Guus Bosman

I am writing this from the main World Bank building, in the center of Washington. It's really interesting to be inside here. I got a
visitor's badge, with my picture on it, that allows me to go around in the building. Before you enter there's a security check, like in most public places here.

The building is made with a lot of glass. The main hall is very light and it's huge. I saw the place where Sasha is working, on the 4th floor. She has her own office, very convenient.

Monday we had lunch together in the Bank. There are more than 120 different nationalities working here, so there's a enormous wide variety of food to choose from. I had an Etheopian meal. The chicken was very delicious, it was made with some spices I didn't know. It came with a small portion of vegetables (I thought). When I tasted it, it was some sort of sour sambal: extremely sharp and spicy. It's nice to experiment a bit...

Important visitor
Yesterday I came to pick up Sasha, and I waited in the hallway. Inside the main hall there was a reception, and outside there was a black limousine waiting. There were two black cars with mirror-windows and a few police cars around it. A few security people were waiting: some Americans, two others were speaking Russian. After a while somebody came out of the Bank, probably an ambassador or minister, surrounded by bodyguards. The cars left with the sirens on, so they didn't have to wait in traffic. Interesting.

In fact, you can see this quite often: huge colonnes of police cars, motor cycles, and a few black cars. When I was near the White House I also saw such cars, so I suppose I saw (the car of) the President or somebody quite important.

Tourist in the Bank
In the bank there is also a magazine shop, with economical and political magazines from all over the world. I'll definitely spend some time there! In fact, there is also a big section of the library with magazines.

Everybody in the building here is dressed up, it's quite official. There's an interesting mixture of suits: American, Italian, English, and there are some people from India who wear their specific dresses.

In a while I'll go up to the 12th floor, the see the view from there. This building of the World Bank is connected to that of the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Perhaps I'll try if I can get in there with my visitor's pass.