A Little Bit Lost

Incredible picture by my friend Jo:

Old Kigali , new Kigali. This is taken from the car park of the town hall, looking at the building that has grown out of the corner where the post office was. The town hall is also moving into a shiny new high rise in the next few months.

Kind of cool, huh?

The old Parliament building still has the shell holes in it, but right opposite is a shiny new conference centre that looks like the Lord Mayor's office in London.

Times they certainly are a changing.

Gosh, has it really only been three days since my last update?

Feels as though so much has happened.

But first...

My Aunty Patsy has been visiting my cousin in Australia. I'm not too sure where this was taken, but it is stunning, so I thought I should share.

So, uh... what has been going on?

Well, a lot of work, and mourning the loss of Rik Mayall.

Managed to get my website live on Sunday, a day earlier than planned. Spent Monday upgrading my post box to business class. I'm not entirely sure what this means, other than you pay more money?

Also opened a business account with my bank. 

So, I'm all set up and ready to go once my working visa comes through. Speaking of which, I received an e-mail from the Police people in the UK yesterday, telling me that my application for a police clearance certificate has been received and will be processed.

Then headed to SoleLuna for quiz night.

SoleLuna is the best known pizza parlour in Kigali. I was once lucky enough to live in a house just behind it, so ate there about once a week. It was quite a hefty dose of nostalgia going back.

I still reckon it's one of the nicest restaurants in Kigali. You go down a pathway like you're entering a secret garden, and there's a sort of tree-house platform area, and lovely smelling flowers at night. They've also built a whopping great extension, which is where the quiz is held.

Muzungu Central

Draft Mutzig

Don't think I've ever seen so many muzungus in one place since carol singing at the British Ambassador's place. It was absolutely packed.

I think you're either a fan of pub quizzes, or you're not. I'm not hugely into them. I like the social aspect, but I dislike having to sit in silence with your friends for an hour, listening to someone officiously shouting out questions. This one was run by a militant group of Americans who seemed to revel in pacing up and down and telling people to be quiet, whilst reading out brain benders including: 'what is the name of the two central gods in Hinduism...'

As both the Hindu in the room and myself knew, the Hindu gods are a trinity, not a duo.

"Yes, but the two main ones," the exasperated American replied, failing to grasp the concept of a trinity.

Eventually they gave everybody in the room points just for answering that question, correct or otherwise.

I was also a little disappointed by the pizzas, which used to be a work of art. They were somewhat sparse on toppings - not quite as fantastic as I remember them being. Jo and I were trying to work out whether they really were getting worse, or whether, as VSOs, they just used to look more spectacular through our calorie-starved eyes?

Despite the quiz (or because of it, according to friends who like pub quizzes), it was a good night. One with a slight surprise twist.

I'd received a message from a girl called Wendy, who I assumed to be the Wendy who helped organise Lies and Kassim's wedding five years ago. She invited me to SoleLuna, which is mostly why I was there. Then, the night before, I got a text from Wendy saying 'Still on for pizza? This is B'. 

B is another friend I knew way back when, and my initial response was: That's cool! B is in town visiting Wendy.

Only, when I arrived, it turned out it wasn't Wendy from the wedding at all - Wendy is B's alter online ego!

I was so confused, but it was a good laugh.

Then Maxime turned up with half of my housemates and their friends, as it's her birthday.

I'd also invited Jo, and she came with Nicole (from the Lebanese), and another of the mums' group, Eva, so I joined their team. 

It was a bit strange knowing so many faces after less than three weeks in-country, but then I suppose I have done a fair bit of socialising.

Eva drove me home after, and we sat gassing in her swanky 4x4 for ages. It was a really interesting discussion, covering just about everything from the tourism industry to Hungarian communist history.

Earlier in the day, in between running around sorting out the post office and bank, I popped back to my new favourite restaurant, and this time bumped into the owner, Jean.

We ended up having an extremely heated debate about politics and the existence of God, then agreeing never to mention politics or the existence of God again. It was great fun.

He explained what he was trying to do with his business, and I learned that it's not just the rooftop bar but the entire building that he owns. It contains a floor full of hotel rooms (in need of some serious TLC) and a downstairs cafe and apartment area. He took me on a tour of everything, and my imagination is running wild. I love the place, so perhaps I can help him promote it if he'll pay me in beer and brochettes?

Going to throw him some ideas this week.

