How do I properly handle namespaces using XmlPullParser in Android, while parsing XML?

I'll try to be brief as possible. I am trying to process KML (XML) files using the XmlPullParser in my Android application. I've got it working fairly well, but am getting hung up with the namespaces.

I initiate my parser like so:

public void parse(FileInputStream in) throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
    try {
        XmlPullParserFactory factory = XmlPullParserFactory.newInstance();
        factory.setNamespaceAware(true);
        factory.setFeature(XmlPullParser.FEATURE_PROCESS_NAMESPACES, true);
        XmlPullParser parser = factory.newPullParser();
        parser.setInput(in, null);
        parser.nextTag();
        readKML(parser);
    } finally {
        in.close();
    }
}

Next, the program steps through the various tag checks I set up, and properly returns all the values UNTIL it gets to the part of the XML that uses namespaces (xal):

<Folder>
            <name>Family &amp; Friends</name>
            <description>Locations of family members and friends.</description>
            <Placemark>
                <name>Fred and Marthas House</name>
                <description></description>
                <Point>
                    <coordinates>-55.55559,55.55555,120.0</coordinates>
                </Point>
                <xal:AddressDetails>
                    <xal:Country>
                        <xal:CountryName>United States</xal:CountryName>
                        <xal:CountryNameCode>US</xal:CountryNameCode>
                        <xal:AdministrativeArea>
                            <xal:AdministrativeAreaName>Michigan</xal:AdministrativeAreaName>
                            <xal:Locality>
                                <xal:LocalityName>Lawton</xal:LocalityName>
                                <xal:Thoroughfare>
                                    <xal:ThoroughfareNumber></xal:ThoroughfareNumber>
                                    <xal:ThoroughfareName>45th Street</xal:ThoroughfareName>
                                </xal:Thoroughfare>
                                <xal:PostalCode>
                                    <xal:PostalCodeNumber></xal:PostalCodeNumber>
                                </xal:PostalCode>
                            </xal:Locality>
                        </xal:AdministrativeArea>
                    </xal:Country>
                </xal:AddressDetails>

I process each individual XML value like this:

// Processes title tags in the feed.
private String readCountryNameCode(XmlPullParser parser) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
    parser.require(XmlPullParser.START_TAG, NS, G.KML.COUNTRY_NAME_CODE);
    String countryCode = readText(parser);
    Log.d(TAG, "Found CountryNameCode value under Country tag");
    parser.require(XmlPullParser.END_TAG, NS, G.KML.COUNTRY_NAME_CODE);
    return countryCode;
}

Once it gets to the namespace portion of the xml it starts getting angry. The stacktrace says:

2018-12-24 12:59:43.026 1884-2314/OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO W/System.err: org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParserException: expected: START_TAG {null}CountryNameCode (position:END_TAG </{urn:oasis:names:tc:ciq:xsdschema:xAL:2.0}xal:Country>@30:21 in java.io.InputStreamReader@9f81207) 
2018-12-24 12:59:43.027 1884-2314/OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO W/System.err:     at org.kxml2.io.KXmlParser.require(KXmlParser.java:2067)
2018-12-24 12:59:43.027 1884-2314/OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO W/System.err:     at OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO.KML_Import_Pull.readCountryNameCode(KML_Import_Pull.java:470)

So, next, I specified the namespace explicitly in the .require statement where the values are read:

// Processes title tags in the feed.
private String readCountryNameCode(XmlPullParser parser) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
    parser.require(XmlPullParser.START_TAG, "xal", G.KML.COUNTRY_NAME_CODE);
    String countryCode = readText(parser);
    Log.d(TAG, "Found CountryNameCode value under Country tag");
    parser.require(XmlPullParser.END_TAG, "xal", G.KML.COUNTRY_NAME_CODE);
    return countryCode;
}

The stacktrace changed slightly, but is still more or less the same error:

2018-12-24 13:12:48.615 3842-4769/OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO W/System.err: org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParserException: expected: START_TAG {xal}CountryNameCode (position:START_TAG <{urn:oasis:names:tc:ciq:xsdschema:xAL:2.0}xal:CountryNameCode>@16:29 in java.io.InputStreamReader@eaf421) 
2018-12-24 13:12:48.615 3842-4769/OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO W/System.err:     at org.kxml2.io.KXmlParser.require(KXmlParser.java:2067)
2018-12-24 13:12:48.615 3842-4769/OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO W/System.err:     at OBFUSCATED_PERSONAL_INFO.KML_Import_Pull.readCountryNameCode(KML_Import_Pull.java:470)

My only other thought is that the XML is malformed, but other applications process it just fine, and at least the first several entries appear well formed. I went through them manually as well as using another application to double check. edit I used an online xml validator and it didn't give any errors while checking the document

Did I miss anything setting up the XmlPullParser factory preparing it for this xal namespace?

The problem was programmatic, I had two erroneously placed parser.nextTag further up the tree that caused the errors.