Party Girls

Teaching Friends to Make Origami Flapping Birds

As ever, it's been a while since my last update, so lots has been happening. I'll try and get through most of it today.

A couple of weekends back, I had a mammoth night out with the girls. Not a very auspicious start, as I didn't have any water and had to get glammed up using a bucket. Haven't done that in a while.

Because who needs a hot shower when you have a bucket...?

We started out by visiting Kigali's grand new Marriott Hotel. It is absolutely huge. It only opened a couple of days before.

 

It is so large that it has the unfortunate feel of an airport, and the service was shocking. Lots of people outside but not a waiter in sight. Had to get up and go in search of them. Then twenty-five minutes for cocktails to arrive. But they were nice when they came

 

Then we headed to another new hotel, Ubumwe. They have a rooftop pool looking out across the entire city, but only guests can use it. Still, a spectacular sight.

 

We eventually ended up at Papyrus for shisha and gin.

 

This is me and the lovely Maia, who I'll say more about below. But by two o'clock in the morning Maia, Cindy (above with the shisha pipe) and myself were the only ones left from our original party. We were joined by our friend Lan and headed downstairs to Cindy's club, Envy.

Goodnight Papyrus, It's Time To Party

Way too much gin ensued...

 

And some really dodgy dancing on chairs...

Until, at five-thirty in the morning, we called it a night and I headed back to Maia's. We pulled an old mattress out onto the lawn and lay there watching the sun rise until we fell asleep.

Sunrise From The Taxi

Sunrise From The Garden

It took me three days to recover from that hangover, but it was totally worth it.

In more decorous happenings, I've finally started a proper Kinyarwanda course. Two nights a week at my friend Katie's café, Inzora. Katie and her friend developed the course after working as English teachers for a long time. They wanted people to be able to learn Kinya the same way people learn English, in an interactive TEFL sort of way. It works really well, and I joined up with my friend Agnés. It's a great group. Intensive but fun. And fabulous coffee.

Sadly the mighty healing papaya finally fell, despite my landlord's valiant efforts to save it with metal crutches. Very upsetting to see it go, especially after all it did for me. Blast you, termites!

In other teaching news, I now deliver a course in fiction writing once a week at Maia's new café and evening school, Casa Keza. Website's not up yet and café not open yet, but it's been a real honour taking the first ever class there. Opening night was baptised by a massive tropical storm. Water came pouring in thorough the closed windows and we had a spectacular backdrop of dramatic lightning. Despite that, everyone made it. I have eight students. Good mix of Rwandan and expat (and one Burundian refugee). Looking to run a second fiction course and also a course in web design. So between that and the Kinya classes, my weeks are pretty busy now.

Entrance Floor of Casa Keza

It's a lovely venue. Maia's inviting a few of us to be taste testers for the new menu, and her signature sangria. Happy times ahead.

Adventures with Kittens

Hah. Anyone for a banana murphin? I think it's a West Country recipe... ;)

Or, my ultimate comfort food: French toast (egg-fried bread) with Nutella, bananas and squirty cream. Nomnomnom.

Well, one of my feral kittens is making progress. She now feels comfortable enough to steal my food, sleep on my bed and even once jumped onto a chair to stand on my feet. She still won't let me stroke her yet, but we sometimes play pattercake with our paws.

Food Theft

Destruction of Property

Flea Distribution

My lovely friend Suzanne sent out an aid parcel of cat toys. The Big Blue Mouse has proved a particular hit and each morning I have to walk to the end of the garden to retrieve the poor sausage. The pointy red light pen is also much admired, and has been chased across the porch, up walls and into shoes.

To satisfy my need for cuddles, I occasionally go over to my friend Pieter's house and requisition his kitten, Igi.

In not quite so fluffy baby news, I also have a tiny praying mantis. I think it might be the offspring of the giant one from last year. It's really active, running and jumping all over the place. Even landed on my neck at one point. I think it's kind of cute.

So, what's been going on since the last update? Well, I've had my fill of being irritated by men. The messy one got a job at a high flying law firm, haven't seen him since. Met another attractive-on-the-surface guy, our eyes meet through the flames of a fire, only to agree to a date we never ended up having because he turned out to be such a pain in the arse over whatsapp. Honestly, sometimes I think there are two completely separate dating manuals for the UK and Rwanda. There's no chance of ever being on the same page, because you're not even reading the same book.

I've given up entirely on that and thrown myself into the arts instead.

