Around the Compound

I thought I'd take a minute and share some pictures of our world. To be honest, I only have pictures that I've taken inside of our compound walls. This is true for 2 reasons. First of all, every time we go out, I'm too overwhelmed to take photos. Secondly, we are already extremely out of place just walking down the street here, throw a camera in and we'd really be over the top. I'm hoping that soon we'll get comfortable enough to be able to show you the sights on the other side of our wall. For now, here's a glimpse of our immediate area...

This is one of the many fruit trees that grow in our yard. We have grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, lemons, and avocado. We've been told that there are also mango and guava, but I haven't figured out where they are yet.

The oranges are in season and we made some homemade orangeade this week.

This is our beloved generator. It's what ensures that we are able to keep our fridge cold. We are thankful for Lottie Moon which provides this tool for us.

Those tanks ensure that we have water (as long as we remember to turn the pump on when we have power.) The kids need constant reminders to stay off the water tower.

Everyone keeps apologizing for how ugly everything is since we arrived during the dry season. They keep telling us that we will really love it when rainy season comes and the plants are green and beautiful. But, I'm really not thinking it's ugly. Just look at this flower, one of them many beautiful blooms around the compound.

This was our attempt at fast food (which was anything but fast.) I found a recipe for Chick-fil-a type nuggets and we made some homemade "potato chips." The kids loved them and asked if we could have them every weekend. With what it cost to buy that much white meat and the time it took to produce that meal, the answer was a resounding no. But, they will be great for an occasional treat.

This is a beautiful handmade basket that I bought at the fair trade market, it's about 2 feet tall. It cost me about the same amount of money as 2 chicken breasts (with the bone still on them.) Crazy, huh?

He's hard to see, but on that back wall, there is a blue and orange lizard that I was trying to get a photo of. I was having a hard time focusing on getting a good shot because there were two others in close proximity and I was trying to keep an eye on them too. I did not want one running across my foot. There are lots of little ones, but I've seen at least 3 different ones that are at least as long as my forearm in our yard.
This is the guard shack where our night guard stays while he's at work, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. We were told that he's been guarding our gate for 20 years. He doesn't speak English, so we have limited communication with him at this point, but he is very friendly and helps motivate us to learn Hausa.

This is a close-up of the guard area. I can't imagine how long the nights would be in that little area.

This is a random photo that I took because it struck me as funny the other night when I got out of the shower and looked at the contents of my dresser top. You'll notice that there are 2 alternative light sources (a candle and a flashlight), a can of smell good spray that I used on our borrowed furniture drawers, a LARGE can of Raid, a bottle of melatonin someone here gave me to help aid sleep, and my one "house" thing from America that I put in my suitcase.