seeing cleveland outlined on a television, with my state blue for the first time i can ever remember in africa is very random but i would be lying if i didn't admit how nice that made me feel
to hear someone say the word ohio
not that i need it or anything but, oh, you know
out of touch, out of touch, out of touch
i called five people today on a payphone, one answered
i knew i got lucky, one for five is a good ratio
and we all stayed awake until seven am for the results because of the time difference
even though we really all knew who was going to win the election
the newspaper this morning's headline was one word, which was
landslide
but everyone was missing home and wishing they were there so we stayed up
yeah, america is pretty fucking stupid
but most of the people that i love live there so
fair enough i guess
i sit in the back drinking cold water
it's funny how almost no other country's elections are international news
i saw a short clip of people in kenya watching the american election on tv
and the african men next to me nudged each other and said something i didn't understand
i know they know a lot of things i don't
watching people asleep on the hard, cold linoleum floors of an establishment that is not 24 hours
but for this sake, is 24 hours
calling my mom on the payphone on guy fawkes day, saying she is happy about the election, her voice is nice even electronified, if that's a word
she said, i called my family today, i called your grandmother today
i talked to my very conservative extended family and they were upset with the results
my mom said she told them that you can't base an entire election on being pro-life
thought about the letter she wrote me at the beginning of this semester and with that little thing she said on the phone
about realizing that she thought abortion was sad but not really any of her business
you voted republican your entire life
and today you told me you were sad about the possibility of gay marriage being banned in california
because "if gay people can't get married in california then where are they supposed to get married?"
are you really the same woman who raised/made me?
it's not just politics, it says a lot about what parts of me you'll love
and which parts you'll just put up with because you have to
and i feel a lot less put up with by you lately
and a lot more loved
hanging up the phone, you said, i don't worry about you too much anymore, you call me enough that i don't have to worry about you
i said that was my intention, duh
you said you never thought about that
i made a bad joke about getting a puppy when i cam home next month
and you actually got it and laughed
it's annoying that in order to feel connected to you i have to be like, eighteen thousand miles away but i'll take what i can get and
it's weird, and i'm not used to this,
but i really do miss you
