Special guest blogger

I'd like to introduce a very special guest blogger for today's entry - my beautiful, charming, and intelligent wife. Take it away, wifey:

I feel the need to comment on the popularity of certain American presidents here in Africa. Hands down the most popular is Bill Clinton. In Senegal, where I was in Peace Corps, EVERYONE talked about Clinton. When he came to Senegal he visited their Grand Mosque and as a result there are now countless Senegalese named Bill Clinton (people name their child after someone to show honor and respect).

I was surprised to learn that he is even more popular in the DRC. Everyone knows about his trip to the Grand Mosque in Senegal but they also talk about his trip to Goree Island. Goree Island is an island off the coast of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, where slave ships picked up African prisoners. In the DRC, rumor has it that Bill Clinton actually cried when he was on the island. Another big rumor is that while visiting the Grand Mosque, Clinton said part of an Islamic prayer, which everyone interpreted as a conversion to Islam. Really, the stories go on and on.

So now, Obama has been elected and no matter how many tears Bill Clinton has shed, he isn't half-Kenyan. Many people here view America as a land of opportunity, which it is. They often think that simply being in America will lead to wealth and are sorely disappointed when they travel to the states and find out that isn't true. But Obama as president has given them a sense of pride and optimism. If a man who is one generation removed from Africa can become president of the most powerful country is the world, then maybe there's hope for Africa.