I have to start by saying- today has been surreal.

 I've been watching CNN since I got back to New York tonight. Before that, I was on a train, receiving text and phone updates from my friends. When it was announced that Senator Barack Obama is the next President Elect of the United States, I could hear the screams, honks, and cheers coming from outside the window. Actually, I can still hear them. A friend came running into the lounge of Sam's suite to tell us that there was (and is) a march of Obama supporters on Broadway, a rally of sorts. Sam and I, along with our friends Gary, Caity, and Christina, decided to join the unofficial rally on this historic night.

This is a view of the crowd. All of the pictures I have are blurry, unfortunately, because I was moving around a lot. Also, because I'm relatively short, I was holding my camera above my head and snapping pictures.

I didn't take too many pictures (hence the lack so far), but what I did do was take video. I'm working on figuring out how to get that on here, and I'll update/edit this post as soon as I can.

UPDATE: These are the four videos I took that are the best of the group, I think. They are all short (less than ten seconds a piece- I was moving!), but they are totally worth the effort of getting them up here. Hope you like!

 I have to repeat myself on this one- this was surreal. The number of people and the amount of energy and the sheer joy were practically unbelievable. There were police escorts herding the rally along and security and police officers walking along with the students and other supporters, chanting "O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA" and "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!"

It amazes me and gives me hope for the future that the first election I have voted in (the first I have been eligible), such a historic event occured. I hope that jaded young voters everywhere can take this to heart, and realize what can be done.

One last thing, something that occured to me and that Sam vocalized- what would have happened if the election had gone differently, and all of this energy was directed in a different direction? It could have been scary. I'm so glad that wasn't the case.