Last minute, I'm a +1 to the Obama rally and we're in the stadium and everyone cheers and then we're crying as a young African American kid gets hoisted up on some stranger's shoulders and pumps his fist as Obama walks on stage.

Singing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and dancing like everything is going to be OK, even after someone makes a joke about the government monopolized postal service.

Behind us, a white man taps us on the shoulder and points to a scar saying, "40 years ago I was beat with a nightstick right here." His wife chimes in as we're leaving the park, "This is for you, kids."

The crowds are teeming with joy and courtesy, teenagers stopping to help their elders up the grassy embankment.

Thinking that in 100 years we will have been a tiny part of the wheels of American progress, we took a cab home. The cabbie took the wrong exit and we spent an extra 20 minutes out of our way, but hell, he was more excited than we were.

We all concluded there were bound to be some 'irregularities' in the counting of our midterms, but in the grand scheme of things, the fight was won.

Only in America, especially in Chicago.

I work for the NSP program, and today in class the students got to talk about their election day experiences. One little boy talked about how his parents went to Grant Park, but he had to stay at home with a babysitter. He and the babysitter watched the election, and he said that when McCain won Texas they were "really depressed" because it's "so big". That's when the scale of this election really hit me. Second graders were grasping the workings of the electoral college and tracking the election last night. They just got to witness history. This is amazing!

I finally bit the bullet and went to Lafayette, Indiana to help canvass and get out the vote. For me, while I have helped on political campaigns before, it was the first time I've actually been walking door to door, talking to constituents and trying to convince them in those final hours that they should vote. It was shocking to me, having grown up on the North Shore in Massachusetts where everyone I knew voted and political discourse was not only common, but expected of you, to meet so many people who had given up on the electoral system. A real eye-opener you might say; one man told me that no matter who he voted for, things only got worse. For every one person I met who said they weren't voting though, I met at least 20-30 who had already cast their ballot, many of them for the first time, and all of them believing that their vote would matter.

Afterwards, as the polls were closing in Indiana, I high-tailed it back to the rally (I was fortunate enough to have a ticket), sprinting to catch the Metra so I could make it downtown as soon as possible. It was unbelievable. Simply unbelievable; Evan describes it well above.

After the rally was inspiring too. On my way back to Hyde Park, even though we were now miles away from Grant Park, I heard cars honking, and cries of "Obama!" all night long.

And one of the best parts? At around 1 AM Indiana was finally called by Dan Rather. The state that even FiveThirtyEight didn't project we could win, was won.

Excepts of email messages received from friends in Tanzania that I made on a trip there last year:

Great news for the African continent, especially in Kenya and East Africa! I personally feel so honoured for the Obama's landslide victory. I think the world now will have faith towards an American administration that you will bring peace and unity to the people.

Ernest Timath Lugalla
Iringa, Tanzania

I appreciate your courage in selecting the Kenyan man-OBAMA to be the President. That is a good job. We are enjoying that.

Wilbert Magellanga
Pommern, Tanzania