Odd happenings in a strange land

One of the really great things about Merkos Shlichus is that it really allows you to experience a vast array of experiences. For example, this morning I helped out at the local Gan Izzy day camp for a few hours. You know, there's a reason I haven't worked in a camp the last couple years, and today I was once again reminded of it. It's not that I don't like kids. Who could possibly not like kids? I just prefer it when the kids are being taken care of by someone other than me. Still, today wasn't all bad. My bunk for an hour was assigned to the gym and told to play tennis. There were six kids, five tennis rackets, one squash racket, and one tennis ball. Wimbledon this wasn't. After everyone clubbed each other a good several dozen times I decided to assert the little authority I had and made up a new game. Three kids on each side of the gym, and they have to hit the tennis ball to the opposing wall and not let the same thing happen to them. One rule which I instituted in the beginning was that any team which threw a racket would lose a point. After several rounds, I also ruled that you couldn't score on a serve, and that play was only dead when I said it was dead. The results of these rulings were that the receiving team nearly always won the point, which only one team seemed to grasp. Anyway, a fun time was had by all, and no one got significantly damaged, so I guess we can call this a guarded success. Still, I don't think I'll be redoing this little experiment anytime soon.
Once I escaped camp it was time for the granddaddy of all granddaddys, phone calling. After calling a truly vast amount of people, I had precious little to show it. That, my friends, is known in the business as "having nothing to show for several hours worth of calls."
Not to worry, friends, Romans, and various other countrymen, because tonight we visited a local and had quite the grand time. After a delicious repast (bagels, lox, and jalapeño chips [yum!]) it was time to get down to business. We learned a Sicha together, and it was really nice. The Sicha dealt with the incredible attitude of all of us in these times of Golus; times are so dark that we confuse them for light. The answer? To open your eyes. How's this done? By increasing in acts of goodness and kindness; once we do that, Hashem will reveal his love for us, and everything will be on track for the final coming of the King Messiah. Once that happens, of course, no one will walk alone in the desert.