Back in Chennai

After a strange 15-hour bus ride from Nagercoil to Chennai on a very nice airbus, complete with fake wood paneling floor and movie theater. Well, the whole bus was the theater because the sound on the one t.v. was turned up so loud that the explosions from the hyper-dramaticized Tamil rebel film were blowing up my eardrums, as well as the buildings. At first it was hours of music videos. Then it was ok that it was so loud so everyone around me couldn't hear me laughing. Then when this Armageddon meets the sappiest romance novel of all time (minus any physical contact) came on, I had to ask the driver's assistant to turn it down for fear I would never hear once I stepped off the bus. He did, so I attempted to fall asleep (it was an overnight ride), then learned how Indians feel about personal space at a VERY inopportune time. The girl sitting next to me who must've been around my age was totally lying over the armrest on my sticky skin! Now, I really don't like to touch strangers, let alone have their sticky arm stick to mine (the bus wasn't AC), but the more I moved against the side of the bus (I was at the window), the more she inched in! It was so bad! And, when I turned over and faced the window, she turned too and took up all the space I just freed. It was horrible. But, nine hours later, I was in Chennai.
That day was even stranger than the plane ride. The director from World Endeavors India came to town. He lives in Delhi but decided to pay a visit because some things haven't been working right at the Chennai orphanage placement. There was a very serious, professional meeting where the other volunteers and the director, his intimidating girlfriend, and the local director discussed all sorts of problems and solutions that have come up in past months. After that, we went out to a fabulous 4-course lunch and had a ball! We sat on the AC floor of a great South Indian restaurant in walking distance and the director treated us to a fab meal. Each course was enough for a meal for all seven of us. Actually, after the second round of food, I thought we were done and was getting ready to leave when I saw the waiter come with another huge tray. It was great! When you are in Chennai, you must check this place out: Hotel Saravana Bhavan is an awesome introduction into good South Indian food. I am being an advertisement here, but it's worth it!
Today I went back to the orphanage and may have gotten lice for a second time. It's very likely. I spent most of the time in an upstairs room with little babies. I was peed on twice and thrown up on 6 times. Around 2:00 when we are supposed to eat lunch, I went downstairs to see what was going on and the kids were setting up all these mats in the main room and a guru was sitting there. Turns out, there was a shotgun wedding at the orphanage today. It's an impressive story: The bride and groom are from different castes and fell in love after knowing each other for 3-4 years. The caste system is extremely important in deciding who you will marry, especially because most marriages are arranged. The wife's parents (father in particular) were furious because she is from the higher caste. The bride and groom were planning on pulling a Romeo and Juliet and committing suicide because they couldn't be together. The bride was going to do it this morning. She had the poison ready and everything. Her father beat her this morning because he was so angry about her choice of man and said if she killed herself, he would too. She called Sumathi, the wife of the orphanage director and her good friend, and they set up this wedding just a few hours before it happened. After the interesting ceremony (Hindu wedding), the couple and their witnesses bolted to the government office and because Ranjith, the orphanage director, knew someone in the office, they were registered in just a couple hours (this is almost unheard of). Now the marriage is official, so there is no way the family can change it. The newlyweds are moving to Boston.
Now, I am headed off to Don Pepe, a Mexican restaurant. I'll tell you how that goes, if I'm not bathroom-ridden for the next few days. Peace!