Obama's Every Indonesian Utterance Was Enough To Foster National Pride

By Sarah Dilorenzo (CP) – 2 hours ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia — He didn't say much in Indonesian, but it was more than enough.

Whether thanking his hosts for going to the trouble of making his favourite food or recalling the shouts of street vendors from his childhood, President Barack Obama's every utterance in a http://obama-mamas.com/blog/?p=2104">speech Wednesday morning at the University of Indonesia was met with laughter, applause and a swelling feeling that he belonged to this nation of islands.

After two previously planned trips were cancelled, Indonesians initially seemed reluctant to get excited about the visit. But all was forgiven once his plane touched down.

"It feels like he's a brother who disappeared for a long time and then came home," said Rini Mustika, a 29-year-old secretary, who was at a cafe eating chicken porridge for breakfast when Obama's speech began on TV.

No one seemed to care about U.S. foreign policy or trade or relations between Islam and the West. On this trip back to his boyhood home, the personal — not the political — was king.

"It was so touching when he said, 'Indonesia is part of me.' And the way he spoke, so calmly, with so much familiarity, I feel like he's so close to us," said Ida Syaidah, a 42-year-old housewife who lives on the outskirts of Jakarta.

From: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jBE52iG2pxPIargp_0hhUfD5tu8g?docId=5087849

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Transcript posted here by Jefferson_dem: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=516668&mesg_id=516744

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