An American friend living in Florence sent me the following email:

I came across this in my daily reading of the NYTimes and think it is a simple yet powerful and positive way of stating the struggle for equality in America.

“Rosa Parks sat in 1955. Martin Luther King walked in 1963. Barack Obama ran in 2008. That our children might fly.”

I am overjoyed by Obama’s victory and the fact that he will be our next president.  I watched the election until 4 am at an election watching party here in Florence with thousands of people.  That, however, did not prove to be late (or early) enough.  A friend and I stayed up until 6:30 to see the final results and watch Obama’s acceptance speech on the internet.

The amazing part of this election for me here in Italy is how everybody I meet is excited and positive about America now.  There were just as many Italians at the election watching party as Americans, if not more.  Last night we had a large dinner/party at my apartment because my flatmate Claudia defended her thesis and graduated earlier in the day.  Every toast we did was to Obama, not Claudia – she set the precedent in the first toast.  Walking around the streets I will randomly hear shouts of “Yes we can!” coming from distinctly non-American voices as well as see shirts and buttons with the slogan or his face.  It’s a wonderful time to be an American at home as well as abroad again.

In Greece you get dvds with the newspaper. Thus Irini has collected hundreds and hundreds of films, ranging from National Geographic documentaries to blockbuster hits (Thelma and Louise, Fight Club, Million Dollar Baby), old classics (Rebecca, Vertigo, The Godfather), Greek films, and a slew of foreign movies that Alison and I don’t watch because they’re subtitled in Greek.

Most recently we watched Connie and Carla and Death at a Funeral, both of which are absolutely hilarious and I highly recommend.

Connie and Carla (2004) is about two friends who, after accidentally witnessing a mafia hit, skip town for L.A. where they get a gig as drag queens singing at a local gay bar. They become big hits, gay men fall for them, and Carla falls for a straight man who believes she’s a drag queen. The film was written by and stars Greek actress Nia Vardalos, of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame.

Death at a Funeral (2007) is an English black comedy… I’ll leave it at that. Please watch it.

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Other films we’ve seen on Paros: Blood Diamond, The Age of Innocence, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Room With a View, Driving Miss Daisy, Walk the Line, O Brother, Where Art Thou?