I was trying to think of the last time France stayed awake into the wee hours to follow the footsteps of one American man. It was probably July 20, 1969 - when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It's an equally historic night and an equally historic journey. Tonight America takes a giant leap away from our original sin of inequality and our modern sin of lowered expectations.
Reading the newspaper in Paris this past week, I thought Obama had won by Halloween. The French favor him by a whopping 84%. But for the expectant crowd of Americans, international spouses and friends gathered around the 16 inch TV set (yes, we do things differently over here) the nail-biting wasn't over until just after 5am. Comfort food was the order of the night: There was el presidentÉ, a potent Obama cosmopolitan to ease the nerves, and North Carolina pulled pork and mac 'n' cheese provide energy for the home stretch. Our hosts even found a French incarnation of the King of Beers. Joe-Six-Pack, this Bud's pour vous.
We channel surfed between the game show antics of CNN, the comatose calm of the BCC and Al-Jazeera English. Al-Jazeera was by far the most fun. They called Pennsylvania at 2am. CNN didn't call it till 2:37 - where's the sport in that? They were just about to call Florida when the reception went out, and a poorly lit German film came on.
During his acceptance speech, Obama looked humble, resolute - and very tired. It's clear this is not a vanity exercise; it's about the nuclear launch codes now. I went to bed as the sun was coming up, euphoric, chanting "Yes We Can" under my breath like a child who was allowed to stay up extra-late on New Year's Eve.
As an American citizen who has lived much of her adult life outside the United States, I do a lot of PR for the American Dream. Hope, possibility and opportunity are the pillars of our culture. The way that we imagine the world has a profound effect on the way we choose to live in it. I did not fully understand the power of our inspired clichÉ until I moved to a place - even one as civilized as France - where they are not born with it.
It's been a long 8 years. I continued to believe in the American Dream, even when the reality of our country didn't live up to it. Tonight, at a slumber party for change, I saw the dream and the reality of America come together - and that's worth not sleeping at all.