I brought an Obama shirt with me. Says "Obama 08/Obama Listens". Green. I like to wear it in different cities/countries to get a feel for the climate there. See how people react, etc. So far, I've had some pretty different experiences:
Lisbon, Portugal: Locals and tourists giving head nods and saying "Hey! Obama!" and giving the thumbs up. Not a whole lot, but generally people were happy to see it and excited about Obama.
Geneva, Switzerland: I really thought this place would be like the Wash.DC of the world since the UN, the WHO, UNICEF, all these huge international organizations are there. It is a beautiful city, but the area where those buildings are is really not impressive..I guess they put the money to some better use. Anyway, wearing the shirt here I just got looks, quiet stares, but no kind of approval or disrespect. Being such an international city and politically involved I thought someone would have said something, good or bad. But I could watch them stare at the shirt thru my sunglasses..
Milan, Italy: The worst by far. Chris and I are walking through the subway, nothing really out of the ordinary, except being black guys in Milan. Two cops walk right by Chris, but then one sees my Obama shirt, taps the other one and make a B-line across the hall to stop me and ask for my papers, etc. Perhaps it was just being black and young. Perhaps I looked shady with a slight beard. But I am pretty sure I saw him look right at the "Obama" on the shirt, then hi-tail it over.
It'll be fun, weird, dangerous? to see how the rest of these cities/countries react.
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You haven't updated your map, Taj!
ReplyDeleteLove the blog,
J
italy's supposed to be kind of a regressive place. they keep electing that d-bag berlusconi. how did you find the rest of the country?
ReplyDeleteItaly was really great with the exception of Milan. Rome and Florence were really awesome
ReplyDelete