July 16, 2007 - Bhubaneswar, India

“Well behaved women rarely make history.”
~Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Monsoon. Monsoon. Monsoon. When the rains finally come, it pours.

This morning we woke to a news article about our group in the local paper. One of our group members, Mary, was quoted as saying, “They are very sincere teachers, dedicated to the curriculum of high standard. But the thing that surprised me most is that children here are only focused on their studies and hardly engage in extra-curricular activities and sports. Kids are sent to school from the age of three and non-performers are treated as morons.”

Mary never commented on any of the above and would never call any student, “morons.” Although in the U.S., our first Amendemnt Rights protect the Freedom of Press and Speech, this type of slander would never happen in a reputable newspaper. The author would have been in court this morning, by 6am, under a lawsuit for Defamation of Character.

We are coming to not like this small-rural, coastal town in the East. In fact, we’re ready to leave.