We had one last day of meetings in Bubaneshwar, and once again we found ourselves unexpectedly in front of a large crowd. We had been given the contact info for CWS, an organization involved in SRI in Orissa. They were having a meeting with some other organizations across the street from where we were staying, so we made plans to stop by to talk to them. The meeting turned out to be more of a conference, and we barged into a meeting room in the middle of a PowerPoint presentation. After the
presentation we were invited up front to talk, but ended up just speaking with two people at the front of the room, and we left to scattered and unneccessary applause after holding up the proceeding for about half an hour.

Our trip back was pretty uneventful. A professor of English was able to tell Dolly was from AP by her pattern of stresses in the English language, and I was cursed by a hijjra (eunuch/transvestite) who was demanding money and was upset that I had already given away my small change. A young girl, about three years old saw me and started crying and screaming as if she had seen a monster. Many adults stare, sometimes turning to watch as I go past, but they seldom do more. The most interesting reactions to my foreignness are from children. One boy in a temple came up and with hand extended, and introduced himself with good English. Later, his friend came to do the same. One boy in a village was coming up the road, and when he saw me, he turned tail and ran until he was out of sight, not looking back once.

But anyway, we are back at Hotel Sharda until accomodations are found.