City of Joy- real unadulterated joy

I found this orphanage was appropriately named. Phil and I go once or twice a week to play with the kids and have been going for a few days in the mornings to work. We are building a patio with a thatched roof for the library. The guy didn't have a level and we were putting in posts. Thank god Phil and I were there cause it was going to be pretty slanted. We also bought welding gloves to protect our hands from blisters.

But, I was really happy, perhaps for the first time in a long time. And with all the sadness I went through in Jan.-I needed it. Uninhibited, laugh out loud, lose your cares and your age kind of happy (not that 22 is bad, but 6 is better). Raw blissful emotion came over me when I was playing the airplane game with a 4 year old, Javier, and his laugh became so hysterical that the drool spewed out freely. I laughed harder, mistakingly encouraging him. I barely evaded a saliva string long and thick enough to tie your shoes with. We also flew airplanes, read books (I unintentionally donated my book) and played war. You´d think these guys were the United States as they thought the rules of war didn´t apply to them. They were the biggest cheaters this side of Vegas.

And we are trying to raise money, with great suck-sess, meaning not raising any at all. Expect a letter soon asking for money so people can actually drink clean water and kids can learn how to read.