Pan Afrique: top floor.

So, all of that has been fun.

Then, last night, I had cause to go across town.

I mean, right across town - like, thirty minutes on a moto across town.

Straight through the heart of Nyamirambo to Sun City Hotel, across town.

To a house pretty much slap bang next to where my bezzy mate Martine used to live.

The moto stopped at exactly the same place.

Only, Martine no longer lives there.

Talk about duality. I was so uplifted to be in Nyamirambo again. It's the part of Kigali that never sleeps. In fact, it comes alive at night. Full of clothes shops and people. I love it. It's also a place I equate with feeling safe and happy, because it's where I would run away to whenever life got too much, sitting on Martine's porch smoking cigs, drinking waragi and putting the world to rights.

Because of that, I was expecting it to feel quite horrible being back outside her gate, knowing she wasn't there.

Yet, oddly, it was all okay. Perhaps because I've just come from Martine's place in Laos, so I know where she is if I need her, and partly because Kigali has changed, and I've changed (a little bit) with it. I suppose I already knew at the back of my mind that this is a new era, with new people in it.

It really was okay.

Nyamirambo Shop, from Umva Blog

Once I was done in Nyamirambo, I was getting hungry, and decided to return to Remera, which is where I used to live at one point. I gave the moto guy the name of the most expensive hotel there, as I needed some creature comfort to recover from the disembodiment of being back.

Only, when I got to Chez Lando, it had expanded so much I almost couldn't find my way in!

I arrived in a daze, took one look around, and walked out again, unsure quite what to do. 

Then I remembered a lovely little bar around the corner called High Noon. Only, I didn't recognise the road because it's been tarmaced and there's another huge bar on the corner. I walked along and asked someone passing by. They pointed to this building site, which is apparently where High Noon used to be. Either it's getting an upgrade, or it's getting demolished. I'm not sure which.

Martine may no longer live in Nyamirambo, but at least the place looked the same.

Remera used to be my stomping ground. I knew ever bar there - intimately. Now, I don't recognise any of them.

I happen to know that my old house has since been transformed into a bar. One thing I could not bring myself to do was to go there for a drink. Not yet, and not on my own. I think I would find it too sad, or odd, or both. I'm waiting for Jo to take me, because at least I know we'll have a laugh about it.

Instead, I headed for the one bar I was certain would not have changed: La Planet. Right next door to my old house, this is where we used to hold our monthly Disability Programme Meetings. I felt sure that if there was one place I would recognise instantly, it would be La Planet...

...now Bar Izola.

I mean, it is beautiful, don't get me wrong. A serious improvement. Nice lighting, a plush bar, the scent of those wonderful night flowers. Very nice indeed... but disorienting.

I plonked myself in a corner, drank a bottle of Primus, scoffed a couple of fish brochettes, and smoked a couple of ciggies whilst watching people come and go.

It was a slightly uncomfortable experience, but one I'm sure I will recover from. It's just going to take some time to work out where everything is now.

And you know what hasn't changed a bit?

Ndoli's!

Ndoli's never changes. So I popped in there before getting my moto home, bought bread, a huge gouda for toasties, chocolate biscuits and some sweeties for my secret 'emergency pick-me-up' box.

Yup, it still pretty much looks like this.

Yesterday I decided to stay in and work from home, only the power went out mid-morning, and my laptop ran out of juice about four hours later, to which I posted a slightly grumpy message on Facebook:

Arse. Electricity has been out all day. Have about 45 mins left on my battery, and so much work to get through. Kigali may look developed, but it still suffers horribly from water, power and internet cuts. You can set up a business quickly, but can you keep it running?

After which I had to issue a red-faced apology... my housemate had forgotten to pay the electric meter.

Ahem.

Still, power, water and internet all do tend to disappear at least once a day, though not usually for that long.

Life is pretty good in Kigali, I must say. Taking a moto across the valley to Nyamirambo is truly like flying through the stars - all of Kigali laid out, twinkling, before you. It's impossible not to feel lucky to be here.

Twiddling my thumbs a little whilst I wait for my police clearance. Trying to think up ideas for Jean's bar, and how I'm going to make money. On the one hand I have a friend telling me it's hard to make money here, on the other I have a friend who keeps running into jobs. I think the best thing is just not to cling to any kind of expectation, and see how it goes. It's unlikely to happen over night, but I do think there's an awful lot of opportunity here.

