Snakes, snakes, and more snakes (don't forget Udayamperoor or Xmas)

We went to a snake park a few days ago. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it when I saw the KING COBRA!!!!!!!. Here is a list of things that I saw: crocodiles, peacocks, pythons, boa constrictors, monkeys, porcupines, and rat snakes.

Today we went to Vypeen island. We bought some huge crabs from a couple of stores. They were about 800 rupees, which is pretty good for big crabs. We are going to try to make black pepper chili fry, wonder what it will taste like.  After Vypeen Island, we went for a big lunch in Udayamperoor. We had karimeen, a type of fish, surprisingly Mongoose, also surprisingly crane, prawns, and duck. The karimeen was done in a sort of wet tomato curry. The Mongoose was very spicy because it had a lot of black pepper (the crane was the same as the Mongoose ). The prawns were a bit spicy with coconut chunks. The duck I didn't try. 

On Xmas day Isaac and I got a Nintendo DS each, 2 games for our Nintendos, books like Jenny and the Cat Club by E. Nesbit, candy, movies to play on my DVD drive, and computer games like Mystery Mansion Arcade.

Kerala report: part 2

The sports that are commonly played in India are cricket, badminton, and kabaddi. Kabaddi is played with 2 teams on either side of a field. Each team member takes a turn running to the other side of the field. They try to get points by wrestling or tagging (I think tagging is safer) the other team. The runner holds his/her breath the entire time he/she is running. I haven't watched kabddi, but one day I went to the beach and I saw some children playing cricket in a field of palm trees.

A traditional Keralan feast is called sadya. Sadya is spread out on a clean, green banana leaf. Sadya can include sambar, rasam, aviyal, kaalan ,olan, kichidi, pachdi. Sambar is a thick lentil dish with vegetables. Rasam is thinner than sambar but spicier, rasam is also called pepper water. Aviyal is a thick mixture of vegetables , coconut, and yogurt. Kaalan is made of any one vegetable, yogurt,and coconut. Olan is made of pumpkin, coconut milk and ginger. Kichadi is made of yogurt and cucumber. Pachadi is made of grapes, pineapple, and coconut. My favorites are porotta (a type of flaky flat bread), and thali (a meal made with rice and little bowls of different curries). There are a lot of spices in Keralan food, such as black pepper, chilies, cardamon, ginger , and turmeric. Most of the Keralan dishes include lots of coconut and coconut milk. I don't have a favorite food yet because I haven't had them all. The food in Kerala is great, and it is very spicy in some places.

The Keralan backwaters are canals that run through half of Kerala. They are both man-made and natural. The natural canals were formed by the action of waves that created low barrier islands. The backwaters were originally used for transportation for coconut, rubber, spices, rice, and cashews. People live in houses along the canals. They have boats to catch fish and go to the market. Some of the people work at the rice fields that are around the canals. Lots of tourists go on houseboats to see how beautiful the canals are. We went on a houseboat ourselves. On the houseboat I saw lots of fish and fisherman in canoes. One of the fisherman came up to the boat with tiger prawns for 1000 rupees per kilo, which is a lot for a kilo. The creatures in Kerala 's backwaters are crabs, mudskippers, frogs, terns, kingfishers, darters, cormants, otters, and turtles. Unfortunately Kerala 's backwaters face many dangers such as pollution, droughts, large dams, and sand mining.

I learned that Kerala is a great place to be because of the different food and the beautiful backwaters.

Kerala Report: Part 1

Kerala is a state in India, the locals refer to it as 'God's Own Country'. Kerala is located on the South-Western coastline of India. It is by the states Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is also by the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We are in the city Cochin(Kochi). The biggest city and capital of Kerala is named Thiruvananpurum. Thiruvananpurum is 220 kms from Cochin. The population of Kerala is 31,838,619. 8.5 million tourists come every year to Kerala. The Backwaters are one of many tourist attractions. The three main religions of Kerala are Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. 57% of the population are Hindus, 19% are Christians, and 23% are Muslims. There are many languages spoken in Kerala including the main one, Malayalum.