Election days

I know I am up too early when I hear the Colombian national anthem on my way to school. They play it on the radio at 6:00 every morning. I have come to associate it with sunrise. I think it's interesting to see how the national anthem is used or viewed in different countries. I feel like you don't hear it as much in the States, but I remember it being played before the start of the film in movie theatres in Thailand, complete with a gigantic image of the king projected on the screen.

I guess I am thinking about this public patriotism partly because of the elections that took place here on Sunday. [Disclaimer: I was a less than casual observer to them. I really barely followed them at all, so anything I write is based on the most general of impressions.] The elections were to choose members of the senate, and it seemed like there were a whole lot of parties to choose from. Walls were absolutely plastered with posters, and people in party T-shirts tried to give me literature about a hundred times in the past few weeks. Somehow one was more aware that something was going on than you might be in the U.S. First of all, during elections here the government imposes a ley seca or dry law. You couldn't by alcohol starting at 6 p.m. on Friday and until 6 a.m. on Monday. (I couldn't help but wonder who were the people lined up outside a liquor store at 6:01 Monday morning).

Second of all, starting on Thursday or Friday, security was beefed up everywhere. For instance, there is always a security guard at my supermarket around the corner, but on Thursday night he was carrying a massive shotgun. By Friday, the military and police were out in force, standing guard everywhere it seemed. The security guard at my building also told me that all the army and police were acuartelados for the whole weekend, meaning that no leaves were granted, and they had to be on call at all times. By Sunday, there were helicopters flying over my building what seemed like every few minutes. Frankly, I found it all a little intimidating, which I feel like would not be a good feeling to have as you go to vote. Or maybe in a country of so much conflict, it makes people feel safe. I wonder.

On election day itself things were buzzing. I happened to be at two different shopping centers that were being used as polling stations, and they were mobbed. And the police were out in force managing the crowds. Traffic was as bad as a week night rush hour, and the party faithful had fanned out everywhere. One supermarket was even running an election day lunch special. It was all pretty interesting to just observe, to see what was different from election days in the States. Now my question is: what is it going to be like when the presidential elections roll around in August?