I'll be there for you...

Ross, Joey, and Chandler?

Amidst all the excitement of the US presidential elections and Obama's win, I went out with Thomas to Umm Sequim to meet Cathy, a fellow expat blogger from Pennsylvania at the coffee shop above, which may seem...rather familiar to many of you.

Cathy stumbled across our blog one day and actually decided she wanted to meet me! (Who would have guessed?) Apparently we have very similar opinions on things and are also going through similar experiences of the UAE. This is unusual enough that she sought me out. Just to drive home the point as to how nutty this lovely woman is, she would also like to get back into running, and is going to try out the Predictor with me Saturday.

If you'd like to read a blog that says a lot of the same things as mine, but far, far more succinctly, here it is: http://theogurs.blogspot.com/

In the coffee shop we sat in cush velvety chairs, breathed in the amazing aromas of some darned good coffee and exchanged life stories and chat. Thomas climbed, gambolled, ran around laughing, visiting other patrons, and generally demonstrated what happens when you give a good but active toddler hot cocoa and a chocolate muffin for lunch.

Cathy, a mother of two little boys, and my new friend, was quite understanding. (She had seen my post on culture shock and wanted to offer her empathy on that front as well.) She was the first of the Americans I talked with yesterday who used the phrase "proud to be an American," but each and every one said exactly the same thing. Proud, and holding our heads a little bit higher. The Brits I talked with said we should be feeling proud. What a wonderful day, no matter who you voted for.

On the radio in the car I listened to Arabic news, not understanding it of course, but loving hearing the states listed one by one by the announcer with distinctly Arabic pronounciation, each state and then either "Obama" or "Senatoor eh-McCain-ah".

Cathy said that a friend of hers was in an airport in Kenya and that it was a serious party there.

I can believe it.