On the Move (Again)

Yup, that about sums up my mood.

It has been one of the most stressful weeks I can remember in quite some time. But I'm not going to recount the details. The results are the same either way.

I am now the proud new tenant of a truly splendid house. It has a large, private garden, with a vegetable plot half the size again. There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a wardrobe room (seriously), an office with a desk and bookshelves, and a large living room on two levels, with African patterns around the entrance arch. It comes with a domestic called Damascene, a hot shower, but sadly the water tank is still in negotiation. There may be a few bucket baths on the horizon, but I dearly don't give a shimmy. I am very excited to be moving in.

However, I will not be moving in until 1st August, and I have to leave this place (if I want my money back - which I do) by 27th July. I can drop my stuff off at the new house, but I need to find somewhere else to sleep for a few days.

Working through this in my mind, I decided to go and get drunk.

Sometimes you just need a bit of company and good conversation. So, I called up my friend Fidens. 

I met him down a deserted back alley in town, and we proceeded to wander by the light of his mobile phone down breakneck muddy inclines to a beautiful motel.

Kigali is lovely at night, in the middle of nowhere.

Step Town Motel

Fidens is the guy who found me the estate agent who found me the house. He's an extremely interesting blokie, having - inspired by Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road - backpacked around America for ten months with no money, and run away to Asia to cycle around Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the like.

Knowing my fragile state, he took me to the quietest place he could think of. It won a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence and it's easy to see why. The service (thanks to Emmanuel) is impeccable, the fish brochettes ware yummy, the Mutzig kept flowing, and, taking a tour of the rooms, they were extremely well priced, clean and comfortable.

I do enjoy a good snoop around people's businesses.

After eating, we talked for ages. Wrote some poetry. Went for a long walk through the deserted back streets to his place to find a moto. 

A thoroughly rejuvenating evening. It was about 2am by the time I got in, and the neighbourhood was absolutely silent. I fell into bed and slept until late morning.

Fidens has offered me his couch, but I think he's going to be in Buj when I need to move out. My friend Kalisa has agreed to rent me a room at his place if I need it, but I'm thinking I might get a quote from Step Town first. It was so quiet there, and the beds looked so comfortable... Could be my last chance to enjoy a hot shower for a while.