Obama in Nairobi!!!!

Nairobi people like Obama. They say “This is a new era,” - a happy day for Kenyans, for Africans, a day to celebrate.”

Young Nairobians celebrate the inauguration.

They Are singing for Obama............

By the time the vice-presidential inauguration had come and gone, the club was beginning to hush. Soon everyone was sitting at red-white-and-blue-draped tables in the garden in front of huge flat-screen TV’s. Obama stepped forward, and Casablanca was so quiet I could hear the singing of the cicadas and tree frogs. The moment hung in the thick night air, and when the new president gave a shout out to Kogelo, the village where he traces his roots, the crowd burst into a cheer.

Revelers at Casablanca cheer Obama’s speech.

Then Nairobi began to party in earnest. The garden started thumping to the dance music of Afro-Project, Nairobi’s hottest new act. And Ciiru finally took to the stage for her Beyoncé moment, singing rich, resonant African soul.

It party time - D.J. Riggs at Gallileo.

From there it was on to Gallileo (Museum Hill, +254 20 374 6718), which was full of locals waving Kenyan flags inscribed with “Obama.” D.J. Riggs played L.A. hip-hop, and young couples grooved to the image of the president and first lady dancing together at the Neighborhood Ball.

Every where Obama.......Obama..........

As the night stretched into the morning, we all ended up in a field full of students smiling and shouting. One group was brandishing an American flag and cheering, “Obama! Obama! Obama!” Two girls rushed up to me, the only white face in the crowd. “Where you from?” they asked. “America? Welcome to Kenya!” They laughed and kissed me on the cheek. “Tell your friends to come and see our country!”