"Just one more photo, ma'am!"

Ridiculous story:

Lunch time, 2pm. I'm walking through the outdoor hallway of WII to get to the mess hall in my hostel 5 minutes away from my office, where I've been working all morning. I see a group of 30 men to my right, gathered together for some reason. I approach. They get excited. I get nervous. I walk faster. They surge towards me.

They crowd around me, cameras in hand. 30 of them, it seems. "Photo, ma'am! May we take photo?" I can't even answer before they pull me into the center of them, 25 men pushing in as close as possible to me while 5 of them flash camera after camera.

I try to leave. "One more photo, ma'am!" 10 more flashes.

I try to leave. The crowd finally lets go. I keep walking. They pursue. "Just one more photo, ma'am! I am the leader of this tour," one says. The others snort with laughter - he is obviously not the leader.

So we take singles - maybe 8 of them. One after another, posing with me, the white girl who they will one day show off to their friends, maybe even their family. I wonder how they will explain the event. "And this is a picture of the one white girl on the campus. Isn't she pale?"

The funniest part to me: Indians rarely smile when they take photos. So their pictures will show 25 sullen faces and one beaming white chick in the middle.