The weekend I moved in, I saw a pro-life march — a march in support of indigenous people and the women’s march downtown. I also came to Washington during the longest government shutdown in United States history. This has made my first week rather interesting.

Basically, all attractions in the city are closed, and during the day, an eerie silence falls over the National Mall. According to the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority, they lose over $400,000 per weekday due to federal workers staying home. I have also witnessed many restaurants in the city offer free food and coffee to furloughed workers.

Luckily, President Trump and Congressional leaders have agreed to open the government for three weeks while they debate border security. The hope in the city is that in three weeks’ time we do not have another shutdown, because that would bring unnecessary stress to an already strained economy in the area.

In this column, I hope to keep everyone back at school up-to-date of newsworthy events here and my experiences working and living here. It is already a news junkies nirvana being here, because news breaks almost every hour — including weekends. I look forward to sharing my experiences here, and thank everyone back in Rhode Island for reading.