Costumes are overrated

I had such a fun weekend with all of the interns at our midterm retreat in Ahmedabad! We ventured to one of India's few water parks and let’s just say it isn't exactly like the water parks that we are used to back home. It was a perfect day for wave pools and water slides, but one of the managers wouldn't let us in until we purchased one of their "costumes". Costumes are swim suits and they are very particular about what the definition of a swim suit is. Apparently my Red Cross approved lifeguard suit is not up to their standards. We caved and bought the nylon costumes after about twenty minutes of heated debate on the importance of costume material. We finally got to go on the slides and have some fun in my new costume that was about three sizes too small. Everyone at the water park was surprised to see a group of foreigners which made us feel like rock stars. We had a following of people at every ride we went on. We even provoked a small riot in the wave pool which was crazy to say the least. The next day we were able to visit the Gandhi Ashram to learn about Gandhi's life and his values. The Ashram was my favorite site that we visited. It was a beautiful facility and I gained a lot of knowledge that I had never known about this inspirational figure.
We celebrated the Fourth of July yesterday, but it just wasn't the same without Naperville's Ribfest and firework show. I'm sure my family and friends had a great time this weekend; I wish I could have been there with them. I'm headed to Karawara soon and probably going to stay a little longer than usual this trip. I only have two weeks left in the village and want to make sure I tie up all of my loose ends with Alfa and the community. Still no word on the CRY funding. I'm really investing a lot into this funding agency and will be disappointed if we don't get the grant. Almost all of the other funding agencies that I have contacted have failed to even email me back. It is frustrating because I want to make a significant impact on Alfa, but feel like I am running out of time. Hopefully we hear some good news this week!