Inauguration Aberration

Already, we are getting indications here in Washington, D.C., that Obama's inauguration week will unimaginably insane. 4 million people are expected to make the pilgrimage, and hotels as far away as Richmond VA, and Baltimore MD, are already all booked up. It's hard to even imagine how that will affect our peaceful everyday life in our little District of Columbia with its 500 000 inhabitants.

This morning by my metro station, loud-mouth entrepreneurs were trying to recruit people willing to sacrifice their housing to tourists, for gargantuan bucks! They were yelling: "Make a month's salary by renting your apartment for 2 days!" ; "Go on vacation and make some money while you're away!" ; "People are willing to pay thousands of dollars to stay in your house!" And they were not joking! Talking to a few friends, I am hearing rumors of houses on Capitol Hill ALREADY rented for more than 20 000$. Another person I met said he was putting his small student apartment up for 5000, for 2 nights$ I just checked Craig's List, and houses located about an hour away from Washington's centre are listed for 10 000$ or 12 000$. That is simply insane!

But, we will be staying home, sleeping in our own bed, and nobody has asked us yet to crash on our sofa (don't try it, this is not an invitation!). One thing though, I think we should stock up on food, water, and toilet paper (hey, three essentials!) before the inauguration, as 4 million additional people here might just cause the whole infrastructure to collapse! And, thankfully, we are close enough to walk over to the Mall, and will not have to suffer in overstuffed metro trains. Maybe, even with 4 million other people around, we will still get a mini glimpse of Barack and Michelle... but one way or the other, I am certain it will be worth all the trouble to be there!

Gaston