I will leave off with a picture Ruairí posted the other day. Remember that scorpion in Laos? Well, they found Moma.

Ruairí: At least it was under my shoe, rather than in it.

Makanyaga

Beautiful view of the hills from my gate.

Although the kids next door have discovered they can climb up the tree by the wall so that they can shout 'muzungu!' at us whilst we're having breakfast on the porch... ho hum.

Washing Day Next Door

Can't really complain, it's a lovely garden and my housemates are great. 

Picked up my official certificate of registration from RDB on Thursday. 

Now tackling Immigration, which is not quite so simple. They give you fifteen days after registration to submit your application for a work permit, otherwise you need to apply for an interim permit. The full permit is around FRW 100,000 (£88) for two years, and the interim three-month work permit is 50,000 (£44). Completing the full application wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact you need a police clearance certificate from home. This in itself is likely to take 15 days - two to process fast-track, and about two weeks to get here. 

I'm hoping I can just apply for the full permit in time, but it would help if they extended the grace period to thirty days, or even twenty-eight.

Still, it's interesting to learn how all of this works. Been busy as a bumblebee all weekend, getting my website ready. Hoping to go live on Monday.

All Legal Now

Friday was fun. An old VSO colleague, who has since become a friend, invited me for a night out. We met up at the new VSO office, which has moved since my days. It's now situated nearer to Amahoro Stadium, in a very swanky building. I was much impressed.  

That's not the only thing that's changed - they now have over 90 volunteers in-country! That's quite a fair few more than when I was a volunteer. Also a lot more African volunteers, which is good to see. 

Plus, I spotted two faces from five years ago on the board! Christiane, who I'm hoping to meet up with soon, and Morley, who is back doing a short stint with Aegis Trust in Gisozi. Also bumped into Sarah, who was a volunteer who arrived in my second year and ended up taking over from my Programme Manager, Amanda, as head of Disability. It was a slightly spooky flashback.

Didn't have too much time to think about it. Hopped in the van with Amina and stopped to pick up her sister Asna, who is completely lovely. Had a good catch-up on the drive. We were off to the Great Lakes Energy Company launch.

These guys are so clever! This is me taking a photograph of a solar-powered lamp which lasts for up to 36 hours and is being used to charge my phone!

Seriously revolutionary. Especially as new research suggests that two million deaths per year in the world can be attributed to pollution from kerosene lamps, and over 50% of premature deaths in under fives are related to poor air quality and soot inhalation. The amount it saves a household on candles and fuel is quite substantial too.

With funding from The Light Foundation and support from UNHCR, they have been distributing these lamps throughout refugee camps in Rwanda. But they don't give them away for free. In return, refugees have to get involved in local tree-planting initiatives to re-forest the country. 

One amazing statistic is that they were told 'if more than 30% of your products haven't been stolen or sold on, you're doing well.' They recently found out that less than 0.6% of their lamps had gone missing. Most likely this is because a) people see a real need for the lamps and b) the community tree planting adds value to them, so the community takes responsibility for protecting the lamps.

They truly are amazing little things. I'm thinking of getting one for the house - useful during power outs, and for our guard to read at night. At the moment he has a plug-in torch, but this would be much more eco-friendly. They're about FRW 27,000 (£24) to buy individually, but cheaper wholesale.

Plug-in Torch

The launch was held on the rooftop at the building opposite Chez John. It provided an incredible view of Kigali by night, and there was plenty of free booze and posh nosh (even smoked salmon!).

They showed us a really interesting film. I've looked for it on YouTube but can't find it. I'll get a link from Sam (founder of Great Lakes Energy Company) and add it to this post soon.

A Little Early

After the presentation, there was this excellent band, and we all started dancing. One of the highlights was my friend Amina meeting her childhood idol, Rwandan singer Makanyaga, who donated his music to the project's video.

We danced and drank our fill. It was a really fun event. I also met Jon, an American guy who is becoming rather famous in Rwanda. I first heard about him from my friend Jo. He's set up a shared office space in Kigali where you can rent a desk for around FRW 3,000 a day. Useful for internet, focusing, and networking. The project is simply called The Office. Check it out. Fully intend to pop down there once I get my business going. Very cool idea.

