Ice Cream Social
Time is starting to move fast here in D.C. The days are rolling into each other quicker all the time and it is now nearly three weeks since we arrived in America. A quick glance through the week starting from last Friday, when we had an “ice cream social” after work. The event took place on a rooftop in Chinatown. Each of us tried to bring a few other interns from our office, the goal being to ensure we were making friends in our workplace. It was a lovely way to finish off a first week in the office and a nice opportunity to get together with the team again and talk things over. The venue was really cool and ice cream and drinks had been brought along by the management team who made sure the event was a success.
A blast from the past
On Saturday Chris Andrews motivated a few of us to make the most of our spare time here in D.C. and check out some of the museums. Chris, Sarah, Gary and I went down to the National Mall and went to the National Museum of Natural History, the National Archives and the National Air and Space museum. All the museums were free and despite it being quite a busy time with tourists we had a very pleasant day and got to see plenty of really interesting things such as the original U.S. constitution, the Bill of rights and the Declaration of Independence.
Happy Hours
On Wednesday evening at the IFC there was a “happy hour” to celebrate the ending of the financial year. Everyone in our department took some time off towards the end of the evening and went to a reception on the ground floor for some food and a relaxed chance to talk to each other. One thing that makes working at the IFC / World Bank so special is the fact that there are about 120 different nationalities represented in the staff. Everyone has different accents; they have come from all over the world and are all specialists in their respective fields. I talked to as many people as I could and then left at about 6pm to go meet my host dad who was going to play a game of soccer and invited me to play as well. We had a good game. There really is no more enjoyable a way to pass a summers evening then getting some exercise and fresh air.
Question Time
On Thursday Declan Heery, one the WIP alums from the team of 2002 kindly organized to meet myself and Thulani ( one of the SAWIP team members ) for lunch at the IFC. Declan had interned at the IFC back through WIP in 2002 and came back to the World Bank quite a few times after that and is currently working there at the moment as well. It was nice to catch up with someone who had been through the whole experience before and interesting to note the changes that have taken place over the years. Later on I popped down to the ground floor to watch the last few minutes of the Spain V Russia soccer game in the quarter final of the European Cup. There are plenty of Spanish in the staff and they made themselves heard as Spain got through to the final. That evening there was pub quiz for the host families which was held in Murphy’s Irish bar in Virginia. The very generous owners of the bar provided delicious food for everyone and also donated a prize of 4 tickets to an upcoming baseball game for one of the winning teams. The questions were a mix of Irish and American culture. The host families seemed to enjoy themselves and a good night was had by all.
Picnic in the Woods
Today was the best Friday ever. The IFC were holding their annual picnic at Bretton Woods located about 40 minutes outside the city, so all the staff took the day off and brought their families out to the all day picnic. The facilities at the Woods were really impressive. There were 5 soccer pitches, tennis courts, a swimming pool, volley courts and a small fun fair for kids. In all about 3000 thousands people attended the event. It was very warm, very warm indeed. I was playing with my department in the soccer tournament. Our first game was at about 10.30a.m. and by then things were really heating up. It was 7 aside games, and it was great fun, despite the gallons of sweat lost in the sticky heat. In the end we actually made it to the final, but we were beaten by the Treasury department who boasted talent from across the globe, talented bankers that is, but they were handy at the soccer to. A BBQ was laid on and everyone got some food and had a relaxed chat. The day was organized well and it brought a good week’s work to a close.
