The Kerala countryside

So after our very eventful train ride, we spent a few days visiting Paul's Grandpa who lives a few hours from Trivandrum. We arrived at his house in the evening and were all very tired. Paul's Grandpa was so happy to see us and it was neat to see the look in his eyes when we arrived. He had been waiting all day for us to get there.

After visiting for a while, I decided to lay down. Within a few minutes I noticed that there were ants on my pillow. After having been in India for a few weeks I had slowly gotten use to seeing ants inside the house but ants on my pillow felt like an invasion. It was really almost more than I could take and I was in tears. Paul and his Mom tried to pacify me as they changed the bed and I reluctantly gave up the idea of making Paul take me to a hotel. lol In the morning Paul took me and the kids on a hike and taught us all about the plants and trees native to his homeland. He was right in his element as he is very comfortable and happy to be a teacher.

He was delighted to have some very interested students as he pointed out several beautiful trees and plants including: Coffee trees, Cocoa trees, Bamboo trees, Cashew trees, Pineapple plants, Coconut trees etc.

A Pineapple plant

We walked along side the river next to his Grandpa's home and witnessed a man taking a bath and a woman washing her clothes in the river. We saw another man carrying a bag of cocoa beans that he had collected on his shoulders.

The kids were delighted to see a cow grazing by the river and they attempted to feed the cow. After we left his grandpa's house, we travelled for several hours through the countryside and visited many people. Driving through the countryside here is much like driving through a zoo so naturally the kids had a blast. We saw cows, chickens, goats, dogs, and even saw an elephant that was tied to a tree.

The kids were so excited to see the elephant and one of the locals told us that the elephant had gone mad which is why it was tied up. We had a very interesting and long discussion with the kids about the elephant  who was having bad behavior and who was now in time out lol. Another interesting thing about the culture here is that when someone comes home for a visit, they are expected to visit almost anyone who had an impact on their life in childhood and beyond. Needless to say, we have visited many people who have all been very kind and happy to see us. Paul borrowed someone's bike and took me for a ride 'Indian style' which was fun. : )