It seems like every country I go to, all the newspapers and TV are full of news from home.Obama as phone screen saver image in Tanzania

Even the conversations seem to revolve around the same thing – Obama.

In Tanzania, it seemed like I often had conversations like this:
“Where are you from?”
“The U.S.A.”
A smile breaks across their face, they point at me and without containing their joy say “Obama!”
Obama on bus in Tanzania
Here are some pictures from Tanzania (pictures of Obama on buses, and as screen savers on phones)

One of the most interesting moments for me was when I was watching the news with my friend who is from a war torn eastern European country:
“That is an amazing picture.” (he said)
“Which one?” (I asked)
“The one with Obama and Bush together. You don’t realize how incredible that is. People criticize America all the time, but it really is the best example of democracy that exists – to have that kind of peaceful transition of power is amazing. In my country, the president did not want to leave office, so they brought arms and a lot of people died.”

Perhaps Presiden Obama’s inauguration was the focus of more of the world’s consciousness than any other event in history?
Bettery Charger

I just hope we don’t depend too much on him to do things that all of us can do together, using a combination of our best intentions and intelligence. Time to recharge our “bettery”.

I’m curious – what are your expectations of Obama and the U.S. (especially over the next 4 years)?