A world away, A world connected.

Shattering news that the U.S. and the World felt yesterday with Presidential Elections was also felt in my little mountain apartment in Cajamarca. I was glued to my laptop - listening and anxiously waiting as state after state announced Obama on NPR. I stayed up, like probably many of you, to hear the speech, cry with joy, and lay in bed with my eyes wide awake with no sleep to be had. I was alone, but didn't very lonely. I felt very much connected to other (North) Americans and the frenzy of political and national excitement. Of course it would have been fun to have a little toast with another English-speaker, but I raised my cup of tea and shouted in tune with the Chicago crowd nonetheless.

In the past people have asked me, "why do you work abroad when there is so much work to do at home?" Good question. I feel like I have a duty to represent the U.S in positive light; our country has done so much damage to other cultures and nations I feel the need to repair. Or in other words, as you might say in the green and energy conscious world, instead of carbon offsetting, caring offsetting. And Obama said last night "we are one people, with singular stories yet a common destiny." The good that one person does in one place in the world doesn't stay put. It ripples. Even across country lines. I am hopeful after Obama's victory that there might be less of a need for "caring offsetting." And, I am hopeful for many more things beyond that.