Pass me the Pesto

This was my office yesterday. At the beginning of the week, Damascene comes to clean, so I hide out at a local hotel and enjoy their yummy melange. Jo joined me and instead of getting any work done, we just chatted and then headed for cake at RZ Manna, then on to Ikirezi bookshop to admire the view from the window.

Sunset Over Kigali

It is a bloody wonderful life, really. We're so lucky to live in such a lovely city as Kigali.

I'm currently up to my eyeballs in work. In just over a month's time the first human rights delegation for the NGO I work for is coming. We're going all over - to the ministries, to refugee camps, to a Batwa village, to Gisozi. I'm excited, but I only get a couple of weeks after that until a second group arrive! Thankfully they're flying in a program assistant all the way from Poland to help me out, and I have two fantastic program staff to delegate to. Lot of preparation work still to go.

Jo said I've gone from one extreme to the other - out every night to never seen. She's right. I got the party out of my system a while back. Any spare time I get, I'm trying to write - which isn't a team sport. It's a wonder how much money you don't spend when you stay home not boozing.

Still, I had a nice meal with Christiane a while back. Went for nyama choma (BBQ) at Master Grill (just down the road from Lemon Tree in Kisi). Apparently it's Kenyan-run and they do a mean goat.

Jo gave me a papaya, and I made those fritters again. I'm not such a fan of papaya, and it is the slowest growing fruit ever invented, but it wasn't bad fried.

From whisky mac to gin tropicana. What can't you drink with a pesto jar?

Really need to buy some glasses.

On a kitchen theme, take a guess which yolk came from which egg?

If you guessed the healthy-looking rich orange yolk came from the little white egg, you are correct. Sad to say, battery farmed eggs are all the rage in Kigali. They may be bigger than the local chook eggs, but they ain't as tasty.

Now to the garden. Things are coming along nicely. We've had a lot of rain lately, and not all of my seeds have sprouted. Having trouble with the peppers and chilies. However, the courgettes are ready as ever, and the tomatoes and chives look happy.

Dramatic Skies

My nemesis, the ants, are also very happy, feasting off my compost pile and the husk of that papaya.

 Found some more beautiful wildlife.

Decided to observe Beltane this year. I was invited back to J&K's in Fife, but it's a little far to travel for a weekend. That was actually the last time I observed any sabbat. Just had a quiet little ceremony and called the quarters. It felt really good.

Had an e-mail. My favourite priest is soon to be back in town. It was partly the conversation we had on that long drive back from Gisenyi that got me thinking on all of this. I haven't observed for so long now I wondered if I would still feel anything. It was annoyingly reassuring to discover I did.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing LB again. My landlord, who shares the same name, was very impressed when I told him we'd been to Goma. He works for one of the embassies here and sometimes drives the ambassador up there, but always prefers to remain on this side of the border.

"Weren't you afraid?" he asked.

"Yes, I was afraid." I admitted.

The guard at the final road block had scared me. I'd probably be an idiot if he hadn't. I told my landlord how the guy I went with was a priest who told them it was a holy vehicle. I didn't have to explain, my landlord just laughed and nodded, waving his hand as though waving our vehicle through.

I'm really warming to my landlord. I wasn't sure when I first moved in, but he's going to fit a hot shower for me. That will be useful as my program assistant might be staying with me for a few days between intakes and I do not think I could cope with an 8am start and a bucket bath.

He's also agreed to the idea of subletting the house in September, when I head back to the UK for a few months. This takes a lot of pressure off as I don't have to move or sell my furniture. Hopefully no one will destroy it in my absence, either. But it also means I have a home waiting for me when I return. He's also relented over cooking in the front room, once he saw how clean I keep it. And he's offered to show me around the embassy - which I'm very excited about.

Life here is pretty good at the moment, if a little stressful with work. Starting to feel more on top of it though. Had a slight windfall, too. I'm Secretary of a charity and we were being messed about by our bank in the UK. I complained long and hard, and eventually they held up their hands and offered us £150 as a sorry! First donation to the organisation, so quite chuffed about that. I am good at complaining, I do it a lot.