Is it possible/practical to program android in a language other than Java?

So the quick and dirty back story of this question is that when I originally read Google's response to the Java lawsuit by Oracle, Google made reference to the fact that android doesn't use the Java virtual machine (it uses some other VM, but the name escapes me at the moment) and went on to say essentially that Java isn't the only language that can be used with the OS.

So when I read that it really got me thinking about how great it would be if I could program android apps without using Java. This is relevant to me because I know plenty of programming languages but I really haven't picked up Java or its predecessor C++ (technically I did make a basic android app essentially using what little I have learned of C).

Anyway its been a few months since I read that story and I have been digging around here and there (not too seriously) and have come across a few posts/blogs/ect affirming that it is possible and there is a tiny bit of documentation out there (for instance I found some python users out there using "Jythonroid")

Anyway the question is, is it really practical to program android in another language (yes I realize android utilizes XML in addition to Java) and if so which is the language(s) of choice?

Additionally, any bread crumbs that can be left leading to documentation would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Student

Daytona Beach, FL