Like I say, I've been chained to my keyboard all weekend. The website is coming along well, considering I'm trying to do everything on the cheap at the moment. Had a minor HTML meltdown last night, but managed to resolve it. My friend Jessica has done me a fantastic corporate logo. In fact, the entire business is built on friendship - Rik and David naming it, Jessica branding it... it's a labour of love.

Better get back to it. I've been sustained by coffee and toasties. My housemate went into town yesterday and when she asked if there was anything I wanted, I replied 'a toaster and a toastie maker... and some cheese to go in it.' Happy days are here!

Anticipation...

Happiness!

Ishya :)

New Registration, Domestic Company - APPROVED

AAAAH!

I am having a serious 'I love Rwanda' day.

It took two days! Two days to think up a company name that wasn't already taken.

I used to work with a guy whose motto was "every delay is an opportunity." Unfortunately, he delayed paying me so long that I took the opportunity to leave, but the sentiment does hold true. In those two days I consulted my housemates and all my Kinya speaking friends, and we arrived at possibly the coolest company name ever registered in Rwanda. 

No, I'm not about to tell you what it is, but I hope it gave the registrar at RDB reason to smile.

They have even e-mailed me my certificate of registration!

Truly incredible.

I pop back tomorrow to pick up the paper version, then over to Immigration to sort out my residency forms.

Then I've been invited to a do with an old VSO colleague, which means I get to see the new VSO office. I'm both excited and a little apprehensive. It's hard to feel nostalgic about a place you've never been to before. Not sure how I'll feel about that, but very much looking forward to catching up with my friend - and learning something about solar energy provision?

Hmm.

To celebrate, I decided to go for food. 

I'm currently boycotting Bourbon since yesterday. They charge a fortune for dreadful service (you're always waiting ages to be served, then half the time they don't bring what you ordered), plus they charge you extra to put milk in your coffee! Err - hello - coffee shop. Forgive me for assuming milk and sugar come as standard. Because I ordered a 'regular coffee' I was asked to pay 500 for milk, when it would have cost me 200 if I'd ordered a 'coffee with milk' - oh, bugger off. (I said something similar in a slightly more polite manner and they took the charge off).  

So, I'm making it my mission to seek out good old fashioned cafés where I can get a bite to eat and a coffee at a reasonable price. Today, I found one next to the Post Office called Panafrique. Stand facing the PO and turn right (you'll see a Primus bar ahead of you). A few meters on the left is a set of shops with a tall, spiralling metal staircase. On the top floor you'll see a little Mutzig sign - go up.

It was a really pleasant surprise. A spacious, quiet bar tucked away from the hubbub of mumugi. You wait a while for food, but the brochettes were really good and the view was fairly spectacular.

Totally recommend. An iced mango smoothie at Bourbon costs over FRW 4,000 and last time it came in a plastic cup. Here, I had coke and brochettes for around 2,000 and even got a smile with it. They don't have wifi, but I think I might see whether AirTel works up there. It would be a lovely place to sit and work for a couple of hours.

To finish off, I headed for Caplaki Craft Village to purchase an igisoro board. My housemates expressed an interest, and I love the game, so it's now my mission to teach everybody how to play - although I'm afraid we'll be playing omweso on the igisoro board, as I learned to play in Uganda and those are the only rules I know.

An extremely productive and strangely relaxing day. Feeling totally floaty, and very excited about the business. I'm going to make a cup of tea and settle down with a packet of Fairyland (yes, Fairyland) cookies to work on my website. 

[P.S. If you would like to know what the title of this post means, there's an excellent online Kinyarwanda-English dictionary.]

Reality Bites, Dead Birds

Slightly better shot of that bong shop at the Lebanese, where I ended up again last night with Jo and German friend, Nicole. Two mums on a night off. No shisha involved, but lots of hummus.

Finding it hard to eat again in the heat. Not quite as extreme as Laos, but pushing a pleasing 30c today. Had a chat to Dad & Marilyn the other day, who were experiencing a heatwave in the UK - 17c.

I am enjoying living in vest tops and three-quarter length jeans, but the lack of amazi takes the shine off it. For all its sparkly new buildings, some things in Kigali really haven't changed - namely regular power and water cuts. It's possibly the one area Nairobi outperforms on, and I was constantly shocked in Laos by the plentiful supply of water despite the soaring heat. It really isn't fun sharing a bathroom with three other people when you can't flush the toilet.

Also a bit fed up with my temperamental internet connection. I've been spoiled in Laos and Kenya.

