My First Day in London (Vishi Upadhyay, ITP 2019, India)

Written by Vishi Upadhyay, Curatorial Associate, Bihar Museum (ITP 2019, India)

It was my first time travelling alone from Delhi to London. I had mixed feelings of excitement and a bit of nervousness. I was excited to fulfil my dream visit to the British Museum, but I was nervous to be travelling alone to a new place. I reached London Heathrow airport on Saturday morning at 9 am and was welcomed by Emily Shaw (ITP Team Member) at arrivals. Her sweet and kind nature reduced my nervousness.

After an hour, I reached Schafer House and met the rest of the ITP 2019 team, Claire Messenger (Manager), George Peckham, and Mohamed Mokhtar (Senior Fellow).  In this moment I completely forgot my loneliness. I praise Mohamed Mokhtar for looking after us all at Schafer House; he is always available to help. At my accommodation, I met Elizabeth from Ghana. She helped me discover some of the Indian restaurants nearby. By the end of the evening I was introduced to some of the other ITP participants: Alsu from Uzbekistan and Sanjeewani from Sri Lanka. It was a wonderful experience.

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Someone once said ‘affinity makes you feel like heaven, it does not matter where you are.’ I am very much impressed with the well organised programme, hospitality and sweet and kind nature of the ITP members. Well done!

Vishi