Suweeeet
on Blog From Beyond (Rwanda), 13/Dec/2009 15:33, 34 days ago
Interesting few days. Had a day off on Thursday so caught up on loads ofTabarastuff.On Friday I headed over the other side of Northants to meet up with the local Returned Volunteers' group. They're all extremely nice and the food was wonderful (one of the vols was in Thailand so cooked Thai curry). The only drawback was that they'd all returned between 15-25 years ago and already knew each other really well so it was more talking about family life and current events than anything VSO-related.I enjoyed meeting everyone but I wouldn't say it was particularly helpful in terms of continuing the VSO experience or fitting back into life in the UK. However it was refreshing that, if you did mention something that happened whilst you were overseas, everybody else also had a story to tell or a similar experience to relate. Usually there's just a pause in conversation before everyone returns to what they were saying ;) So that made it a very relaxing experience, that nothing you said was too 'out there' or unrelated.On Saturday I made a foray into gaining a social life. Like I said, I haven't lived here for over twelve years so I don't actually know anyone around and, being in a small village, there's no one to go to the pub with and, being honest, you wouldn't really want to spend your nights down the local. It's nice enough, but in moderation.So I've been trying online social networking sites to see if I can make some new friends. Seems to have worked :) Met a lovely guy called Dhiren in Leicester who offered to take me drinking. I was quite intrigued as I grew up in Leicester until the age of nine and have extremely fond memories of the place, especially Belgrave Road where dad used to take me for Diwali each year to watch the fireworks, look at all the sari shops and eat sweets until I threw up ;)So I booked into a modest B&B called theComfort Hoteloff Loughborough Road as they were doing a cheapy deal.ByBritishstandards it was a tad 'basic', but let's examine that concept in terms ofRwandashall we ;)No running waterv.hot running water& en-suiteNo electricityv.electricity with TV and kettleFoam mattressv.fully sprung mattressWhat some may call 'basic' I'm still calling 'luxury'. The staff were really friendly too.So got there around 3pm and walked up Belgrave Road into town where I met up with Dhiren. Whilst I was waiting there were a group of environmental protesters with placards standing around the Christmas tree, so I went up to find out what was going on."Hi, what are you protesting about?""We're here about the Copenhagen climate summit that's taking place.""Great, is there a petition to sign or something?""No, no.""Okay, so what are you doing?""Just a candle-lit vigil.""Oh. So there's nothing I can do?""You can hold a placard for a moment if you like.""No thanks, I think I'm okay. Are you here all night?""No, it's just a photo opportunity.""Well, at least you're using candles and not electric torches."*general laughter*Marion wonders why, when posing for environmental activism photos, you choose to do so in front of a 20ft Christmas tree whose lights probably consume half of Leicester's electric grid every day...are you trying to stay warm?Don't get me wrong, I admire the cause, I just find the methods a little...odd.Anyway, Dhiren was lovely and we went to watchParanormal Activity, which could have been better, could have been worse. Neither of us are too hooked on the reality-TV style of filming. But it was watchable.Then we met up with his mate Tyrone and went for drinks, then another bar for more drinks, then his friend Steve's to meet Mostin the dog (an adorable Springer Spaniel), drink more and then head on to a slightly dodgy but ultimately enjoyable reggae club. Had a really decent night and it was unbelievably refreshing to be outside the house, in a town, drinking and dancing and feeling like I had a life :)I've really missed going out with friends since being back and having to drive all the way to Bristol or London for a night out isn't exactly sustainable so I figured I had nothing to lose by trying online. Now I have two really nice lads in Leicester I can go out partying with who also like Reggae, Blues, Jazz and Soul. I've told them to keep an eye on theMusicianlistings and when something decent comes up we'll go.On the same networking site I also bumped into an old Pagan friend who's a couple of hours down the M1 so I'll probably go and see him at some point. Plus I've promised Lies on Skype today that I will get to Belgium as soon as possible :)So anyway, I fell back into the Hotel around 3am and woke feeling rather worse for wear but satisfied that I'd had fun. Then, this morning, I went toSharmilee sweet shop, which I remember as always having been there, and bought a HUGE box of sweets. They don't do the best yellow peda (my absolute favourite) but their selection is pretty good. It was mostly for sentiment's sake (there is actually a 'Memory Lane' between Belgrave Road and town!). We're all eating ourselves silly on them now :)So yes, life is good, fun is being had. I'm off all but Thursday this week because I was doing long days last week. We're moving office on the Friday and I'm off to dad's on Tuesday for his birthday :)