If I can occasionally get a good connection in my room - why can't I always get a good connection in my room? Why do I need to sit in the garden if I want to send an e-mail at 9am, yet I can do it from my desk at 11:30pm? Going to give AirTel until the end of the month, then try an MTN connection. I'm willing to take slower in exchange for more reliable. AirTel is bloody fast, but out of a 1.5GB daily allowance, I'm lucky if I'm connected long enough to use 500MB.

Partly out of desperation, and partly out of curiosity, I decided to take myself down to Rwanda's brand spanking new library in search of wifi and a quiet place to work. This is definitely a new addition since I've been away, situated just off the roundabout by the American Embassy.

It looks absolutely stunning from the outside.

But as I approached, I noticed a little girl pushing something about with her feet on the porch. As I got closer, I noticed three little birds - two dead, one still alive but not moving!

The mystery deepened when I went inside, where you have to give your passport to a security guard, along with your bag. As he was taking my details, he took another sleepy-looking bird out of his pocket and placed it on the table in front of me.

It took me a moment to figure out what had happened. The front of the building is so shiny that the windows act like mirrors, reflecting back the sky. The little birds keep flying into them and hitting the ground, concussed (or dead).

After going through the rigmarole of signing in, I decided to check out the café first. This involves walking out of the building, round to the back, and climbing three flights of stairs.

Disability access to library café.

The roof has been converted to an expansive - and shockingly expensive - eating area. 

Again, it looks beautiful, and there's an impressive view, all be it of a building site.

Panoramic - Click to Enlarge

But there is also a major design flaw. Somebody forgot we're in Africa. There is no shade. 

The roof is made of blue perspex, which is supposed (I assume) to dim the sunlight, but it also seems to magnify the heat, so you sit there feeling hot and squinting at your computer screen. It's not the most comfortable place to hang out. Also, the price of food is Bourbon expensive, when all you really want is a quiet place to spend the day, with reasonably priced coffee and a sandwich. It's not like people go there for a posh meal, just a break from studying.

Talking of quiet - there was cringeworthy 'just put me inside you, sex me baby' music playing over broken speakers, which kept interrupting the music with grating electrical disturbance. Eventually I had to ask them to turn it down so that I could concentrate - thankfully they turned it off.

Again, not conducive to a study environment.

There was apparently a wifi connection, but when I asked for the password, nobody knew it.

Come on, seriously? What is the single thing every Rwandan and Muzungu wants when choosing a restaurant? Other than food, it's always, without exception, an internet connection. Nowadays, we choose where we eat largely based on the reliability of the internet.

Researching Pirates

So, I ate my very nice but heavily over-priced (for a library) food, drank my coffee, sweated, squinted, attempted to use the (broken) toilet, and eventually decided that it would be much cooler and quieter inside the library.

It is very pretty inside - everything laid out as you'd expect in a modern library. I headed for the reading area, where there are desks and rows of plug sockets.

None of which work.

Four of them - no juice from a single one.

You'd be mistaken for thinking there was a power cut, but Jo's friend last night explained that whenever she works at the library, she takes her own extension lead. When she finds a socket that works, she plugs it in and everyone else uses the spare sockets.

As my battery was running out, and I still didn't have a password for the wifi connection (or a reliable signal from AirTel - in the national library!) I decided I'd had enough.

All a bit disappointing considering the place looks so nice - it's just not really geared to what library users want or need.

On top of that, I almost walked out without my passport.

Think I'll stay home to work from now on, certainly cheaper, less distractions.

RDB
Rwandan Development Board.

I'm also in a slightly grumpy mood because RDB online business registration isn't actually as easy as they made out. I've had a notice through that my business name is already taken, and I need to think up a new one. This affects both my domain name (no hassle, only about £4 a year) and my logo design (again, no hassle, my friend is patient and lovely). But - single most obvious question here: why don't they run a name check whilst you're registering. Isn't it fairly obvious that there should be a list of registered names that you can check before submitting a new one? Wouldn't that save a lot of time for everybody involved?

Still, at least you can submit changes online instead of having to go back and forth to the office all the time, and the lady at the front desk has been very helpful and quick at responding to e-mails.

Thinking up a business name isn't as easy as it sounds. I'm a little devoid of imagination at the moment. Not sure whether to go with a Swahili/Kinya name, or something English. Think I'll just mess about on Facebook and drink coffee instead, from my new T2000 cafetiere.