 

This is me last week singing I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day at the Iwacu Wellness campfire sing-a-long. I get a little less terrified each week, and I'm now trying to find similar songs I can wrap my (limited) voice around. I'm currently in love with I Am Stretched On Your Grave after hearing it on Peaky Blinders. Obsessively listening to it and trying to get my voice to lap up the licks. I find a good way to get your head around a new song is to listen to it through headphones whilst singing along and recording yourself on Audacity. You can always sing along to something more easily than by yourself, so if you can separate yourself singing it reasonably well, you can then learn from your own voice and it becomes easier to find your comfort point.

I would just like to point out the bonfire... Yeah. The bonfire. Didn't fall into it this time. Yay me.

It is such a lovely night. Every Sunday, 7-9 p.m. at Iwacu Wellness Centre in Kagugu - rain permitting. Bring a song, a poem or an instrument.

One of the guys there is restringing my guitar and going to teach me how to use it. Supposed to pick it up tonight, but not sure I'll go as the wet season arrived last week. Each night we have the most amazing thunder and lightning. The whole sky lights up purple and the rain is serious. I currently have a moat around my house at the moment. Considering introducing crocodiles.

With the first rains came the little flying bugs. When the rains arrive they come out of the ground in their thousands. Apparently you can fry them and eat them, but I just like watching them. They only live for about a day.

Although the rain often rains off events, it's also quite helpful. Houses in hot climates often aren't very well soundproofed - lots of ventilation bricks. At least when it rains I can practise singing without feeling self-conscious, because you can't hear anything over the sound of the rain.

Also went to my first Spoken Word Rwanda (Facebook/Twitter) event. Last Wednesday of every month, but they don't usually tell you where until the night before. It was a really good night. Lots of poets and singers. I'm trying to decide if I could build up the courage, but you get so little notice to prepare for the theme.

@Sturrminator performing #2YearsinKigali

Also went to an excellent book launch. Imagine We published their first book by former Miss Rwanda contestant Peace Kwizera. It's a really lovely children's book. Beautifully illustrated by Inkstain, and really important as there are so few books authored and published in Rwanda. It's also nice because it contains some really strong role models for girls as well as boys, each based on a person Peace knows, such as her sister, who was the inspiration for the pilot. It's just a shame Rwanda doesn't have PayPal so that they could sell it internationally.

Also had a fab time at the new Republika (Repub Lounge) in Kimihurura last Monday. The old Republika used to be an institution. This was the first time I'd been to the new one and it's just as good. The marketing guys for Iwacu run an after work networking event every Monday from 5-10 p.m. The manager, Solange, and her brother were there and we ended up drinking with them until closing. It was a really good night.

Earthquakes and Everything

Hot on the heels of the solar eclipse, we had a 5.7 earthquake last week. 

I was sitting on my porch at 2:27 in the afternoon when it began. We get them from time to time here. There's a sound like a truck going down a cobbled road, only there aren't any cobbles. Then the earth turns to water and everything wobbles and rattles. I had my laptop on my knee and legged it up the driveway, then remembered my keys were on the table, so turned back around, dived, reluctantly, under the porch and ran back up the drive again. If the house did collapse, I'd need the keys to get out of my compound. 

I'm one of these freaks who actually really enjoys light earthquakes. It's an incredibly surreal sensation. It's like standing on one of those moving floors in a fun house. The only time I was really fearful was in Cyangugu, during an aftershock of the big 2008 quake. 

Afterwards, I opened my gate. All of my neighbours were standing around. We looked at each other and just started laughing. Twitter was alive with people joking about whether they were running then tweeting, tweeting then running, or running and tweeting at the same time.

Sadly, reports say it  killed 11 and injured 100 at the epicentre in Tanzania.

What with the solar eclipse, now an earthquake, I think we'd best keep an eye on Lake Kivu!

Road to Kabuga

This is likely to be a long post. I realise I haven't made one in a while, so will endeavour to catch up.

I'm afraid I had a bit of a blue patch a couple of weeks back, and it's taken me a while to recover. 

I took a trip out to Kabuga to try to find Christiane's grave. I attempted to go in April with my friend Jo, but our car broke down and it wouldn't stop raining. Jo asked me to wait for her and we would go together, but she's really busy at the moment and I didn't want it to be a year since Christiane's death before I visited. To be honest, I wanted to go on my own so that I could just sit and have a chat to her. It is still very hard for me to think that she is not in Kibuye, running her hotel.

My friend Vincent sent a taxi for me. I didn't call my usual guy, again because I preferred to be alone. I bought a bottle of her favourite beer, took a couple of glasses. I planned just to find the grave and sit for a bit. 

