Yes, we CAN!!!!

Because of the time difference, it was at 5am my time yesterday morning that I refreshed the New York Times poll results webpage and saw “President-Elect” under my candidate’s name. Since I’d been refreshing every five minutes since 1 in the morning, it took about two minutes to sink in that we’d WON and another half hour before I could stop bawling from happiness.

Metros opened up again at 5:30am, so I walked over in deliriously tired joy from my friend Julie’s hotel room where we’d been following the results. I had to stop myself from grinning too widely – tends to invite unwanted attention from the French men – and controlled my urge to inform everyone around me that “Obama a gagné!”

Then, from outside the metro, I heard voices; a soft murmur at first, then practically a roar. A large group was parading through the streets chanting “O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-BA-MA!”

I refrained – with some difficulty – from joining in, but I have to say I have never, ever felt so proud to be an American.