Election Night, Outsourced

I would wager that most expats living abroad (outside of State Department employees) did not have a chance to formally celebrate Election Day. Somehow, my friends and I were lucky enough to watch the results announced in style, at the five star Taj Coromandel Hotel in Chennai (trust me this was a stark departure from our normal one star lifestyle). The event was courtesy of American taxpayer dollars, as it was sponsored by the US Consulate in Chennai. The Consul General had good-naturedly advertised the event in the local edition of The Hindu; little did they know that half of Chennai's social science teachers would read the advertisement and cart their adolescent students into the conference room. The hall was filled with teenage girls and boys making eyes at each other as they posed with life-size cardboard cutouts of Obama and McCain, craned their necks to make out the incoming polls on the big screen TVs and lined up to cast mock ballots. The throngs of schoolchildren became so numerous that a consulate employee requested, diplomatically of course, that once each class had surveyed the room they should, "kindly vacate the event." As Americans we were not given the boot but rather lingered to sip tea, nibble on crustless sandwiches and cheer when Obama triumphed in Ohio. Most, if not all, attendees placed themselves squarely in the Obama camp and if there were any McCain supporters...they certainly forever held their peace. I observed that while most Indians endorsed Obama without hesistation, they questioned his administration's approach to outsourcing.....