled with tears of joy, and the RPMs on the exercise bike I was riding rose far above the safety zone. ☺

I watched and listened to the prayers, songs and poetry, all the while sending text messages back and forth with my one American au pair friend in The Hague. She and I lamented the fact that we weren’t together, but resolved to keep in touch via text messages throughout the event. I wanted to give my full attention as Obama began his inauguration speech, so I ended my workout and sat to stretch on the floor in front of the TV set. A few minutes into his speech, my host father sent word via Yoeri (the 7-yr-old) that dinner was ready.

“Ok Yoeri, thanks. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Yoeri looked at me in disgust at the thought of my making the family wait for dinner, then turned to the little television and raised his pointer finger to the power button.

“Don’t you dare!” I threatened urgently. Yoeri looked at me, confused and surprised. I regained my composure, pointed to the face on the TV screen and asked, “Is that man on the TV downstairs too?”

“Yes,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“Ok then, you can turn it off. I’m coming now.”

I got up and ran down the three flights of stairs to find the children seated, not at the dining room table, but at the coffee table in front of the big-screen TV in the living room. How sweet, my host father had set the table in front of the television so we could all watch the inauguration together! We sat there with our plates full of food, the children and Maartien eating, and I with my face glued to the screen, hardly able to take a bite. Carmen (5-yrs-old) asked her papa constant questions.

“Why are we eating in front of the TV tonight? Who’s that man? What’s he talking about? Why are those people crying? Where’s Queen Beatrix?” (Queen of Holland) And my favorite question of all, “Why doesn’t Queen Beatrix want to be president of the United States anymore?”


The day after President Obama’s inauguration, I was on the train to Amsterdam. I sat down next to two classy older women of African decent, deep in conversation about none other than Mr. Obama. One spoke of her relatives in the U.S. who had gone to Washington for the momentous event. The other spoke of the enormous expectations the world has for our new president. She spoke as a doting and protective grandma, “He betta do good. He betta do right. He betta keep his face up!”

In Amsterdam that day, I saw that Obama was on the cover of many newspapers, and heard that he was the topic of many conversations. I did my outreach with the Scharlaken Koord that day, and my partner of Dominican-African decent spoke of Obama with admiration and inspired remarks. Most of the prostituted women we spoke with that day were from the Dominican Republic, friends of the woman I was out with that day. Several of the women spoke of the new hope they have as a result of Obama’s being elected as president of the United States.

And so, Mr. Obama… you betta do good, you betta do right. You betta keep yo face up! Many are counting on you, and we are praying for you.