The past two weeks have been very exciting for my human rights fact-finding mission, because we are doing advocacy work on the Hill and with federal agencies to push for policy revisions to address the problems we identified in our report. It is liberating to be able to do more than point out a problem--to actually present ideas on how to solve those problems, and hopefully have an impact on the lives of future persons with mental disabilities at risk of being deported. So far, I have been part of a panel discussion at American University, met with an attorney at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and met with the staff of Senator Gillibrand and Senator Leahy (collecting many business cards along the way). There are a few more big meetings coming up, so we'll see what happens!
Other things going on? Let's see, I've tabled with my journal for a bake sale to raise money for DC Books to Prisons, I attended a lovely reprise of Thanksgiving dinner at Brad and Marie's, we took our panoramic class photo (and it felt like high school all over again), the Catholic Student Association had a well-received Fish Fry, I saw the Georgetown Gilbert & Sullivan Society perform
The Sorceror, I took several strolls around the Tidal Basin at night with Jess, we made butterbeer, I was the narrator for Palm Sunday Mass, and I've been studying for final exams and writing a paper.
Last night, a few of us from the CSA trekked over to main campus for Holy Thursday Mass. It was a very nice service, and struck me as a peaceful culmination of my Lenten experience. For most of Lent, I was not as devoted as I would have liked. However, things turned around a couple of weeks ago when I went to confession and renewed my commitment to a prayerful pursuit of God. He is awesome. My favorite part of the Holy Thursday Mass was the procession out of Dahlgren Chapel at the end of the Mass with the body of Christ. We sang and walked through Healy, around the side of the building to the Copley Crypt Chapel, which was calming and sincere.
My Triduum continues with a service at St. Joseph's on the Hill today, Easter Vigil tomorrow night at the Basilica of the National Shrine, and the CSA's third annual Easter Brunch on Sunday. Hopefully, I'll find time to work on a paper and do some outlining this weekend, too...
