From Shock Absorbers to Leaf-Reading

It is Sunday night. I got to Chennai on Thursday morning. I am going to list the things I have done/learned so far for organization's sake (western concept):
1. I had an interesting conversation with the other two volunteers about the luxury of having shock absorbers on an automobile. Here, they are deemed unnecessary because they cost more. Anytime I am in an automobile, I replay this conversation in my head and pretend I am in a Cadillac.
2. My dreamy thoughts of being in a Cadillac are interrupted when I can't have the window open because it hurts to have air blown on my face. The air is that dirty.
3. Above the computer I am at, there is a picture of an old man with an open palm and yellow light in it. There is a symbol in the light. This picture is kind of distracting.
4. I have learned to love the Gr8 Cafe. It is right around the corner from the internet cafe. For a total of fifty cents, I can have a kiwi smoothie delivered to me at the computer. A cappuccino is 20 cents. Take that, Starbucks!
5. I had a very fancy dinner at a nearby oriental restaurant. For three delicious courses in a white tablecloth restaurant with silverware, my total was $7.50. I can't get over the prices!
6. Indian time is really killing me. Not only am I American, but even in America I like to be on time! Double the trouble.
7. Tamil t.v. is hilarious. Even the serious stuff.

Ok, those were all the small things I wanted to mention, but couldn't put in a paragraph for fear of you thinking I had come down with a severe case of ADD. Yesterday, I didn't go to the orphanage. I went to an astrologer the other girls recommended and had my leaf read. What this means is 30% of the world's population a specific person's present, previous past life (most interesting and supposedly the most valid), and future (also interesting, but probably not valid). The other girls have met some friends from around here, so one of them took me and acted as my translator. Well, I have a leaf and we found it. Sometimes a person can have a leaf, but they don't find it because it is at a different location. If I would have looked for my leaf a year ago, I wouldn't have found it. Here's why: so we went to the place. I gave the reader (who trains for years to be able to do this) two thumbprints and my birthday. No name, nothing else. Just that. He brought back a book of the leaves and began asking me questions. The translator would ask me in English and interpret. He asked things like, "is your father in management?," "Am I Christian?," "do I have a degree?," etc. Vague questions. Then he turned to one and asked if I was born on a Friday, which I didn't know, but it turns out that I am (I checked). Then he read my father's name and my mother's name. No one told him any of this. There is NO way he could've known. That was when I knew he found it. So, he told me about my present, that I am doing social work abroad, I am not currently studying, etc. He told me about my immediate family members (which was true) and my future (it was positive, but I was told to take it with a grain of salt). Then, he told me about my past life. I was born in India, as a matter of fact and no, not everyone is, and did some bad things, ripped people off. Later in my life, I felt bad and gave a lot of money to charities and poor people. Because I did that, I will have a good life this time around. Everyone who has their leaf read has tasks that they can choose to do as follow-up to finding out why they have problems in their present life. I have to go to a few temples and circle a tree for the number of years I have been alive at one, and at another, sprinkle water on my head from three pools at the temple. I also have to provide a meal for the kids at the orphanage and send my leaf away to be blessed and prayed to for 96 days in traditional Pooja form. The guy who interpreted for me suggested this as did the girls who had similar tasks. This Pooja will make my name more powerful. It lost its power after hurricane Katrina when people all over the world cursed the name. One of the other volunteers is named Katrina, so she and I have the Pooja task. It is pricey because I have to pay the priest to do the prayers for the 96 days. Supposedly, it is very powerful, but I am skeptical when the price nears $100. This is the American in me. Anyway, the whole experience was fascinating and I have it all on tape. The reader tapes it all, which is great. If you are ever in Chennai, do this! For 10 bucks, it is so worth it!
Today I went to the orphanage and hung out with the little babies again, and I also played cricket with the big kids after lunch. It was a Sunday, so there were a bunch of Indians there volunteering with their families. There is an awesome Indian tradition that on your birthday, you feed at least the number of people as years you have been alive. Today was the birthday of the son of a man who regularly volunteers on the weekends at the orphanage. Instead of celebrating with the family, they fed the orphans! It was great! The kids got a fabulous lunch. This was the first time I have ever seen them eat and they were shockingly civilized considering their situation. Most of them came frail as a skeleton. I was expecting them to be ravishing and aggressive with their food supply. They were not at all. The Indian way of abundance in food has carried on even here, so the kids never have to worry that there won't be enough for them. The food today was great! It was North Indian and we ate it sitting cross-legged on bamboo mats from banana leaves with our fingers. Totally awesome. It was a good day because all the kids were there. On the weekdays, a lot are at school. Cricket was hilarious and we also played a dodgeball of sorts, which really ended up being the men chucking a deflated soccer ball at one another. At the end of the day, one family wanted to take me home, literally, and feed me. I read somewhere in my customs book about not accepting the first invitation to someone's house because it is usually given very casually. Well, I didn't know if I should trust this until they kept persisting. I guess they saw I was having a lot of fun with their kids, so they invited the other volunteers and I over. Tonight wouldn't work out because I am exhausted, but maybe at the end of the week. It was a good day.
I still have yet t go out for Indian Mexican food. I opted for Chinese last time because we didn't end up going to the Mexican place. More food updates to come!