Welcome to Chez Dorsch!

We moved into our new house on Tuesday and we have been busy, busy getting the house live-able.  It's been so much fun.  We fall into bed  exhausted at night--a good feeling after weeks of waiting around.  We don't have internet at the house yet--hopefully soon. 

 We are getting used to seeing nothing but cement walls out of every window of the house.  It makes the pictures of green grass in Kansas extra special.  We hear the calls to prayer at all the set hours of the day from the mosque on the next block.  We hear and smell whatever is going on at the neighbors and I'm sure they know what is happening at our house as well.  

 My incredible kitchen.  Now I'm trying to find recipes and local foods to prepare.  I went to the local market yesterday to see what I could find and came home with onions, tiny green peppers and a type of dried bean.

 The same carpenter made all our furniture and cabinets.  Not quite "Laurence style" but very
                                                            adequate and sturdy.

  Here are a couple of items that are necessities here:  a voltage regulator for our fridge and washer, as well as our water filter (below).  The store will guarantee the appliance for 1 year IF we use this.  Brownouts and sudden spurts of electrical current are not uncommon.

 A challenge when we move to a new place is:  what do we do with trash and garbage?  In Ouagadougou we had a garbage collector (donkey cart) that came by the house once a week and emptied our barrel.  Tom asked for a half barrel so we could burn our personal papers in theyard, and this is the fancy trash can that was delivered yesterday!  Handles, legs, and all.

The rest gets dumped here, on the side of the road across from us--usually there are goats eating to their heart's content.

                      This photo is for my kiddos! 

 I brought the Dorsch family of elephants along and set them up this morning.  

Can you figure out which one is which and why they are spread out across the shelf?