On to Nagercoil

 

As dawn broke, we were able to see tranquil terrain out the door of our sleeping car.  We were on our way to Nagercoil in the very bottom tip of India for a SAS sponsored trip to Nagarcoil: Village, Farm and Plantation visit. We were also visiting the Pioneer School which was started by our hosts.  

 

We were met at the train station by a bus, and went with our guide to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kumaraswamy or Kumar and Latha as we came to know them.  They had lived in the U.S. for many years before moving back to India so that their sons could experience growing up in India. They also returned to manage the family businesses.  Latha founded the Pioneer School.  We arrived at their home, were greeted warmly and went to our rooms to freshen up.  All eleven of us slept in two rooms--dormitory style with one bed and lots of futons.  We all wanted a shower after the train ride.

Breakfast was traditional Indian food and was absolutely delicious.We all agreed that the coffee was the best we had tasted since leaving the U.S.  Latha and Kumar have a house staff who cooked and served us, and we felt very special.

After breakfast, we made the short drive to the Pioneer School where we were met by the Principal, several teachers and a group of students who were very excited about our visit, even thought they had come to school on Saturday for the special event. 

They gave a demonstration of a typical day with a lesson, some dancing by the students, singing and prayer.

  We each were presented a shawl by a teacher or student and got to introduce ourselves.  Then we divided the students up in groups and and spent time with them.  My group was guys, and I asked them to explain cricket.  They love cricket and quickly had some equipment out, and two of us chose sides and the game began.  Brian, one of the SAS students on the trip, earned the nickname "roof ball" when he batted the ball all the way to the roof of the upper story of the school.  The kids were in their element.  I had brought a frisbee to give them, and they had never seen one.  I also had my harmonica and played a few songs for the little kids when they came out.  They were quite mesmerized.  Then I reached into my old bag of father tricks and taught them to sing "the itzy bitsy spider".  I'm pretty sure I had more fun than any of them did.  Our day ended with us signing their notebooks.  What a great group of kids.

I hope it was a short day for school, because we had gotten those kids pretty stirred up.  

So, we finally had to leave and headed to a coir factory.  Coir is the husk from the inside of a coconut shell, and it is soaked in a pond for 3 months and thrown out by these guys.  Then the husk can be removed. 

They next make rope and then weave the rope to make products like door mats.  It is almost all done by hand, and the mats are beautiful.

Several people bought small ones.

We were ready for a late lunch by this tome. So, to be continued.