WASHINGTON DC WEEK!

What a wonderful week!! We stayed in Takoma Park at the residence of the Society of African Missioners (SMA... it is originally a french mission group and have houses all over the world training lay missioners and religious). Since there are 13 in our group and 7 in theirs four people from our group went to stay at the Franciscan lay mission building a couple metro stops away. We all shared meals together though - very cozy, and slept on mattresses on the floor in the basement, living room, and upstairs. There is also a chapel in the building and Father Dan lives in the house. They pray the liturgy of the hours every morning and night together (at 7 am in the morning) and celebrate mass every night, though they altered the schedule to accommodate our very busy days. The first day was a retreat at the BEAUTIFUL Franciscan monastery along with the Camboni lay missioners, African Lay missioners, and franciscan lay missioners. Father Mike, a franciscan, led the day and it was perfect because it was the day after Francis's feast day. He talked about his work in Bolivia, as well as Francis's life story. At lunch we ate outside in the garden area in the warm sun as we enjoyed the architecture and depiction of our Lady of Lourdes. The weather for the week was PERFECT- it got to be above 80 on Thursday! The next day we spent as a workshop where a speaker representing act!onaid spoke about human rights programs, the challenges and issues with the current economic policies, and the work that their group does. A former lay missioner also gave a presentation, and then representatives from the offices of the Bolivian ambassador and Tanzanian ambassador came to speak about their countries issues, perception of americans and missioners, and problems that they would like missioners to address. During our break we walked down to the Washington monument as the capitol is right across the street from the Methodist building where we met. From left to right: Me, Lindsay (who will serve in Cambodia), Brian (of the African Mission Society, SMA) and Jackie (also SMA)Behind us in the picture you can see some tents. They are actually many houses being built for a solar decathlon where 20 colleges and universities  (INCLUDING the University of Puerto Rico! GO GALLOS!) competed to build energy friendly houses powered only by solar. The winner was judged by architects and designers judging the marketability, design appeal, scientists testing the water flow and engineering, lighting design, and several other areas.

Back at the house Steve cooked us a delicious meal and we played board games and Sister Genie played her guitar and taught me a couple new songs. 

The next day we went to the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns (MOGC) which is located on the campus of Catholic University right across the street from the beautiful Basilica and National Shrine. We met with them the following day, and they brought in several NGOs doing work in the regions where we were serving. It is inspiring to see all the good that all these organizations do, to know that it is a team effort in the field and at home. 

The following day I met with the aids in congresswomen's Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins offices as well as my local representative Chellie Pingree to introduce myself, talk about where I will be going and what I will be doing. 

Some people headed home Friday night but I decided to stay the weekend. Saturday I spent the day with Tom who will be serving with the Society of African Missioners, and Cindy and John a maryknoll married couple from Kansas who are in my class and will be headed to Kenya. They are retired teachers, and their eldest daughter Katrina has been working in Nigeria for the past couple years as an unofficial missioner. We spent the morning at the Holocaust museum. It is very powerful the way the museum is set up. They also have displays and lots of information about the more recent officially recognized genocide in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Sudan. 

I split from the group to visit and have lunch with my Uncle Joe and see some of the sights in the area. Afterwards I met back up to go to mass at the Basilica. Right after mass a Boys choir was performing in the Crypt below and we went to listen to the free concert. They were amazing. There were probably 40 in their group, ages 6 to 60. Some songs just the younger boys would perform, and some just the men.

The next morning at breakfast we said goodbye to Father Dan and all the SMAs and were on our way back on the Chinatown bus. We arrived home just in time to grab dinner at the Italian Fest bazaar in town this week and enjoy the music and festivities. After a long week I need to go to sleep so I can be up for morning prayer tomorrow!

Buenas Noches y Dios te bendiga!

We arrived safely back at Maryknoll. Below you can see a picture of Lindsay and I as we stand on the balcony attached to the library of the father's and brother's building.