Some election day (seçim gün) observations from Turkey

I talked with two old men in my hotel lobby for a while this morning, while we shared bread and cheese. They were big believers in Obama, which I surmised from the way that gesticulated while saying ''Obama güzel! Bügün Amerikada seçim var.'' Okay, that was what I could say; their Turkish was considerably more complicated. But all the same, it was clear they backed the right man. I didn't ask if they thought he was a Muslim...

This afternoon, as I was wandering through a poorer part of Kars, lost as usual, I was surrounded by a gaggle of schoolkids who repeated ''Hellowhatisyournamewhereareyoufrom?'' over and over again. When I said I was American, they all started talking about Obama. We talked for 10 or 15 minutes about the election, and I answered their questions (in a mix of Turkish and English) about politics in the US. They were adamant that Bush had been terrible for the whole world, and asked if anything would change. Inşallah, I said. (Technically, that translates as 'Allah willing,'' but it is also used to express hope.) Then they asked me to take photos of them: they were, after all, just kids. But I was struck by how much they knew, and how much they cared--while I doubt they understand exactly how the US election will impact their lives (it will), they clearly realize that something important is happening today.

When I went to my favorite restaurant tonight, the friendly proprietor asked if I was excited to watch the election: I said I would be in bed, but that I hoped Obama would win. He agreed, as did everyone in the restaurant. I couldn't follow the conversations around me as I ate my dinner, but nearly everyone was talking about Obama.

I'm going to bed in an hour or so, and I'll sleep restlessly, wondering about election results. (And not just the presidency: there are plenty of other important races too.) Plenty of Turks will wake up tomorrow morning and turn on the television to hear the news from the US.

I am not one to get caught up in cults of personality, and I am certain Obama will not be all his supporters (I'm one) imagine. However, Obama has become a symbol of the world's desire for a good, honorable America. Turks like America: I can't say how many people have looked at me enviously, saying, ''I would like to go to America.'' (I never know how to respond.) I think Barack Obama has rekindled the American Dream in much of the rest of the world, and certainly here in Turkey: if America can elect a man like Obama, the thinking goes, I can succeed there as well.

I hope the US can be the good and honorable country these Turks imagine: it won't be easy. Electing Barack Obama is just the first step, and it is largely a question of his personal determination and willingness to confront Washington's entrenched elite, both Democrat and Republican, while simultanously ignoring the pundits who will insist he must ''govern from the center.'' If he wins, the rest of the world will be relieved, but his post-racial, multi-continental identity alone will not make him friends abroad.

Will those Turkish kids I talked with today have a friend in America, working to make their neighborhood--the middle east--safer? Will America welcome them if they want to visit or study? Will America stick up for real democracy in Turkey? Turkey is hopeful, but action, not eloquence, will determine our standing in the world.

And yes, I voted. I mailed my absentee ballot from Hopa, Turkey, where I had to convince reluctant postal workers to open the post office on a Saturday so I could recover my ballot from Poste Restante. I voted in a restaurant, where I showed the waitstaff the darkened oval next to Barack Obama. They liked that. I spent $35 to send it express to the US: worth every penny.