The past few days

Hi, Hi! Last night I attended a pre-wedding reception with Dr. and Mrs. James. It was quite fun. The half hour drive just to get there was incredibly interesting. The entire area seems lit up. At 9 at night every store is open and beckoning potential customers.Of course, people were EVERYWHERE, but what's new? When we got there, I was introduced to so many of the James' friends- I probably couldn't pronounce a single one of their names. We walked up to the stage where the bride stands all night. This takes place in a big banquet hall filled with chairs. The feeding takes place in a barn-sized room off to the side. So the bride stands in her bright red saree dripping with gold jewelry on the stage for hours (she fasts before the wedding, so her family isn't worried about getting her food during this) as everyone who comes gives her their blessings and takes a picture with her. Her poor smile muscles will be dead tomorrow. I stood in the middle of the picture. This caught me off gaurd because I wasn't even expecting to go up on stage. How wrong I was! After the picture, she hands all of us a sweet and we go to the dinner.

In the feeding room, long tables (enough to feed the 300-400 guests) are set with banana leaves, a common plate of choice down south. Each one has a small pile of yogurt/onion sauce, tamarind paste, one pineapple slice, some hot chutney, and a glass of water near it. I barely sat down before waiters were attacking me with lamb biryani, gravy (different from American style), and rice pudding. The dinner was absolutely delicious! Who can resist some good lamb biryani when the time is right? We ate and ate, washed our hand (yes, only the right), and off we went. Of course, before we left, we stopped and a large group of the James' friends talked about me. They know I don't speak Tamil, but I can tell the subject matter when they stop conversation to stare at me after everyone says something. I don't think it wa anything bad because afterwards, two of the ladies had "hand-holding" conversations with me. This is where we talk about my personal life while they hold my hand. Very common.

On a side note, I got my hair cut today. I had to go to the barber shop, because the beauty parlor wouldn't do what I needed. I shaved my head. I had to because I got bad head lice from the one day at the orphanage. I knew when that boy put his hand on my head that something would come of it. I just knew! Well, last night I tried the lice shampoo and it did nothing. When I heard the kids at the orphanage all had lice, I told myself I would jjst shave my head if I got it. Well I did! What the heck, it will all grow back sooner or later, and for now, it is much cooler than a full head of hair. Pictures to come...