Change...

When the election finally came around last week, it really did seem something a world away. Vietnam is one of the few countries out there that remain more or less unaffected by what's going on in the US and I had cast my vote weeks before. I made some phone calls, found the embassy-sponsored event, and suddenly, from the cobbled streets of Hanoi, I found myself swimming in Americana, all flushed and feverish with excitement.

Stepping into it all at once like that it seems almost unreal - here was a world where people stand up as individuals, demand their rights, and defend their worldview, where people from different backgrounds coexist, value their differences, and struggle to create a world in which they're judged solely by the content of their character and in which anyone can participate. It was an amazing election, a great day, and I have to say, I got a little emotional. I nabbed this photo from the end of Obama's acceptance speech.


The historic victory, however, was cut with a bit of the sting of California, Arizona, and Florida voting to prohibit same-sex marriages. I'm reminded that even back home things are a work in progress and we've still got a ways to go.