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1/22/09

Inauguration Day 01-20-09

It all started one day before the Inauguration in Dupont Circle.

'The target practice on the giant Bush doll began around 11:00 in the morning and was still going five hours later, as thousands of people walking through the circle stopped to pick up a shoe and wing it at the outgoing president. Some threw fastballs . Others tied several together in an attempt to land them on Bush's long Pinocchio-esque nose.'

'Children took part. ('Okay. One more shoe, kids,' said one parent.) Some folks simply walked up to the doll and kicked it in the shins. It fell over at one point and people rushed it, beating it with shoes,'




This was up for less than an hour, the artist wanted to make a replica similar to the one of Saddam Hussein in Bagdag. He did not have a permit so this was taken down after an hour but people had already started throwing shoes, pinching and hitting the statue lol.




This is the reflecting pool accross the Capitol. During summer time, it has little waves and ducks swim in it.It was frozen on Inauguration day due to the weather and I can't beleive people actually walked on it, someone almost got swallowed in a hole right in front of me, he was standing on the pool dancing and it cracked right where his foot was lool. Needless to say he screamed for help. That's what you get for acting a fool.....



These are main streets for cars on regular days, on Inauguration day cars were replaced by people. It was a very very long walk and my feet are still hurting!


Try to imagine that this is actually the 3rd Street Tunnel where cars drive through and it was packed with people walking! The lenght of the tunnel is about a mile and a half.


When I say I've never seen that many people in my life in one place, I really mean it....



There were a lot of these, almost at every corner! People were stopping for hot dogs and drinks...Hustlers were everywhere, you could even get "Obama Pretzels", at every street corner a vendor was trying to sell you Obama buttons, t-shirts, flags, frames, collector's items, Obama hot dogs, .......


Obama Energy Stix....


Nothing feels like a presidential blanket to brave the cold .... ( A lot of people had blankets wrapped around them, especially tourists from the South who are not used to the cold weather, lol)



People trying to exit at a local metro station.. And I thought NY had the busiest subways?



Guantanamo Protesters dressed as prisoners. What I love about living in DC is that there is always someone protesting about something! People are just angry in this town lol.


No comment....lol



Oh Oh.....Wanna try to put him down with your BB gun?


Forrest Whitaker


Beyonce & Jay-Z go to their seats


This is the Mall( not shopping mall lol ) with a view of the Washington Monument!


The Capitol


Obama ready for his speech!




See the guy on the tree? he's got the best seat in the house, lol.



G.W. Bush exists probably en route to his plane to be deported to Texas!


Swagger waiving!


Who will clean the trash of 2 million people?


28 comments:

Ms.Unique said...

Lol .. thnks for the post Hijabee ....

malizea said...

good pics mashallah

muslimahh said...

Wow, awesome pictures! Did you throw a shoe?!?! lol! You don't have to answer that!! It looks like you got to get up pretty close.

Mina said...

Great pics...
thanx for sharing...

Lol Homo sex is sin??? Lol where did that come from...

Wow you were pretty close...

Fatou Thioune said...

wow you were close the pics are great but what a cold day i couldnt have done it even for the sake of obama

Yasemin said...

What an amazing homage to this special day Hijabee. Perhaps a future career in photography awaits you. It looks like you got close to the scene as well! How long did you camp out waiting?

While I'm concerned about Obama's stance on abortion, I did tear up seeing Barack take the oath on the Lincoln Bible.

Did anyone notice Vice in his wheelchair actually able to get into his limo with no difficulty? It looked like Cheney was trying to pull an FDR moment! Perhaps he knows a war crimes conviction could be imminent?

Yasemin said...

I also saw that a lot of people waved as Bush flew away and the cloud of his presidency was lifted. Were people cursing his name as his helicopter went up?

Yasmeen said...

Amazing post.Good riddance with the liar-joker bush.Hope the charming new President lives up to peoples expectations.

Empress Anisa said...

Amazing photos... the one with the "no comment"- too funny!
Thanks for sharing

The Gori Wife said...

Wow - how'd you get those tickets?!?!

Anonymous said...

wow, either you were super close or your camera had one heck of zoom function. I was thinking the same thing about people on the reflection pool... lol.

Anonymous said...

Cool post!! I laughed so hard when I read about the shoe throwing hahaha!

What's up with the homo sex sign?! Don't these bible-thumping weirdos understand context?!

~Michelle in Scotland

Anonymous said...

Salaam,

Just stopping by and you took some amazing pictures! It must have been an awesome experience.

MaryAnn said...

Salaam, really brilliant pictures! The shoe-thing must have been hilarious. I got misty-eyed just watching The Mall fill up with all of those people I can just imagine how it was to just be there in the middle of it all. I look forward to reading about how you felt being there.

Hijabee said...

Ms. Unique,Malizea
U're welcome :)

Muslimah,
Would you throw a shoe? lol I wish I had more shoes to trhow :)

Mina,
Yeh Homo Sex is sin, so stay away from it LOOL

Just a girl,
I know, it was freezing, my feet are still hurting from all the walking and the cold.

