I've shown you these Agamas before but they're in breeding colours now and are more gorgeous than ever. This one was over a foot long. We had an invasion of flying ants and the agamas loved them. The day I took this photo there were about a dozen agamas running around like crazy in the middle of the road catching all the ants. They're funny things, they run then stop and do press ups. I wish I had that much energy!
We had a rain storm a couple of weeks ago (the second time it's rained since we came). The lightning storm was incredible! I've never seen anything like it. The flashes were constant, it was like having a disco ball in the sky, beautiful! After the rain all these beautiful insects appeared. I love these Velvet ground mites.
I think this is a Smooth giant millipede. He has such beautiful gold banding but sadly the photo doesn't do it justice.
Now the air is more humid the flowers are starting to appear. I think this is frangipani but let me know if I'm wrong.
I'd never seen cashew fruit before I came to Gambia. I was familiar with the nuts but I had no idea there was fruit attached. The nut is in the green pouch underneath the fruit. I'm not keen on the fruit. To me it's not really edible, you just suck the juice out but I heard a story that put me off drinking it. The children discovered that if they make a cut in the fruit they can draw on their skin with the juice. The problem is that the juice is highly acidic and they then have to be treated for burns.
My mango tree is in full fruit, I can't get enough of mango. f course in Europe its an exotic fruit and very expensive but here we pay as little as 5 dalassi, about 11 pence. Our tree is one that ripens late so by the time they're ready even I'm starting to get sick of them.
Ministry
I found I was chasing my tail trying to keep up with all the studies I had so I cut down on them and just kept the ones who were making good progress and really showing appreciation for what they were learning. I started a ovely study with a Muslim lady this week. She's very unusual. Her father died earlier this year and she explained to me that she believes that he wil be resurrected back to this earth. I've never heard that from a Muslim before. She said she has tried to explain her beliefs to her family but they just don't understand it so she was delighted to meet us and actually see the scriptural evidence for her beliefs.
Billy and Sandra continue to enjoy their study. Billy is getting more and more affectionate towards me. This week he fell asleep in the crook of my arm just like a baby. (The stuff under his nose is just rice, nothing too disgusting!) Later he lay down on the table and I was stroking his foot. He fell asleep and his foot gripped my finger. Sandra is going away for a holiday so I gave her a hug when I left. Billy stood up on his back legs reaching his arms up towards me wanting a hug too. Totally totally cute!!
Bits and pieces
We visited a compound where they take in orphans until they are ten years old then they go to a charity school where they learn a trade. These are some of the kids. The women preapring fish for lunch is a sight we see many times a day. The whole morning is spent preparing the main meal. It's all done outside under the shade of the trees. It's very appealing when I'm inside a hot kitchen with the oven on but I really don't have the time to sit and cook the way they do. I'd love to employ a cook. We have the arrangement where Terry and Ben each have a cook day which involves shopping too so I'm relieved of some of the burden. I enjoy cooking but I can't be bothered EVERY DAY and if I never shopped again I'd be a happy woman.
Last Thursday I took a day out to reorganize and clean the kitchen and store room. I achieved a lot against all the odds. There was a crash from the oven when the grill fell off, silence from the fridge when the motor stopped working and just when I thought nothing else could go wrong the washing machine flooded the storeroom. Terry fixed the washing machine and the fridge but the grill is still broken. He needs tools that probably don't exist here. We're getting used to that now. The reason I'm late with the blog is I either had no time, no internet or no electricity. We had two set settals (cleaning day) last month as the one from April was postponed until the first weekend in May. We can't go out on the ministry so it can be a bit disruptive. It's a bit scary but I'm getting used to certain things that seemed very strange or even disturbing when we first arrived. Motorcyclists without helmets, even when they're riding on the back of Police bikes, children hanging off the back of buses, getting on a bus and taking the first available seat so everyone else has to climb over you with their shopping and babies. I love it!!
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