MBAs vs Laundry machines

One of the things that I find really different in the US is the approach to doing laundry. In Europe, I’m used to having a laundry machine in my house. And it is common practice for all houses and flats to have its own laundry machine.

For me it’s different to say the least that flats in new buildings that are 8 or more stories high do not have laundry machines inside. Instead, there is a set of laundry machines in one of the stories or in the basement and people go there to do the laundry. Sadly enough, most of these machines are coin operated.

That poses two problems. Firstly, it is costly. Secondly, if you have never seen this system in place and the laundry machines are old, you might be completely clueless when it comes to operate them.

That’s exactly what happened to us in our temporary accommodation. There was a set of machines and they were all coin operated. However, they were very old and there were no instructions. Now imagine being in a foreign country with a limited number of clothes and at some stage, having all of them dirty! I’m sure you’ll understand the case is even worse if I say in Washington it is more than 35 degrees now and humidity is very high!

After many unsuccessful attempts to put them to work, things didn’t seem that bright. As clever Cambridge MBAs we thought we were, we didn’t give up. We tried all different possible combination of coins, all different buttons and still the damn machine wouldn’t start working. After exhausting all possibilities and making use of our recently learnt MBA skills, I’m proud to say we finally found a reasonable solution:

Thai Temple, Teepee and Caged Houses...

What do you do when you are utterly homeless and desperate for a place? Search for options. Now these were options that we were honestly (to our hearts) given. We are safe to report that we are no longer struck with that ill-fate and no longer desperate enough to listen to anymore advices.

Option 1 - Use Craigslist.
The past two weeks have been an exciting time searching for accommodation. During our search, we have been touring around houses all over and some have been been very uninviting to say the least. A short description of what was 'cute little house in the suburbs with den with a view' turned out to be 'horrible, caged window flat above basement with a small 2m by 1.5m shelter overlooking a row of caged houses'.

Despite being qualified and trained in Karate and Taekwondo, both of us fled holding on tight to our lives. (no photos to show.. needless to say, we didn't even dare bring out our camera and heavily concerned that possibility of doing so would have resulted in a tug-of-war)

Second option - try living in a Thai temple in Washington DC should all fail.

A Thai lady at the World Bank had kindly suggested this when I told her that I had checked out of the hotel with no further options. You should have seen Jorge's face when I introduced the possibility of him sleeping on a wooden floor and waking up at 5 in the morning to do prayers. :) Personally, I would have done so in less than a heart's beat, just to see how the experience would have turned out for him. Suffice to say, the early morning meditation classes and vegetation meals were not enough to entice Jorge ..

Third option - Whilst site seeing, we found a cute Native American Teepee by the Capital.

Eversince childhood, I had been very fond of the Native Americans whilst watching movies about their adventures, and always wanted to try out a Teepee. I had finally got my break!! It even came along with a portable loo!!


'Picky Portugese' didn't like it. This was not going to hold by Jorge's ever high standard so we finally moved to a more civilised setting. Enter 1500 Massachusetts' Avenue...



Hurray, a home at least till the end of our internship. Our place comes with a fantastic view of the city too!! Also, amazingly enough, we found more Portuguese and World Bank folks living in the building.

Shelter in place

The World Bank is a very exciting institution to work for. It deals with many interesting projects that will have a huge impact in the community it is addressing. That is what we learnt on the first day of work.

On the second day of work we learnt there are other forms of excitement in the Bank sometimes. We were eating at the canteen when an announcement was made through the speakers: “For security reasons, we are imposing a Shelter-in-Place. No one is allowed to enter or leave the building until this condition is lifted”.

Shelter in place occurs whenever there is a potential threat to the World Bank’s personnel. Despite being locked inside, it seems like no one really cares that much. The World Bank building is so big that it seems like a city by its own right. Apparently, some individual left a suspicious package near the World Bank and the police was investigating. Turns out it was nothing.

I just hope if this happens again, it doesn’t happen by the end of the day. It’s my first time in Washington and I still have lots of sightseeing to do, so I need to get out early from work!

"Jazz In The Garden"

June to August is a season for live Jazz in Washington DC. A weekly event with different jazz bands packed to make any week complete and ready to kick start the weekend. Not one to disappoint, we just had to join the crowd to see what the fuss was all about. The atmosphere was AMAZING!

Our friends were all geared up and ready to go. We had beautiful weather, a picnic mat, picnic food (We left England but still had cheese, crackers & ham... sigh .. we have been converted!!), sangria and live music. What else could we possibly need for a Friday, post work?


For over three hours, we sat in the park by the lake near the Capital and enjoyed the ambiance till mosquitoes invaded our privacy. At this point, we took the party to an Ethopian restaurant near McPherson Square. Courtesy of my Italian friend, Gianni gave me my first 'roadtrip' in a Vespa down Washington DC. :)

(Photo of my tour guide)