There is no real way to describe the day to day events since there really isn't such a thing as a 'normal day' at the orphanage, aside from the guarantee of several nap times and several sessions of outright baby mayhem. Random and bizarre events are more the norm, and one day last week was particularly strange.

To feed the babies, usually a giant bowl of rice-and-something (lentils, yoghurt, some liquidy vegetable concoction) is divvied up between several of the older kids, us and/or Sumathy if she is around. We normally have four or five of the kids 3 years old and younger per person and feed them as long as they will sit still by scooping the mixture into their mouths. We had a hard enough time feeding ourselves this way at first, so the poor kids get to wear a lot of the rice by the end of the feeding. I like to think we've improved somewhat. Anyway, immediately after the dinner frenzy Kate and I (Becca was sick) were called over by this older man who lives in the neighborhood. He was an original freedom fighter with Gandhi and is well-respected in the area. He wanted us to come to a 'function' across the street, where two young women were celebrating their coming of age party. Covered in rice remnants and strongly warned by Ranjith and Sumathy several times not to drink the water or eat the food, we walked over in what we were wearing (me in a salwar kamiz, Kate in a beaded floor length skirt and a long t shirt). We were warmly greeted by the father of one of the girls and smiled at by all of the women at the party. We made the usual whimpering noises through our smiles that we make when we have no clue what to say or do but want to make the right impression. The two girls were dazzling in new bright sari's, covered in garlands of flowers and adorned shiny jewels dangling from their wrists, ankles, foreheads and noses. They knelt and bowed at the feet of the older man who brought us there, a sign of respect by 'dusting' the dirt off of his feet. The father said to us, "You do us great honor by coming here and giving them your blessing" and before we knew it, they were kneeling at our feet. This felt entirely awkward and inappropriate to our politically correct, liberal-minded Western upbringing, and we started to back away and say 'No, no' but they were already on the ground. Kate and I looked at each other, laughing with nervousness. Then the girl kneeling at Kate's feet started to stand, catching her headdress on the edge of Kate's skirt. Kate squealed as her skirt started to go above her knees, and both she and the girl turned bright red as they tried to disentangle the beads of Kate's skirt from her jewelry. Everyone at the party found this entirely hilarious, and Kate and I, out of breath from laughing, said goodbye, bowed and walked home marveling at how strange it was that our lives had led up to this moment. But then again, we have said that nearly every day that we've been here.