Second post of the day

At 4:30 I decided to take the train to meet the class for our last dinner together. It was a good time and we shared our favorite moments.
I looked a bit like C3P0 from Star Wars. I couldn't really turn my head without turning my whole torso. I'm back and going to hit the drugs again tonight and hopefully get a good night before travel day. ~Brian

While Brian spent the day at the hotel, I was busy on Capitol Hill. We started our day with a visit to the Washington Office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Gustavus is ELCA-affiliated, so I arranged a meeting with their domestic policy lobbyist and someone who deals with immigration policy. We spent two hours with them learning about the advocacy efforts of faith-based groups.

After that, the students and I headed over to the Senate office buildings for lunch and then back to the Capitol. We raced to get to the House gallery before they started session at 12:30. They called the House to order, two members made short speeches, and then they adjourned until 2:00. Bummer! It did give us some extra time to check out the museum in the Capitol Visitor's Center though.

Our next stop was a meeting with Gustavus grads working in Congress. We met in the library of the House Ways and Means committee, which was kind of a cool experience in itself. It was also great to hear from people working in Congress who could connect well to the students. After the panel, we headed upstairs for a meeting with Representative Tim Walz. Walz was a high school government teacher before being elected to Congress, and that side of him definitely came out in his interaction with a big group of students! I'm a Walz fan, so it was fun to have him know my name, even if it was only because his staffers just briefed him on it.

Our final stop of the day was a group dinner at a restaurant in Union Station. We went around the table and shared our highlights of the trip and it was fun for me to hear the students talk about the moments they most enjoyed. This is also the only place I got a picture today since Brian, our resident photographer, wasn't with us until dinner. So here it is, one of the students with the biggest hot dog I've ever seen.


Now let's just hope that the weather stays clear enough so we can get out of here tomorrow!