Saturday, May 28 - Kalathupatty & Kodaicanal

Saturday we got to visit the village for the very first time! First, we looked over the construction site and saw that they had already leveled the ground on started on the columns. We took measurements of the site to make sure they matched our designs and moved to meet the villagers.

Mr.Poul, our CASA contact, introduced the team to the people of Kalathupatty in a welcoming ceremony. After awarding everyone with traditional shawls, they concluded the meeting by presenting us with coconuts (someone must have told them how crazy our team went for coconut water).

After meeting with the community everyone came home and had lunch prepared by our cooks, Chitra and Artica. Although I don't remember what we ate, I do remember it was yummy and that we've all become pros at eating with our hands because of it.

After lunch, the team set out for our first weekend adventure: Kodaikanal! It was a very long drive, but we took in some awesome views on the way up. Going through the rainforest we saw monkeys, and waterfalls, and stopped to try some new fruit.

As local as we’ve become in the last 2 days, our team is still constantly being identified as “foreigners” by the Tamil Nadu locals. In retaliation to all the selfies our team members have been asked to take, we’ve been snagging a few ourselves!

Saturday night we stayed in a hostel partnered with CASA and had a team game night. After such a long drive everyone was able to get plenty of sleep before our full day exploring Kodaikanal.

Sophie

PUC India 2022