Regarding your question about Lord Caitanya's thinking himself lower than the grass, it should be understood spiritually. The dimension of the spirit soul is 1/10,000 part of the hair tip; so the spirit soul is certainly smaller than the grass. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was teaching us as a teacher, so he represented himself as an ordinary living entity; but as the Supreme Brahman he is greater than anything.
I am glad that you had a demonstration of kirtana at the home of the Consul General. Whenever you meet you should strictly speak the Truth without any consideration of future material gains. If we are sincere servants of Krishna, our material necessities will never be hampered.