2:45 a.m.

What can happen at 2:45 in the morning?  Lots of things, I guess. Maybe coming home late from a great party or staying up late talking to some great friends, waking up with my daughter who needs just one more kiss to fall back to sleep.  But, unfortunaltely most of the time when you are woken up at that hour, it is usually for something "not so good".  I am writing this post not to scare any of my friends or family,  but to help me one day look back on my life here and remember how fortunate that I had never had to go through this before...and hopefully never will...

At 2:45, something woke me...I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew I wasn't dreaming when I saw Guy bolt up also.  I asked him "What the %$#@ was that?!"  He is usually pretty calm under any kind of pressure, but I could sense he was a little nervous also.  We both got up and then we heard it again.  It was  a pop, pop, popping sound.  I didn't want to even think I knew what that sound was.  Guy thought maybe it was fireworks (which do seem to go off randomly around here for different celebrations....but I have never heard them in the middle of the night).  I wanted to believe that the noises were fireworks, but then they started up again and this time, there was no mistaking what the sounds were.....gunshots being fired by a semi automatic weapon.   That was the first time I have ever heard gunshots from a machine gun fired in real life...I had only heard them in the movies before.  The shots went on for about five minutes...and thankfully the kids didn't wake up.  Guy thought he heard them coming from one direction and I thought I heard them from the other.   My thoughts were racing that maybe someone would get into our compound.  But, thankfully, I knew better than to even open the door to peek outside.  After the shots stopped, we both got back into bed, but I had a really hard time going back to sleep wondering if the guards at our front gate had been hurt, and knowing I shouldn't even go out and check.

Thankfully, this morning, we found out it wasn't at our compound.  It was just a few blocks from us.  There have been different reports about what exactly happened.  One report said that some armed robbers were carjacking a car and firing shots nearby our compound.  Another report places the gunmen even closer to our compound...

It just makes me realize that even though I may start to feel comfrotable here, and things aren't so scary...I do need to be vigilant about our surroundings.  Especially at this time of the year.  Every harmattan season brings Christmastime with it, and unfortunately, this time of year also brings more robberies and shootings in Lagos.

I don't want my family and friends to worry about us.  We are safe now, and I promise we will be very aware of our surroundings and take our safety and security very seriously.  Gotta love Harmattan season in Lagos!