Abby Meenan Explore India 2024
Written by Abby Meenan, BSc Hons Business Studies, Explore India, 2024.
Explore India 2024
An unforgettable experience filled with memories, laughs and lifelong friends I will cherish forever.
An unforgettable experience filled with memories, laughs and lifelong friends I will cherish forever.
Memorable Moments
My week in Bangalore with Christ University was incredible. It is very hard to pick a memorable moment, one that stuck out to me was our visit to the Art of Living Centre in Bangalore. The Indian culture is very much centred around mind body and spirit, and meditation is at the core of their beliefs. The centre we visited is the Capital of the organisation and had some of the most breath taking architecture I have ever seen. During our visit we had a beautiful tour of the grounds, learned more about the organisation and about meditation. As our day was coming to a close and were about to leave, we were asked if we would like to meet Sri Sri Shankar, the founder of the organisation. This was a very big surprise and not planned in our visit, we ended up meeting the founder and participating in a guided meditation session with over 5000 people. This day was one I will never forget. That may be my favourite day from the programme, but the people I met on this trip are what I'll remember most.
Learning about a different culture
The culture in Bangalore couldn't be more different from the culture here in Ireland. From their choice in breakfast, to their road rules ! I thoroughly enjoyed opening my eyes to a new culture and way of living, I feel this type of exchange is so important for young people to experience and broaden their perspectives as to what is outside of their day to day living.
Challenges and how to deal with them
When I seen this opportunity, I questioned whether it was the right fit for me or not. I had never travelled outside of Europe before and had a lot of fear and anxiety before going. All of that was put to ease through the support of the Go Global team and the second I met the group I was travelling with all my fears and worries disappeared.
Making friends while abroad
From being complete strangers to instantly clicking with one another, our group of students on programme are some of the kindest, brightest and funniest individuals I have ever met and can truly say I have made lifelong friends. It is not often you get opportunities like this in life and I was so happy to be able to share it with such wonderful people. The international team at Christ University are the most caring group of young people and staff and I cannot speak more highly of them.
Travelling and sightseeing
We had a jam packed schedule for our week stay. On our first day we completed a campus tour of their stunning grounds. The Bangalore Central Campus had some of the most scenic and beautiful gardens, if they were on my campus at home I would never leave ! We were quite close the large shopping mall so many trips were taken there ! For both personal and gift buying purposes, this resulted in quite a few suitcases being overweight ! We also took part in a cookery class led by the Hospitality school and I learned how to make some authentic south Indian dishes.
On our third day we went on a long excursion visiting sights around the city of Bangalore. This included the Bull temple, an ancient temple, the Bangalore botanical gardens, Bangalore Palace, The Vidhana Soudha and Commercial Street Markets. Seeing and learning about the ancient sights of Bangalore and learning this history behind them was something I thoroughly enjoyed.
We also visited some villages and an urban slum to meet school children. This day was an unforgettable experience, getting to meet young school kids who we brought some treats for, played some games with them and taught them the macarena ?. We were privileged to receive a welcome performance at one of the schools in which groups of children put on plays, singing and dance performances to welcome us all. This was a surreal experience and I loved getting to meet them. We travelled to other Christ University campuses and learned about their sustainable practices. Along with visiting some NGO's such as St. Johns hospital.
Advice
For anyone who is anxious about whether a programme is for them or not, my advice would be to feel the fear and do it anyways. I had a once in a lifetime opportunity and I cannot believe I almost didn't go. It is very easy to let your doubts and fears take over before applying but I promise you will not regret it. It's very hard stepping outside of your comfort zone and travelling to a new place with new people but I had the most surreal experience that I feel has made me a better person, more culturally aware and really opened my eyes as to what opportunities are out there. The experience gained on these programmes provided by the Go Global team are incredible and will make your experience at Ulster University one to remember.