Tag Archive: Yale on the Trail

  1. ‘Excited chatter’ but ‘far too cold’

    Leave a Comment

    By Lauren Motzkin

    WASHINGTON, 6:22 a.m. — We parked. Finally. It took about 45 minutes of sitting in the parking lot and then another 15 or so to unload the food. We all filed off the bus to grab bagels, fruit, granola bars, chips, cookies and water bottles, stuffing our pockets and cursing the “no bags allowed” rule.

    After about two minutes of excited chatter in the parking lot, we got back on the bus. It’s far too cold to be standing out there right now. I’m not really sure what’s going on but apparently there’s a shuttle that’s going to take us closer to the Mall.

    Right now I’m just trying to figure out how much time it’s going to take us to get back here later today and how we are going to find our bus among the thousands of identical coaches. Wish me luck.

  2. Stiff neck, long ride

    Leave a Comment

    By Rustin Fakheri

    WASHINGTON, 5:15 a.m. — I’m waking up to a stiff neck from trying to sleep on the bus. They are lining the sides of every roadway and parking lot we’ve passed for at least the past twenty minutes.

    Now we’re stopped in what appears to be a line for something. My iPhone tells me we are in the District near the Maryland border and C Street.

    Now we appear to actually be parking.

    More to come.

  3. On the Road

    Leave a Comment

    By Han Xu

    OUTSIDE BALTIMORE, 4:00 a.m. — About five hours ago I left New Haven on one of the Af-Am house’s buses with approximately 70-80 other Yalies.  Now, we’re stopped to refuel at a Maryland rest stop just north of Baltimore, along with almost a dozen other tour buses.

    All of the rest stop’s shops — Starbucks, Cinnabon, Sbarro and the like — are still open and serving long lines of customers, weary looking travelers with little obvious in common except for the Obama clothing worn by all.

    Just as quickly as the crowds materialized, suddenly they were gone again, continuing on towards D.C.  ”I feel like we’re going to Mecca,” remarked one of my traveling companions.

  4. The pilgrimage for our president

    Leave a Comment

    By Nicolas Kemper

    WASHINGTON, 12:35 a.m. — I feel like I’m on a pilgrimage.

    The notion started when Adam (another YDNer) and I were heading down Saturday morning on the train. As Adam shared with me what he would tell the new President, given five seconds, we passed Obama’s whistle-stop train. Everyone rushed to one side (not ours, sadly) of our train to see Obama going through Wilmington. Our target was clear, and enthusiasm rose high.

    From that point on we were joined in our pilgrimage by crowds of people standing on the side of the railroad tracks. The biggest collected at the train stations and towns, but also families and single people just standing out in the middle of the woods or cornfields, parking lots and highschools. They waited expectantly, American flags in hand, for what would only be a glance of a man whom we all know. (more…)

  5. Wheels up: a bus leaves New Haven

    Leave a Comment

    By Eric Randall

    NEW HAVEN, 10:44 p.m. — The AACC bus just left New Haven. People are chattering and seem excited to finally be underway. I am settling in to get some reading done before I pass out.

  6. The inaugural poet’s inspiration

    Leave a Comment

    By Martine Powers

    NEW HAVEN, 10:00 p.m. — Elizabeth Alexander ’84, Obama’s inaugural poet, is an expert on poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks, whose career spanned from the 1940s until her death in 2000, was the lionized black poetess of South Side Chicago. In 2005, Alexander edited The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks, an anthology of Brooks’ most pivotal work, and said about Brooks: “She wrote truly great poems whose technical achievements are still guiding many poets. … She wrote poems about people she loved who lived in a place she loved and knew.”

    Now, Alexander has returned to Brooks to find inspiration for Tuesday’s inaugural poem. When she spoke to the News on Sunday, Alexander said her poem will channel Brooks’ “understanding of what it means to speak to a community.” Alexander said three Brooks poems have influenced her in particular:

    The Second Sermon on the Warpland

    For Walter Bradford

    1.

    This is the urgency: Live!

    and have your blooming in the noise of the whirlwind.

    (more…)

  7. Crowds fill DC

    Leave a Comment

    By Zeke Miller

    WASHINGTON, 9:30 p.m. — With under 12 hours to go until the gate of the Capitol ground open to visitors for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, the city is getting crowded. Metro trains around the city are nearly full, leading many to wonder how the system will hold up tomorrow.

    As one can imagine security around the district is tight. Metro stations, like everything else in the city, are subject to close if the crowds get too large, or for security reasons. If you are traveling to DC tomorrow be prepared to alter your travel plans.

    For those lucky enough to have tickets to the inauguration, you may only enter through the gate printed on the ticket. And don’t forget to check the list of banned items.

    More from Washington tomorrow morning.

  8. Spotted: DeStefano and Lieberman

    Leave a Comment

    By Zeke Miller

    WASHINGTON, 5:45 p.m. — Connecticut’s congressional delegation hosted a welcome event for visitors to the Capitol in the ornate Caucus room of the Russell Senate Office Building. In attendance was the entire delegation and leaders from throughout the state, including New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr.

    New Haven Mayor John DeStefano

    (more…)

  9. ‘Open House’ on the Hill

    Leave a Comment

    By Zeke Miller

    WASHINGTON, 4:41 p.m. — The atmosphere here on Capitol Hill, and indeed in this entire city, is electric. People are cheering on street corners. People are excited to be here.

    The Connecticut congressional delegation is opening its doors to their constituents. Sen. Chris Dodd hosted an “open house” at his office passing out fresh cookies baked by his staff. He and freshman Rep. Jim Himes welcomed Trumbull High School’s Golden Eagle Marching Band, which is performing in the parade tomorrow.

    photo4.jpg

    Tina Mazon of the Farmington Democratic Town Committee said she can’t wait for President-elect Obama to take the oath of office. “The world will change,” she said.

    (more…)

  10. The calm before the storm

    Leave a Comment

    By Eric Randall

    NEW HAVEN, 4:14 p.m. — Economizing has never been so important. As the esteemed YDN news editor Zack Abrahamson told me, “Prepare for this as if you’re going into a war zone.” With a predicted high of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and no backpacks allowed in many areas of the city, I will have to find a way to carry all of my essentials on my person. I’ll be wearing about four layers. I will be away from campus for just under 36 hours. Yet somehow, I will observe, report, and write a story with just a notepad and a low-tech cell phone. (My parents laughed when I asked for an iPhone for Christmas.) I’m both nervous and excited to see what obstacles I will encounter.

    In the next few hours, as George W. Bush ’68 spends his last evening in the White House, I will eat a final dining hall meal (my swipes for tomorrow have been used to buy food for the AASA bus), attend a cappella rehearsal and make the trek across campus to the bus as I head into what promises to be an interesting day and a half.

  11. Waiting for tickets

    Leave a Comment

    Lines at the Capitol

    By Zeke Miller

    WASHINGTON, 12:52 p.m. — At the Capitol, hundreds are lining up outside of congressional office buildings to pick up tickets to tomorrow’s inauguration. According to a Capitol police officer who declined to be named, the process appears to be going smoothly. More on the atmosphere here soon.