I got a little less smiley as we approached Kabuga, wondering if she knew as she was being driven along that road that she would not be going back. There is a palliative care hospice there, and I stopped to ask where she was buried. We knew where the cemetery was, but not where the grave would be. I didn't realise there was an office at the cemetery, and thought it best to get directions before going.

Unfortunately, as I entered the place, I started to cry and couldn't stop. It's just a brick quad, all the doors open, people in wheelchairs and beds in various states of dying. I stepped into an office to avoid people seeing me - you really don't cry in Rwanda. It's not good form.

A really lovely nurse came to talk to me, and I explained that I was looking for my friend. She remembered Christiane. Apparently she had been there only five days. It was quick.

You don't realise how cultural certain turns of phrase are. I asked 'Was she in pain?' 

I don't know if I was more horrified or more grateful at the blunt honesty of the reply: 'She had cancer, of course she was in pain.'

When we finally made it to the graveyard I was losing it slightly. In my mind I was expecting a quaint English churchyard with sprawling graves and angels and shady trees...

It was certainly sprawling, but it was like a war cemetery. Hundreds, possibly thousands of graves, all absolutely identical: white marble-tiled boxes with headstones, baking in the midday sun, just enough room to walk between them. It was a regiment of graves.

I went into the office, where I was informed that I was too late. If I wanted to visit to lay flowers, I had to come before 2pm. Other burials took place after that and I was not allowed to be there. But they did inform me that Christiane was grave number 1052, at the bottom of the hill.

The idea that Christiane was now reduced to a number, and that I was too late to see her, sort of did for me. I realised, looking at the uniform graves and the lack of shade that even had I been allowed to visit, I could not have sat and shared a drink with her. Flowers, people would understand, but I doubt they would have understood the beer thing. 

I came to the conclusion that perhaps, what with the car braking down and visiting times, Christiane maybe didn't want me to go. 

It really was a bit traumatic to see all of that. I just kept thinking about her life, arriving here after surviving one bout of cancer, only to come within weeks of achieving her dream of building an eco-hotel, and then to fade so quickly.

I cried the entire way home. Worst day that poor taxi driver's had in a while, but I couldn't help myself. I got home, lit a candle for her and sat and had that beer and that conversation. I won't be going back to the cemetery. There's nothing of my friend there.

Anyway, that's why I haven't felt like posting much recently. Been watching a lot of movies and reading a lot of books. I'm over it now.

So, in happier news...

My lovely cleaner, Shania, who does amazing bed folding, has just been accepted to study Political Science at Huye (Butare) University. I'm really sad to see her go, but happy she's got in. As a total surprise, she turned up with her sister, Alice, and - as a parting gift - cleaned my house from top to bottom! Wouldn't accept payment. I was so touched I turned tearful again. Alice is going to clean for me now.

I've been given a guitar. Needs new strings and tuning. I had a writing client who occasionally bought me nice dinners. He's gone back to the UK now and had a farewell house party - then gave most of the house to people. It was this or a sleeping bag. I think I'm going to turn my smallest spare room into a music room. The acoustics are pretty good in there.

Had a lovely house party of my own, just with my friend Pieter. He's a dutch actor who has been all around the world as a flight attendant. He has some wonderful stories. He's also just had his visa renewed, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for mine. I cooked a big pasta dish and we sat talking late into the night.

What else has been happening?

Well, I've just finished building a website for my friend Sande. He has a massage therapy centre in Kagugu. He's also looking to set up an arts centre nearer to town. He's rented the building and has a group of artists living there, but the centre needs refurbishing, and the garden sorting out. I'm helping out with the strategic plan and business side of things in my spare time.

We had an impromptu sing along with guitars and drums, then I swung past Inzora for an ice cold smoothie and cake.

Last week I held a strategy meeting at the wellness centre.

Then went for a chat with Imagine We, a Rwandan publishing house. 

They're really lovely there, and I'm hoping to run some workshops with them.

I now have two kittens who visit me each night for food and company. They're both very timid and won't get close, but I'm working on that.

So, things are going well. Plenty to keep me occupied.

Solar Eclipse

Pinch, punch, first day of the month and what a stunning way to wake up!

Got out of bed, had a shower, opened the curtains and instantly knew something was a little odd. Walked to the end of the drive and couldn't work out what was going on. The sun was bright overhead but the light seemed heavy. 

Discovered on t'internet that we were in the middle of a partial solar eclipse. 

Ran back out with my phone and managed to get a couple of shots right at the high point. Such a wonderful surprise.