Friday April 3, 2009: President Obama. Obama Obama Obama!!! Yay!!

Wow.....! Today, in Strasbourg, France, Europe, I saw the president of the United Staes of America. Barack Hussein Obama. It was fantastic!!! I woke up earlier today since I did not take a shower the night before (I really don't like taking showers here haha! Or using the toilet! Haha!) I showered, lotioned, contacted, creamed, dressed, Q-Tipped, and then left the bathroom for breakfast. Since I finished the cereal Fruit 'N Fibre there was a new cereal for today. Kellogg's Brownie cereal (I am not sure of the name). It is puffs of cereal with brownie flavor inside. It is not that sweet sweet or really, really good but it is alright. I ate it and then got ready to dry my hair and brush my teeth. I asked Evelyne where I could plug in the hair dryer and she set it all up for me. I could not remember how many volts were used in France, either 125 or 250, and I had to set the hair dryer to one of them. I asked Evelyne if she knew but she did not so I looked at the hair dryer and it was already set on 125. I tried to change it but couldn't and was hoping very much that my mother set it on the right number. I tried to turn it on but it wouldn't start but because the plug wasn't pushed in all the way so I tried it again and it started and I was happy but only a few seconds later it stopped and started smoking!! Eek! What was I to do?? I was very glad it did not blow up haha! I went to ask Evelyne if she had a hair dryer I could borrow since mine did not work. She said no and she didn't own one since it is bad for your hair. I went back to the bathroom and brushed my hair. It wasn't too wet and I started to brush my teeth. We aren't alowed to bring any bags with us downtown in fear of weapons to hurt the president but we had to have our passports (and later our invitations when the teachers gave it to us). We also brought a lunch and camera and could have brought money which I did not and I later found out neither did Evelyne. We left about 8 o' clock with her brother since it could be dangerous for us. There were not that many people riding the tram today because of president Obama being here so many shops were closed and schools in Strasbourg proper were closed. There were sooooo many police everywhere!!!!! There were two or three police officers standing together some with padding on their bodies and helmets attached to their belts. We met up with Evelyne's friend Justine (who is nice) at one of the tram stations and she rode with us to our destination. We were to meet our classmates at the cinema and there were a lot of people all dressed up and mostly students. We were standing around saying how nice we looked and getting pictures with each other. It wasn't a very cold day so that was nice. We had to get into a line and the Americans were given their invitations. Finally we (this 'we' I mean the American and French students we have been with but also all these other students we did not know) went into the cinema where we went through line to verify that our invitation matched our passport and our passport matched our faces. Then we were loaded onto charter buses and the Americans and French students were split up which the teachers did not want to happen but the people in charge kept saying that we would meet up once we got to our destination, the ice skating rink. I got to ride on the top of a double decker bus!!!!!! I was so happy and excited!! I sat in the very back with Mrs. Weaver on my left, Jessica an the eigth grader on my right, Ms. Peoples on her right, and Coty, on her right. My friend Dallas asked if I would be riding a double decker bus while I was in France I told I didn't think so but now I get to tell her I did!!! She said she always wanted to ride on one. It was like a mini airplane (the top was anyway) and also had two table on the top, in front of us, four seats to a table. We rode to the ice rink and had trouble turning into the parking lot since the bus was so big. When we finaly arrived, we (now 'we' means the Americans and French) gathered and were put into groups. We were told that we could eat our lunch now and it was only ten in the morning! I had a tuna sandwich with tomatos and a litte strawberry cake. Water was to drink. We sat around eating and talking then a lady made an announcement in French and said that everyone would be leaving in about 15 minutes. I decided that I should go to the restroom and Erin said that it was a 45 minute wait! It was ridiculous but I stood in line waiting anyway, hoping some of the people would leave.I had to leave to get in line with my group and the French lady who was my chaperon. I asked her if there would be a restroom when we got over to the security area. She said yes which made me relax a little and we stood around talking, waiting to leave the rink. We finally left only going to get in line for security which was like the airport except there was not a place to have your belongings looked at through a computer because we were not allowed to bring bags. I had to turn on my camera for the security man and then he gave it back. There was a restroom to the left after we went through security and I was happy and relieved becuase I was woried that there was not a restroom. Aryn waited for me and so did Justine. Then we went up the stairs, over a bit, and into a gym like area to our seats. On the floor was a stage for President Obama to speak and seats to the right, left, and in front of the stage. There was a section above the ground and I was in the section above the first section in the third row. As we waited for 1:45, when President Obama would arrive, a lady, who was born in South Carolina and lived outside Strasbourg now, played her guitar and sang songs for us. All of the songs she sangs were hers (I think) except for one which was the song 'He's Got The Whole World In His Hands'. I sat next to Justine and Aryn but then moved down a seat so that Camille, another French student, could sit next to Justine. Aryn and I talked about celery, fudge muffins, fudge monkeys, how we were tired and hurgry haha! Everybody was anxious at 1:45ish and while we were waiting for him to come out, I started talking to Martin, a boy who sat next to Aryn and Coyot (I do not know how you spell his name but I thought it sounded like coyote without the 'te'!) a boy who sat next to Martin. They were very excited to see President Obama too! Around 2ish, people started to stand up so I did too. Finally he came out (2:15ish) with his wife and there was a lot of clapping and cheering and photos taken! I was so excited, being in the same room as the President of the United States and his wife!! I think I took pretty good pictures. He made a speech about how Europe and the Untied States needs to work together and change and things like that. It was amazing and it was like when I watched him get sworn into office and he made his speech afterwards. Then he took questions from the crowd about what he plans on getting accomplished before he leaves office, what he is doing about the war and Afghanistan, if he regrets running for president, and when he is getting his dog! He had to leave too soon and there was the president song being played as he and his wife shook hands and left. A lady was dismissing the sections and for one of the sections she said the Germans leave and will go back to Germany. I and others thought that was hilarious!! We were dismissed and we walked outside and walked across the street where we had a talk. The teachers (Ms. Peoples and Ms. Kidwell) told us that we were doing a great job and how they were proud of us on how we acted today and that we should continue acting this way. They also told us that we could not switch families just because we didn't like the family or we weren't getting along. We could only switch if we were in danger. Then we waited around again waiting to get on the bus and drive back to the cinema. When we got there I had to tell my chaperon I was leaving then Evelyne and I left, walking to the tram station. There were not any trams so she said we had to walk. We probaby walked for 20 or more minutes to a station that was less than half way to her house. I asked if there was a restroom and she took me to one and then we waited again. At seven o' clock a tram finally came and we rode home. We ate dinner, chicken nuggets, a bigger chicken piece with turkey and cheese inside, potatoes, and water to drink. Dessert was Reese's Pieces, Salt Water Candy (I think that they don't really like it), and Jelly Belly (jellly beans). I changed for bed, brushed my teeth and retainer and put cream on my face then went to bed. It was a long, exciting day!