London Tour by Chidera Medicine

Saturday, 24 July

Saturday was a busy day at Immerse. I had breakfast at 8 am to be ready for our coach to London at about 8.45 am. We got there at about 10:30 am, walked to the museum entrance and began exploring. My mentor family and I spent about an hour checking every section we passed through, and we really enjoyed the Greek, Roman and Egyptian exhibitions.

It was really fascinating but also really weird to see actual mummies and learn about them in the practical context they existed in. I was also pleasantly surprised at one of the object labels I saw in the Egyptian section. The object was an African steamship company medallion from the late mid-1800s, and the label described its representation of ‘post-abolition moral fervour’ but mentioned that it ‘also conveys the continuing post-abolition exploitation of Africa for trade and the persistent image of Africa as impoverished’. I was actually pretty impressed. Neo-colonialism is a topic I am pretty passionate about as an African, and I was really happy to see it being addressed without any euphemisms.

After a snack break, my group met up with the other students outside the museum, and we were told we could explore London. We spent a while trying to find a place to eat before settling on Pizza Express, where I got an American. Really ironic considering that I’m in the UK! After that, we got dropped off at Westminster, where we spent a while exploring Harrods.

We returned to the entrance of the British Museum on time to meet up with our mates and then our coach back to Cambridge. It was a really long day, and we were all happy to be back at Sidney Sussex. After dinner, we gathered at the Knock Shaw to watch ‘the Trial of the Chicago 7’, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Chidera, Sidney Sussex, Session 3 – Medicine