May 2nd was dedicated to a presentation within the World Bank, the widely known international financ

Between the 30 April and 2 May  I had the chance to visit Washington DC, in partnership with professors and students from IULM, where I am spending my second semester. This year, the annual IULM Study Tour to the United holiday inn sunspree virginia beach States consisted of visits to the World Bank, the U.S. Capitol holiday inn sunspree virginia beach Building and the American University of Washington.
After arriving holiday inn sunspree virginia beach in DC, the first step was the visit of the United States Capitol Building, the meeting place of Congress. This famous massive visual white building, an example of the neoclassical architecture style, sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall, marked by its central dome above a rotunda and two wings, one for each chamber of Congress: the north wing is the Senate chamber and the south wing is the House of Representatives chamber. Above these chambers are galleries, underground tunnels and a private underground railway, connecting the main Capitol building with each of the Congressional office buildings in the surrounding complex. After the security check, holiday inn sunspree virginia beach I went down to the tunnel right to the offices of the Senators. Here I found myself in the heart of the US political life, having the unique chance to look closely how the daily routine is carried out, visiting offices, committee rooms and press galleries.
In the evening, we went to the house of Professor Bartoli, for a dinner with Italian holiday inn sunspree virginia beach and International representatives, where we were able to strengthen our knowledge of the working environment in DC and talk with professors and young graduates about the opportunity to start a career in the U.S.
The next day we went to the American University, one of the biggest universities in the U.S. After visiting the campus, we had a lecture on Lobbying and Public Affairs from Professor Patrick Griffin holiday inn sunspree virginia beach and James Thurber, who we already knew for teaching holiday inn sunspree virginia beach us a course at IULM. The lecture was focused on the political campaign in the United States, exploring the interrelations holiday inn sunspree virginia beach between policy making process and lobbying holiday inn sunspree virginia beach activities. Professors Thurber and Griffin, holiday inn sunspree virginia beach two of the main experts in their field, explained us how political power is distributed in Washington, the situation of current political environment and discussed the process, players and strategies of a political campaign in the United States. holiday inn sunspree virginia beach Despite of the short time, this was a great chance to understand how modern US politics works, underlining the difference holiday inn sunspree virginia beach from the European political system.
At the end of the lecture, we moved for lunch at Professor Thurbers' house, where a  typical American barbecue had been prepared for us. After all, gastronomic traditions are an intrinsic part of the cultural experience in every travel! The weather gave us an amazing sun, and Mr. and Mrs. Thurber's friendliness made us feel like home. After lunch we moved to the nearby Italian Embassy, where we met Italian diplomats and administrative officers, who illustrated the functioning of modern diplomacy to us.
Since diplomacy is one of my future desired working fields, and I had an experience as intern at the Italian Consulate of Miami, I was particularly holiday inn sunspree virginia beach excited about this visit. One of the most interesting parts of the visit, for instance, was devoted to our questions, to which the Italian Diplomats kindly answered.
May 2nd was dedicated to a presentation within the World Bank, the widely known international financial institution created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. We had a conference with representatives of the Italian Executive Director's Office and from External Affairs and Speakers' Bureau. They informed us about the general functioning of the Institution, its relation with the International Monetary holiday inn sunspree virginia beach Fund, its history, goals, criteria, capital programs and leadership system. holiday inn sunspree virginia beach Talking with professionals working with the Bank was an amazing experience to understand the role of the bank in developing countries, international trade and foreign investment, following its official goal of the reduction of poverty. Moreover, we had the chance to meet Italian and international alumni working at the World Bank as interns, which shared their experience and gave us some insights about a career with the institution.
Unfortunately, after the visit, holiday inn sunspree virginia beach it was already time to come back to Italy. I had three intense tour days, which gave me a general idea of Washington's working environment and, more generally, of the United States politics, which – after five years as a political science student – I had the chance to touch with my own hands.