Visas Ahoy!

While waiting for our visas to be approved, Jess and I planned our trip to India.  We were all over the map, balancing price with crazy layovers.  Using Bing.com, Microsoft’s Google (I like Bing because you can search all ticket providers including the discount outlets at one time and you can track fares to estimate when they will be the cheapest), we researched a bunch of possible connecting cities: Amsterdam, Dubai, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Moscow, Paris, Stockholm, and Seoul.  Our plan was to leave early and spend 24 to 48 hours in a fun city, exploring.  Finally, last night the Government of India approved our visas.  We had to make our choice.  So, we are leaving Baltimore on May 17th, connecting in Newark, New Jersey, and flying straight to New Delhi.  Newark is not Dubai – no offense Dubai – but we figured a 21-hour flight was enough adventure.  Our tickets cost $1399 a piece. 

All we have left is to complete our exams for the semester and get our shots.  We need immunizations for typhoid, Hepatitis B, or C, I can’t remember, Malaria, and the Flu.  Too bad Johns Hopkins has not discovered an immunization for white coat syndrome.  Like nearly 100 million men in America, I am scared of the doctor.  But typhoid requires bravery and so I am going to make either Jess or my mom go with me to get my shots.  

Lets Get Going!

We received are updated letters from Jindhal Law School this morning, Tommy is planning on going to DC tomorrow to drop off our visa applications for the second time, while I plan on staying in Baltimore to consume delicious food and beer at the annual UB Block party. Good Luck Tommy!

The Beginning

This is an experiment in travel writing. We hope to provide interesting first-hand accounts of our experiences while we are in India, first to help our worried families know that we are safe and not married - to other people - , and second, to help University of Baltimore Law students learn the value of foreign legal experience in the World’s largest democracy. Maybe, if anyone other than our mother’s is reading, we can provide an entertaining account of India to our friends.

Jess and I applied for a legal education exchange program through Jindal Global Law School . We both applied in a hurried fashion. I applied right at the deadline because I figured I would not get an opportunity to consider whether going to India would be a valuable addition to my legal education; and Jess applied after the deadline because she really wanted to go but thought that too many other students had applied. When I told her that Baltimore Law was looking for another interested student, Jess quickly applied. After meeting with three law professors at Jindal Law School by skype-call, we were weighed and measured, and accepted. Sorry mom(s).

We will be living in the City of Gurgaon, Haryana in India and commuting to nearby villages to “study” a project that Jindal Law School is spearheading. Jess and I have to emphasis the academic nature of our work because we have not yet been approved for a Visa to go to India. Travisa, the Indian Government’s Visa processing subcontractor says that “interns” or “internship” means, for the purpose of the Visa application “employee”. In order to be an intern in India, we would need to apply for a work Visa, which is a much more complicated process than applying for a student Visa. Jess and I hope to have our Visas very soon. Then, we can honestly say, “we are going to India this summer”. Please ask Ganesha to clear our way.