Trivandrum — July 24
Waking up bright and early at 5:45am was not very nice…although you probably had to have been asleep to qualify as waking up. Instead, I got up at 5:45am and jumped into the Sheraton shower… or should I say, HEAVEN! I wanted to stay under that water pressure forever. I left for the airport promptly after 6am and arrived before 7. I witnessed a fender bender and learned from the car driver that I had too much left to see before leaving again.
The airport was packed and smaller than I imagined. There were people going in all directions and only one terminal connecting you to tons of gates all sharing one waiting area…yea…very confusing! Thankfully, I didn’t miss my flight! First, we flew to Mumbai. There, to my surprise, we picked up Holly and went on to Trivandrum. It was great seeing her and knowing I now had a partner in crime as India could be very overwhelming at times.
At the airport, we had a very nice man named Gigimon waiting for us. It never gets old to see your name on a sign! hahaha… he took us to the hotel and later picked us up for our meeting with Dr. Menon.
Dr. Menon is an amazing person. He has been working in law for over 50 years in everything from practice to teaching. He was the catalyst for all the changes to legal education in India and it was a real treat to get to pick his brain a little. Holly and I definitely felt like we needed 5 more days with him to get to hear everything we need.
The city itself is much bigger than I expected. There are thousands of cars and people everywhere, all the time. Bananas are their thing, so there are banana stands as far as the eye can see on some roads. Amazingly, they have over 30 different species of bananas!!! The hotel itself is very nice. Our room is big and it even has a little sitting area and desk. There is a rooftop pool and restaurant and a business center for our internet needs. The weather is warm and muggy but not very hot. It feels great!