Even mud looks pretty in the sun

Yesterday was the first-ish sunny day since we have been here (well second-ish, the first we were busy in the classrooms, so I'm not sure what the whole day looked like the first time around).  Granted, there have been small appearances of the sun, but I actually felt overheated from the combination of humidity, no breeze, and sun.  We had been expecting some mail so I took a couple of walks down to the store and post office and have some pictures that I would like to share from that outing.  This place looks completely different in the sunlight.

The school playground.  When I took this I was afraid the background wouldn't accurately portray how scenic it is here. 

Yellow flower.

The alternative to walking on the roads.  These are all over the place here and many people four wheel, bike, or walk them to get to various places.  Though walking is feasible, the island is pretty spread out--so having wheels makes a lot of sense (especially when one may have a large package waiting to be picked up at the post office or to take a trip to the beach--I hear that it is three miles away)

I snagged this cool pic today.  I apologize about the clarity of this one.  I looked out the window and saw this eagle, so I grabbed the binocs and took a picture through the left eyepiece since it was too far for just the camera.  Two magpies flew in there landed and then chased the eagle away just after I got this shot.  Notice how big the eagle is compared to the magpies.  I always thought magpies were pretty big, but then again I have never seen them perched next to an eagle.  That's the coolest thing about this place, there are eagles all over.  They seem to more apparent here than any other place I've been.  As lame as it may sound, every time I see one I hear "America" in my head.  Thanks an old co-worker that always use to yell that anytime something seemed strangely patriotic (be it a beat-up pickup truck, something frivolous, or basically anything that would raise an eyebrow).
*note:  those aren't trees.  they are bushes on a higher point in the foreground than that building.  the only trees here were planted a while ago and those are not it.  eventually, I'll put pictures of those on here.

I risked damaging my camera by pointing it at the sun and capturing this one.  Guess what time it is?  I'll give you a hint, the shadows were pretty short, about six inches long.  Did you think, it is definitely 6:00 p.m.?  Well it is.  High five if you figured it out.  The days are getting shorter but the sun still stays out for a while.  I was really taken by this as most of the time there is cloud cover.  It is light for a large part of the day, but this was the first time I could see the sun's position from the ground.