Travel

Travel

Getting to India can be a challenging and arduous process that for doing so little physically is quite exhausting. After missing the scheduled flight out of Columbus due to not having my passport and visa in hand by the appointed time-thanks to a FedEx truck breakdown- I was able to board an evening flight to Newark and meet up with Darrell to catch the first international leg of the flight to Frankfurt. You may be wondering why the lateness in securing the passport and visa. To dispel a perception of not planning ahead, you should know that the documentation to receive an Indian visa-specifically worded letters of request from OWU, the IEE, and Indian representatives plus the forms-was provided to the visa expediter in a timely manner. However, we learned that the specific wording of the letters can be different for the various consular offices. So in New York the consulate wanted different wording in the letter from India. After considerable diplomatic moves and negotiations, we were finally able to get the revised letter and the bureaucracy plodded on. Although both of our visas were processed on the same day, Darrell received his three days before me. Learning- even if you think there is plenty of time, guess again and move up deadlines for submission of appropriate documentation to receive a visa to travel to India.

The 8 hour flight to Frankfurt was uneventful and long. The one hour change of planes and get to another terminal to catch the next leg of the flight was rather hectic and went quickly. A little longer layover would have been nice but on to the next plane for a 9 hour flight to Chennai. Lufthansa got things going gastronomically by offering Indian food for dinner and breakfast. Our plane was late getting into Chennai but after getting luggage, changing some money, finding our driver, and getting to the hotel, we hit the rack around 2:30 a.m. India time- which is 9.5 hours ahead of Ohio time.