Lisa,
On a regular day, it takes me between 10-15 minutes to get to the Capitol, it took me 3h30 on Inauguration day, I could've drove to NY by that time. Of couse Bush got booed @ very very badly,along with Cheney, the crowd was shouting "push him down" when Cheney was being pushed on his wheelchair.

Yasmeen
Yeh good riddance, he got booed at so bad it was to the least embarrassing lool

Empress Anisa,
Thanks sweetie..Yeh there were a lot of funny moments lool.

The Gori Wife,
I gave my right arm and left leg for them lool... hey I guess just living in DC & being proactive kinda helps!

Gazelle du Sahara,
My camera is a simple Olympus one, I wish I was closer to the scene but can't complain :)

Michelle,
I know, the shoe throwing kinda became a culture lool, poor Bush! And people are always protesting in DC regardless of context lool.

curiousmuslimah,
Salaam! Thanks for stopping by. Yeh it was a great experience. I'm glad I went :)

Maryanndipity,
Salaam,words can't even describe how I felt, it was just amazing! I mean just being there with millions of people in the cold, wind and knowing that we were all there for a common purpose! Incredible & Priceless :)

Michelle Therese said...

Hjabee ~ you should stand before the Capitol with a blank protest sigh hahahaha! Oh... that would be soooo funny!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Hijabee for these beautiful pictures.I saw them already yesterday,but I was too excited to write a comment.Every single picture was interesting and I wished I was there among all those people.And the fact that you could see Beyonce from so near makes me shake with excitement!Not to talk about the Mr.President!
I'm so glad you posted these pictures and I'm sure I'll looke at them again and again.

I wish you a nice weekend.Bye for now!

Francesca Najea Lujan said...

As-Salaamu-Alaikum Sis. Hijabee!
WOW!!!! HOW EXCITING! You were sooooooo close. OK, I'm feeling like I was there with you.
Thanks for sharing,
Najea

nida said...

Yeah I had been invited to be there, but didn't want to go ~ They would have covered 2/3 of my cost lol but i refused! Its too over done for me ~ the only place I want to be squished by so many people is in Mecca during hajj inshaAllah :)!

LOL@ the bb gun dude. i would deffo not want to put him down with one ~ if i did, I might have just ended up with the orange jumpsuit crowd above only i'd end up in cuba!

Inspired Muslimah said...

Great post sis. We have some similiar pics and btw, I had a blast!!! It was sooo much fun, although cold as heck!! I stayed warm and pushed on though.lol. I was wondering about all the garbage too because there was sooo much, I remember thinking like,who will clean this up? LOL. We must meet because I will be back there in a few weeks, maybe we could have tea??

Hijabee said...

Coffee Catholic,
Loll,that's what we call a protestor without a cause lol :)

Jasmina,
How are you sweetie? Thanks for stopping by. I'm sure you were with us in spirit and do enjoy the pics :) It was pretty cool to see all those people so close :)

Francesca,
Waleikum Salam,yeh very exciting. I'm sure you were there in spirit as well :)

Nida
lol! But yeh it was a lot of people and if crowds are not your thing, that was totally the wrong place to be at, but it was a pretty unique experience for me. I enjoyed it :)

Inspired Muslimah,
Yeh I've noticed that we have similar pics, I guess coz we were @ the same place @ the same time lool. And yes, there was a lot of trash all over the place, I don't know who's gonna clean it either..... I will be totally up for some tea :)

BMW said...

Saalam! Thanks for the sweet comment. Yea, a lot more people seem to be hooking up via the internet these days. Btw, cool pictures. Wish I could have gone!

-Ihssan :)

Anonymous said...

ASA Sister,
Ok now do I not only wish that I went I wish I went with you!!!!!! Your pics were amazing and so close, how'd you manage that?!?!?! I love Bush as Saddam that was too funny!!!LOL

Hijabee said...

Ihsan,
Thanks for stopping by :)

Malek,
Waleikum Salam,
Im happy you were able to visualize everything as if you were there. I had a blast!

Hajar Alwi said...

O-wow, awesome pictures hijabee! I didn't get a chance to catch it in the telly. *it'd cost me a bomb to actually fly there* Thanks for sharing your experience. ^^ Aahh the garbage ... I pity the people that have to clean up the mess.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you actually went down there. When I heard there was a two-hour wait at New Carrollton metro, I snuggled up in my blanket. Thanks for the good pictures!

Anonymous said...

Amazing pics really! The pictures made up the whole story....thanks for sharing.

ma'asalama

Hijabee said...

Hajar,
Thanks for stopping by! :)

Juvenescent,
I totally feel you. Kinda wanted to do the same, it was crazy outseide, so many people and it was so cold! But I had a good time :)

Hish Maj,
You're welcome. Thanks for reading :)