“an american court ruled that luis posada carriles, a cuban former cia agent, should be releasd from an immigration centre. he is wanted by cuba and venezuela in connection with the 1976 bombing of a cuban plane that killed 73 people and a plot to kill fidel castro. the americans refuse to deport hum, believing he could be tortured.”
saturday was a long, interesting, and great day. it was september 23rd and hawaii’s primary election.
i woke up at 5am and headed to ali’iolani elementary school to chair the polling place there for district 19-07. i had never done anything like that before and had only the vaguest notion of what to expect. to be honest, the day did not start out well at all. i had misread my schedule and as a result showed up late. when i did arrive my VAO (vice-chair) was frantic and a bit pissed off that i hadn’t been there on time. i arrived to find five people waiting for me, only two of which had worked a polling place in the past, and all of whom were quite worried when i told them that i had never been a chair before.
we made a number of mistakes early on, and were still setting up when the first few voters started to arrive just after the polls opened at 7am. after the first hour, or so, things started to settle down and we found our ‘groove,’ so to speak. by the time we left, which was over an hour after the polls actually closed, i think we felt like we accomplished something. we had all pulled together and it all worked out. i even got a couple of compliments on how well i did, give it was my first time and all.
from there, i went straight (with redbull in hand) to the akaka campaign party to watch and await the election results with my fellow akaka campaign volunteers and staff. it was a great time and a the best way to watch election results. i highly recommend it if you every have an opportunity. i wasn’t near a screen, but i knew the first round of number were good when the whole room broke out in claps and cheers. a 12 point lead! fantastic!
by then, the long day had begun to wear on me and i was quickly losing steam, but pushed on to enjoy the company of those i had worked with for the last few month and waited for the second round of numbers: more claps and cheers! it wasn’t much later that our opponent conceded the race, but i missed most of his concession, as i was on my way home by that point.
all in all quite a good day. the election isn’t over and there is still work to do, but i am already beginning to feel a sense saddness. i’ve spent so much time and energy on this for what seems like so many months, with so many great people, when its over it will be somewhat of a let down. it’ll be nice its finally over and we will have definitely accomplished something good, but it will be kinda sad, too.
new picture albums added!! check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/regardingfrost/
i was in st. paul, minnesota, working at the children’s hospital for a few months, living with my dad and stepmom. i had my alarm set for 630am to the local NPR radio station. when the alarm went off, i heard in my half-waking state what i thought was a radio show, like war of the worlds. they were talking about how planes had crashed into the world trade center in NYC.
i laid there for a few moments, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. a bit more awake, i realized this was the news i was listening to, not some fictional radio show. i sprang out of bed, threw some clothes on, and went downstairs to watch the news. when i walked into the living room, my stepmom was there, watching CNN. i didn’t say anything as i stood behind her, my eyes were fixed on the screen as i watched smoke and fire billow out of the towers.
i sat down next to her and watched in horror as they replayed video showing the second plane crash into the towers. we were both speechless, occasionally mumbling to each other how what we were watching was so completely unbelievable. i couldn’t pull myself away from the television, but i finally had to get ready for work.
i showered quickly and listened to the radio in my bedroom as i dressed and in the car as i drove to the hospital. it was the first time in my recollection that not a single station was playing music. every single station was broadcasting news of what was happening. i parked my car and walked as quickly as i could to the pediatric epilepsy unit, found a radio to put at my work station and tried to watch ten children on monitors, as i listened intently to the news.
eventually, a television was set up in the middle of the unit. parents watched as their children played. nurses tried to do their jobs. hardly a word was spoken that didn’t reflect the shock, dismay, confusion, and horror of what we were watching. there were, and still are, no words to describe how i felt as they showed, over and over again, the collapse of the towers. that scene is the most astonishing i’ve ever seen, before or since.
the days, weeks, and months that followed that event saw me glued to CNN. as much then as now, those images are burned in my brain. some news broadcaster, i remember, equated that event to the bombing of pearl harbor for my parents generation. five years later, i agree with that. i will always remember where i was, what i was doing, and how i felt as i watched to towers come crashing down.