[UPDATE: Kigali Library has really improved upstairs since last year. Still not sure about disability access, but the government are working to improve library services, and it shows.]

Behold - a Business

So, that desk that wouldn't fit into my room... Nadine, Richard and I tried for almost quarter of an hour to get it in there. Then Sally came to help and performed some magical ship-in-a-bottle manouvre, et voilà!

High fives all round.

Then we set up the projector, scoffed Sally's dal, and settled in for movie night on our living room wall.

Guess the movie?

So much for taking it easy. I trotted off to RDB again today. It's Monday - if I start the week by achieving something, I feel like I can goof off a bit the rest of the week. 

Filled in my forms and sat for about forty-five minutes battling sleep and hunger (forgot to have breakfast - numpty) until one of the advisers became available. A lovely chap called Gakuba acted as my witness and talked me through the online registration process - which is free! 

All done and dusted. Dead simple. I just need to pop back tomorrow morning to pick up my certificate of registration, then head for the office next door to apply for my work permit. I'm legal, almost.

Glowing with pride at having given birth to a brand new limited company, I followed a sign saying Food Pub behind RDB and ended up eating Korean soup at Monmartse and playing Words with Friends over their wifi.

Look - they accept VISA!

Slightly astonished to see a VISA sign. There's also international ATMs in UTC, MTN Centre and T2000! 

Old Kigalians will also know T2000 as the Chinese shop. Well, it's more of a city now! A two-story supermarket! Stocked to the brim but, like the Embassy bar, no longer all that cheap, even though the goods still are. I was looking for a small bin for the bathroom, had to discard half a dozen cracked ones and still they were asking FRW 5,000. I argued with a shop lady behind the mosque the other day over 3,000 for a towel - they were 7,000+ in T2000! There's also a sign saying 'Customer Service is Our Priority' - like heck. Boxes piled in the aisles so you can't get your trolley through, and most of the stuff isn't even priced. You spend half your time walking around the shop looking for an assistant, repeating nangahe?

Still, some things make you smile.

I splurged on tupperware and stationary. Think I may need to invest in a printer at some stage, seems like a lot of effort though. Might see what happens business-wise first.

Just waiting on a friend to sort out my logo, then I'll finish up the website and start touting for business. I have no expectations, we shall just have to see. The holiday home on the shores of Lake Kivu is a little way off yet.

Hedonism

And apply the brakes.

One of my housemates invited me out to Jazz at the Goethe-Institut last night, and I realised in that moment that I need to slow down. I think Laos, Kenya and Rwanda all caught up with me - I was knackered. 

It's like I stepped back into the country and picked up exactly where I left off. It's so easy to abandon yourself to hedonism here, there's always something to see, someone to talk to, a party to go to. I need to stop. 

As my friend Karen used to say: HALT. Never get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. I was in need of sleep and food. So I slept in until about 9:30 this morning (when the church up the road got into full swing), then proceeded to have a wonderfully lazy day. Sally made noodles, and we've relocated the main table outside, so it's now an office for four people! 

Little tour of the house...

My Room

With cupboard space.
Richard's room opposite with the bathroom between.
No picture of the bathroom - too small to fit a good picture in,
but we have an electric shower!

Kitchen.

Emergency water supplies.
Some things don't change.
(No electricity today, either!)

All the mod cons: gas cooker and fridge.

Washing machine... (our guard, Jado)

So, I'm thinking of putting some ground rules down for myself about not going out too much and getting home at a sensible time, but I know I'd never stick to them. Though I reckon it's just the buzz of being back. Once I start working, things will settle down again.

Tomorrow I will have been here one week. In that time, I have done the bank, the post office, got all the forms I need to register my business, worked hard and partied hard.

I'm just putting the finishing touches to my website now, and I've registered my domain. I hope to get my business legal early this week. After much umming and ahing over a funky Swahili or Kinya name, I've boringly gone with something a bit dull, but trust-inspiring, I hope. I can always change the name later on.

Pleased at how productive I've been, and how at home I feel already.

My housemates are really great. I've moved in with a girl who owns a purple guitar. That's so cool.

Not only does she own it, she can play it really well, and I've discovered she has a beautiful singing voice. 

Sneaky snap of Sally in the office - supposed to be working, but jamming out instead.