Spring is Sprung
on Blog From Beyond (Rwanda), 21/Mar/2010 10:44, 34 days ago
Spring is sprung,De grass is riz,I wonder where dem birdies is?De little birds is on de wing,Ain’t dat absurd?De little wing is on de bird!Today is officially the first day of spring :) Huzah! A season!Also got a parcel from my friendGerard,'the best waiter in the world', from Stella - two sets of presents for me and Cathryn. It included a giant basket:And several sets of earrings. I was given a couple of sets of small disks before I left and he sent some larger ones. They look a bit out of place on their own in the UK unless, as I made the discovery, you pair them up - then they're retro cool:Only I accidentally lost one of the black ones at the cinema, but I still have little green ones and large red ones which look funky.Went to seeShutter Islandwith Harri the other night. It was awesome good. One of the few films I'd been waiting for that actually delivered better than the trailer. Well worth going to see.*SPOILER ALERT - look away if you don't want to know the twist.*Essentially, it's a modern-day period (1950s) re-take on theCabinet of Dr. Caligari(*****So yes, worth waiting for. Good film, good acting, good dialogue, graphic. Left you thinking. I was expecting it to be a bit slasher likeThe Craziesbut it was refreshingly different.Other than that I've just been pootling about, panicking about the business. Enthusiastically getting thewebsitefinished and thinking about advertising opportunities. Putting in for overseas contracts - quietly confident that eventually something will come my way. At least putting my own business on my CV looks a lot better than temping jobs and I can still take employed work and run a business if I have to. Getting a call fromBusiness Linktomorrow which will hopefully sort out the 101 questions I have.I also get to test my theories on my old employer - holding a participatory strategic planning workshop with them on the 7th and going to a meeting on the 9th to find out about one of their key partner organisations. All good stuff. That's the good ex-employer, the college still haven't paid me yet!!Meanwhile, talked to the volunteer fromAFIDthe other day, she worked withTabaraand the Deaf Association. Was great to hear an update. Apparently things at RNUD aren't going so well. It's all sort of drifted since I left, although a newVSOis now there - they're not being entirely open about the accounts and all the work I put in to develop an accounting system for dictionary sales seems to have fallen through. I can't say I'm surprised, just a bit disappointed.Tabara's doing okay but in desperate need of some money to start undertaking activities. Hopefully our AFID volunteer is going to help out with that.So, bahoro bahoro.I'll feel more relaxed once I get my first contract and know the business is going to get off the ground. Fingers crossed for that one. Mentally cramming and revising statistical analysis methods as it's been a while since I had to do anything heavy. A little number crunching can go a long way though.Heading off to London this coming weekend to see Cassie, Sean and baby Ryanman, then Jo& Pierre. Jo is also striking out as an independent Business Consultant after being made redundant in February so we can sit down and have a good natter about strategy over a few bottles of wine. It's really nice to know I've got someone to bounce ideas off.So, all good. Feeling more positive with the beautiful weather. The grey clouds and rain seem to have parted and given way to blue sky and sunshine. Still not exactly warm, but an improvement.Over my gripping nostalgia for Rwanda - though I think it'll come back at some point. Maybe I'll make enough money to visit some day.