Friday 18th March

Oh my word my bike guy was so slow this morning. I could have throttled him. I know that in the grand scheme of things its not a very serious offence, but I get really frustrated when life doesn't move as quickly as I want it to. Now enough with the incredulous looks OK? Those of you who've ever been walking with me will testify that I take the tortoise approach to speed. I’ve literally had grannies overtake me, although to be fair they were on motorised scooters. But that's why you take bikes – speed. They're the fastest way to get around town and it's really annoying when they drive so slowly. Oo, I was cross. To be fair I was already a bit narked when I got up this morning. Our house girl starts her chores at 5 am, which doesn't create an environment conducive to sleep. It never used to bother me because I used to get up at five anyway to pray. But now I can sleep in to six, seven, eight, so her doing the dishes or sweeping outside my room at five is a bit of a pain. Just go back to bed Angelique!

Thursday 17th March

We went to visit Jean Claude again this morning. The puppy is so cute! And they've decided that they want to give it to me as a present. But, Alas! I must say no, because I’m leaving in 2 months and Dora's care is no place in which to leave a puppy. She and Karyn would probably eat it if it barked too much. I wouldn't put it past them, goat haters.

Wednesday 16th

I tutored Isabelle this morning, and I decided to leave it up to her to choose what we would study. Last time I do that. I should have heard alarm bells when she choose maths, but I was feeling game so I told her to bring it on. She opened her book to a page entitled 'The Prime Factorisation of Numbers', and I started to squirm. But I totally got out of it though. “Oh, sorry Isabelle, we don't have that in England”. Moving on...

I also had a home visit this morning with one of the Ubuzima ladies, then lunch at Shokola, then a Kinyarwanda lesson.

My lesson was particularly gruelling today, to the point that my eyes actually welled up a few times. What a wuss. Pull yourself together girl! But I hate vowel stemmed verbs in the negative prefix-less tense with a zealous passion.

Tuesday 15th March

It's been a long time since I’ve had access to a full length mirror, and I don't like what I see.
It's possible that I may have picked up a little February/March weight around my middle. (In case you're wondering, February/March weight is the same concept as Christmas weight, except that that you get it in the months of February and March). All I can say is that life is brutal sometimes. And so are full length mirrors.

I saw Mama Judith today for the first time in a couple of weeks. We met at Giporoso at ten and walked back to mine. Then we sat out on the porch and chatted for a while before an intensive English lesson and lunch. She told me today that she wants three lessons a week, but doesn't want to do any grammar. Not quite sure how that's going to work.

Neither Karyn nor Mike were at Ubuzima this afternoon, which left me frantically trying to mark and cut enough paper for thirty women to roll into beads. I’ve never seen them work so quickly before. What a day for them to choose to be motivated!

Sunday 13th March

What a nice day! We went to visit with Jen and Serge this afternoon, and we arrived to find freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, of which I ate three, and the Jungle Book projected onto the wall. The day was almost perfect, expect for the glass of ice-cold Coca Cola Jen spilled on my head and down my back. But I didn't get angry, I got even. Specifically by taking three more cookies as compensation. Like I said, it was a nice day.

Saturday 12th March

Isabelle came round this morning for some English and a bit of pampering. Karyn did her nails and I kept her well fed with biscuits and juice. Funnily enough, the Kinyarwanda for nails and hunger is the same word, inzara. Bet you didn't know that.

Adventure!!! This afternoon we went to visit our friend Sincere in Nyamata. Its an hour journey on the bus, so we decided to go to Simba to get some padkos. Oh my word, best pastry in the world! And the scenery on the way was just stunning! I cannot convey to you what a beautiful country Rwanda is. I walk around every day and wish you could see what I’m seeing. There's nothing like it.

Anyway we get there and we must have been the only bazungu for miles. Everyone was staring at us, and Sincerce went as far as to describe our presence there as a miracle. I wouldn't go that far myself, but you get the idea.

