Kodaikanal, India - March 6, 2008

Shortly after arriving in Bangalore, we made a trip to Kodaikanal to visit Jenn, our main reason for coming to India. We took an overnight train from Bangalore to Madurai which took about 10 hours. A driver met us at the train station and drove us up a twisty, windy mountain road to Kodaikanal. Leaving the train station, we drove through the town area with the markets and shops just opening up and the traffic already starting with the ubiquitous beeping of the horns. Once we left the town area and started heading up the mountain, the air got cleaner and cooler, the noise level died down and the scenery opened up to reveal the beauty of the hillside.

We checked into the guest house at the Kodaikanal International School then went to find Jenn at the elementary school campus. It was wonderful to see her with all her little students. It was obvious to see that the kids were really attached to Jenn and Jenn to them. There were many students from Korea who were boarding at the school, and they were all excited to meet me and confirm that Miss Ruskey was part Korean.

The day after we arrived there was a Field Day - school Track and Field and parents day. We enjoyed watching the events, mingling with students and staff, and getting a feel for Jenn's life. It also brought back memories from Jenn and Albert's field days (city track meets) when they were in elementary school.

Jenn has made many good friends and they invited us to dinners and generally included us in everything that was going on that week we were visiting. It was a wonderful visit.


View on the drive up to Kodaikanal










Jack Fruit Tree












Jenn w/ some of her students









Field Day at KIS








A group of Indian women walking along the lake. They all have long, black hair, and wear colorful, graceful saris or long pants with kurtas (long, tunic shirts).








Frank and Jenn at the tip of the "Dolphin's Nose" viewpoint that we reached by hiking down for about an hour from Kodaikanal town center.









Jenn's little house that she shares with two other teachers.








Below: We walked about 7 km in the countryside on our way to see the Pillar Rock, a tourist attraction with great view. We don't have a good photo of the view from the Pillar Rock because it was very hazy. We found the walk to get there really interesting and rewarding, making the trip worthwhile.













A family of monkeys with a tiny baby. Monkeys are everywhere and they are mostly not so cute. They are everywhere and they are actually very aggressive and kind of frightening.