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NAIROBI, Kenya
From the shantytowns of Kenya's capital to the rural homestead of Barack Obama's relatives, thousands of Kenyans slaughtered goats, hoisted American flags and partied into the night yesterday as a man they see as one of their own ascended to the world's most powerful office.
In Nairobi's sprawling Kibera slum, residents raised a U.S. flag and declared Kenya to be America's 51st state. In the village of Kogelo, where Obama's father was born and some family members still live, 5,000 people gathered as 10 bulls and six goats were slaughtered for a luxurious feast at a time when the country is enduring a crippling food crisis.
"Yes, yes, yes!" shouted Maurice Odoyo, 34, joining hundreds of people trying to catch a glimpse of Obama's speech on a 12-inch television set up in a clearing in Kibera. "Obama will remember us, how we are suffering."
At the biggest hospital in Kisumu, Christine Aoko named her newborn daughter Michelle, after Obama's wife.
"I hope my girl will grow as tough as Michelle," Aoko said.
VIENNA, Austria
It was just a scribble in the snow. But the giant "YES, WE CAN!" that Norbert Aschenbrenner carved in huge letters at the U.N. complex in Vienna yesterday was a poignant expression of how many people in the international community are embracing Obama.
Aschenbrenner works for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which went up against President George W. Bush before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Bush administration had said Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction; the U.N. agency had insisted that its inspectors had found no supporting evidence.
Aschenbrenner said he felt compelled to do something to express his pleasure with the change of leadership in Washington. "So I came in early today, at 7 a.m., and felt a bit like a graffiti-sprayer," he said.
BAGHDAD
Hussein Mohammed Ali, a teacher in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, took special pride in watching Obama take office as president.
Ali is among about 350,000 Iraqis with African ancestry: descendants of slaves brought to Iraq when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Many of them live in the Basra area, where they feel marginalized in Iraqi society.
"I feel so proud and happy today because Obama, a black man like me, will assume the post of president of the world's most powerful country," Ali said. "The great event taking place today represents compensation for all the years of deprivation and denial that black people lived through."
BOGOTA, Colombia
Sugar cane-cutting descendants of African slaves were given the day off in Puerto Tejada, a violence-wracked town of 45,000, where they watched Obama's inauguration on a giant TV and celebrated with dancing and singing.
"The people here see themselves represented in Obama," Mayor Elver Montano said. "President Barack Obama could help us a lot, promote dialogue, give resources and money to help improve people's livelihood."
JAKARTA, Indonesia
Obama spent four years as a boy in Indonesia's capital, and students at his former school performed traditional dances from across the world's most populous Muslim nation in his honor yesterday.
Old classmates also joined in the celebration at the Menteng 1 elementary school, where Obama is fondly remembered as a kid nicknamed Barry.
"I'm proud that the next president is someone who I have shared time with," said Rully Dasaad. "It was a crucial time for children our age. It is when we learned tolerance, sharing, pluralism, acceptance and respect of difference in cultures and religions."
FRANKFURT, Germany
Ron Larsen waited for this day for the entire lives of his two 8-year-old sons.
"All they've ever heard about is Bush," Larsen said at an inauguration-viewing party sponsored by Democrats Abroad Frankfurt. "This will finally be the America I want them to have."
The 48-year-old native of Xenia, Ohio, who has worked in Germany for 16 years, joined others in snacking on hot dogs and sipping beer and soda while watching the inauguration on TV at the Museum of Communication.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil
Standing outside the Cantagalo slum, where shanties climb a steep hill with stunning views of Rio's beaches, Alex Andrade, an unemployed black Brazilian, expressed hope that Obama will bring change to his nation.
"Blacks face so much discrimination here. Now, with a black man in charge of such an important country, it might help decrease the racism in Brazil," the 24-year-old said. "It is giving hope to all the people who live here."
Just off Ipanema beach, Marco Aurelia Pereira, a 53-year-old white businessman, stood in a bathing suit and sipped cold beer in a small bar where a television showed the inauguration.
Obama "has taken over a country at one of its lowest points," Pereira said. "But the U.S. always seems full of surprises, and I'm sure he'll help you bounce back."
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia
Saleh al-Mohaisen drew on his cigarette as he pondered the significance of Obama while taking a break outside his jewelry store yesterday.
He said he was elated at Obama's election and is sure the 44th president will be better than his predecessor, whom many Saudis accuse of bringing wars to his region.
"I wanted to send him a letter by courier to wish him well and explain how Muslims and Arabs feel," al-Mohaisen said. "I felt that he could understand Arab suffering."
But the 34-year-old shopkeeper also said he was concerned about Obama's lack of comment on recent fighting in the Gaza Strip.
ST. JOHN'S, Antigua
Antiguan Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said the Caribbean nation will rename Boggy Peak, its highest point, Mount Obama on Aug. 4 to mark President Barack Obama's 48th birthday.
Spencer announced the plan in November in a letter to Obama but didn't say when it would happen. He revealed the date yesterday.
Spencer said he joined "people of color all over the world, and indeed all people," in celebrating Obama's inauguration.
Boggy Peak rises 1,300 feet over Antigua's southern point and is popular with hikers.