Sincere showed us around his school and we took his headmaster out for a drink.

Then we decided to visit a nearby genocide memorial. It was challenging to be honest. You walk through the blood-stained, grenade-shattered church filled with the clothes of the thousands of victims killed on site. Then you see the mass graves. I’d seen mass graves before but I’d never been inside one until today. You descend into the unlit grave and walk along a narrow corridor, no wider than 70cm across. Towering above and below you are wooden coffins, each filled with 20 skeletons. The air is musky and the atmosphere tense. The next grave is even more harrowing, filled 12ft high with skulls and femur bones.

Friday 11th March

Well, life is back to normal again. We got to church just before eight and sure enough, Mike was already there and had been since seven. Mwah-ha-ha-haa.

And I totally rocked the ibitoki as you can see from this cleverly posed photo.

Then we went into town for lunch at Camelia. Last week Mike said, “I like making mistakes so I can learn from then then do it again next time”. Sticking to this philosophy, he ordered another disgusting dessert, ate it and said, “I’ll never do that again”. We'll see Mike, we'll see.

Thursday 10th March

As promised, we went back to visit the goat lady again and bless her heart, she gave Mum and Dad a beautiful wooden carving. What a sweetheart!

We left Clementine's house with dark clouds raining overhead and she assured us that the rain would not delay. We walked to Kimikanga to see Yvette. We wove in and out of the narrow streets, past chickens and children, climbing over sandbags, watching not to tread in something untoward. By the time we reached her little house, the heavens had opened and was pouring down with rain, outside and inside the house. Yvette and I stood outside by the stove to make the tea while my parents sat inside with Yvette's family. But it's hard to keep a fire going in the rain! I think it's really brave of Yvette to welcome us into her home. She knows she doesn't have much but is so humble and generous and it really blesses me. We sang the morning away with classics like 'Mambo sawa sawa' and 'Imana ni nziza'. We even got Mum dancing at one point.

Anyway, I’m proud of my parents. Conditions were pretty bad because of the rain. There is no sanitation system in Kimikanga, and we sat in the house watching the sewage flow past us. We shut the door but it little to help the smell. And we walked through it all on the way home. But they didn't complain or pull faces; they just got on with it and thanked Yvette for her hospitality.

Nicole: “Welcome to how the other 80% of the world lives”

Mum: “ Well I don't think it's actually 80%”

Sadly, she's probably right. I would imagine that the number is higher than that.

We had lunch with Dora, Karyn and Mike at a restaurant called Camelia.

They have a wide range of pastries and desserts listed on their menu, but only two or three are available at a time. “Do you have chocolate balls?” I asked the waiter, to which everyone burst out laughing, although I can't imagine why. In the end, Mike was the only one who ended up ordering something; a dry, crusty cherry tart. It was really gross but we made him eat it because we're in Africa and there are starving children here.

It was freezing cold that afternoon because of the rain, so we headed back to the hotel to play cards and drink hot chocolate. Just as he was leaving, Mike asked me what time cooking would start tomorrow morning. I told him it was 7am sharp as always. I wonder if he'll fall for it...

I took my folks to the airport that night and they flew back to England. It's been really nice to have my parents here for the week. We've not done anything too strenuous, but it's been great to relax by the pool, visit friends and do some shopping. A big thank you to them for coming. I really appreciate all their support over the past few months.

Wednesday 9th

This morning I took my folks to Kiyovu to show them where I used to live. I think they are very relieved that I don't live there anymore.

I loved living there, but it's quite a poor neighbourhood and parents worry.

(photos: Karyn Makins)

We walked down the hill and along the road until we got to the goat lady's house. Clementine welcomed us in, but had to leave after a few minutes so she asked us to return the next day. We also visited with Jean Claude in Kimikanga.

It was great for Mum and Dad to go and have a look round, and they were very popular with the kids. This group of boys followed my Dad around like he was a mother duck. It was really cute.

Tuesday 8th

We had ubuzima today.
It's probably not hard for you to believe that my mum is good at making beads, but you'll be shocked to learn that my dad rocks at it! I thought he'd really struggle due to a strange finger condition called 'stubbyitis', but he actually did a really great job. And you can see how pleased he was with himself.

Monday 7th

We took Isabelle out for lunch today at that great brochette (kebab) place in town. I’m so glad my parents got to meet her. They bought her a new bag for school which she loved. It's such a privilege to be here.





Marking exams is actually really challenging. I desperately want my students to pass, but I also need to be fair and just.

Friday 4th

It's so cold! It's been pouring with rain all the morning so I told Mum and Dad to stay at the hotel.

Karyn, Mike and I were at church peeling potatoes but during a break in the rain we legged it up to the hotel to get a hot drink. Then we took my folks back down to help serve up the food for the street kids.

Thursday 3rd

I had breakfast at the hotel today! Woop woop pastries! And it was nice to spend some time with the oldies. I think they were pretty tired from the flight so we just took it easy today.

Tonight was my last night teaching at Green Hills and my students took their exam. I’ve loved teaching at there; it's been a real privilege, but it's been knackering. Working with IT all day, preparing lessons and marking in my free time then teaching in the evenings is pretty tiring and I’ll be glad to have a break now.

After school we met Dora at the Hotel for dinner. She got on really well with Mum and Dad which I’m really pleased about.

Wednesday 2nd

My parents arrived at the airport tonight at about 9.30pm. I can't believe how pale they are. You know those weird translucent fish you get? That's what they look like.

I checked them into Hotel Des Mille Collines before going home for the night. You have no idea how much I wanted to crawl into their freshly made bed complete with sprung mattress, duvet and big, fluffy pillows. Instead, I crawled into an overpriced taxi and headed off into the distance.

Tuesday 3rd

I’m, um, ill. I’ll spare you the details, but will tell you a joke.

What's brown and runny and smells really bad?

Monday 28th

Today was a day full of revelations. There's this English pub in town that I’ve been really excited about. If ever I felt lis for England, which was actually only one time, then I would go to the English pub to reconnect with the motherland. Well today I decided to take Karyn and Mike there to share a bit of my culture with them. When we get there, Mike and Karyn look around suspiciously. “Um Nicole, I don't think this place is English. It's Italian.”

I guess I should have seen the signs. You can only order pizza and pasta; the tablecloths are white and red checkered; and there's a big sign outside the front that says Italian Restaurant.


But in my defence they also have beer and football, which are the essence of Britishness. It was an easy mistake to make.

That afternoon we went to visit some of the guys. They were late and waited for them for two hours by the road, in which time I received three marriage proposals. I refused all three.

Sunday 27th

Church was really good this morning. The preach was about God's omniscience and while now, three days later, I can't remember much of it, I know at the time I really appreciated what was said. I know this because I can remember taking notes the whole way through. (You can tell I’m not enjoying a sermon if my pen is resting disdainfully on my notepad. You see, note taking helps me stay alert and concentrated. If I’m not taking notes, it means that I’m probably day dreaming. Or that I’ve run out of paper).

In the afternoon I went to Bourbon to tutor Jean Paul again. This was the least successful session we've had so far. It turns out that while I know very little about economics, I know even less about the hospitality industry. I learnt Chez Darling that a guest's bed must have at least 8 cushions on it and that you have to put a small chocolate on the pillow every evening. I know that breakfast should consist of, at minimum, four courses, and no fewer than three conserves should be served with the pastries. I also know that there should be as many dessert options are there are dinner guests and regular lettuce simply will not do. And if you don't spread the butter right to the edge of the bread, there will be consequences that will not be easily forgotten.


That evening we went to Jen's for dinner. She made us broccoli soup and rhubarb crumble. Incredible.