Ghostly Edinburgh
on Blog From Beyond (Rwanda), 18/Apr/2010 17:38, 34 days ago
I have just returned from an awesomely wicked few days in Edinburgh, visiting Martine.Before I get into the swing of things, Jo (as in Jo& Pierre) sent me some photos I'd forgotten all about. There's one of me in Rwanda wearing an outfit Jasmine made, and outside Bourbon MTN Centre with our friend Cindy.So weird seeing myself in African dress after so long!Then there's some from myfleeting visit last Augustwhen we (Jo, Pierre& I) went to the multi-story carpark bar in Camberwell.Heh, it was a good time. And this week I have been off having more fun with friends. A desperately needed break from the isolation of a rural English village.Last Saturday, I drove the 332 mile journey up to Edinburgh where Martine has just moved into a flat of her own - and it's beautiful! All wood flooring decorated in orange and yellow batik and dark wooden carvings from Rwanda. It's a gorgeous place.We had an extremely chilled-out few days, lazy mornings and late nights. Found a really funky bar calledBodawhich is just at the end of her street and sells all kinds of snacks like salt 'n' pepper cashews, hot nuts and wasabi peas in large glasses.Also managed to finish the book I was reading:We Need to Talk About Kevinwhich Dad and Marilyn recommended. I know it's been out a while but I have been out of the country! It was absolutely brilliant - well worth a read. Took me a while to get into it, but once I had there was no stopping me and I was still thinking about it several days after turning the final page...I'm now onHowl's Moving Castle, the book of theStudio Ghibli film. I didn't know it was a book first :) It's one of my favourite films so I'm excited to be reading the original.The Friday before heading up to Martine's, I was back at my old employer's where I'm helping with strategic planning (not the crappy college - who have now necessitated an enquiry letter from the tax man for failing to put a tax code on my pay! Twonks). These were the first people who gave me a job when I returned from Africa. They were having a funding meeting and I was invited along; really interesting stuff and it's given me an insight into the UK funding situation after so many years of being off the scene. Really enjoy volunteering there.I got a major boost of confidence when my Deaf colleague commented that I'd got my BSL back - signing 'proper' British Sign Language again, which eluded me when I first moved back and still signed Amarenga y'Ikinyarwanda.Anyway, time flew past and on Wednesday, Martine and I took a trip toCramond. We wanted to walk out to the island but the tides weren't in our favour so we took a wander up the river instead and found the weir and a delightful place called Cramond Falls Café with swans and a heron fishing outside. We gorged on carrot cake, muffin and hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. It was heavenly. All served by a guy wearing socks and no shoes :opI have to admit that it has been a week of utter indulgence in every sense, not only food-wise, but alcohol wise and, after a two-month self-imposed break from smoking, we found a tobacconist round the corner selling vanilla and cherry flavours. Ban went out the window for a week.Cassie and Sean bought me a very nice bottle of wine for my birthday calledRavenswood- I took it to share with Martine and it was utterly divine. Mellow, smooth and all too quickly drunk. Given by friends to share with friends.We rounded off the day going to seeKick-Assat the cinema. I have to admit, it was nothing like I thought it would be. I was expecting some not-so-funny, wise-cracking American teen angst movie. But it was more sort ofKill-BillmeetsWatchmen. They say it's not doing so well sales-wise but I honestly think people just don't realise what it is. It looks very sappy and comic-related which is a bit of a turn-off, but at the same point it's incredibly graphic, there's a bazooka involved and Nicholas Cage gets burned alive :oO We both thoroughly enjoyed it.On Thursday, Cathryn took the train up to join us. We picked her up at the station and headed to Martine's old house (which she's selling) to pick up some things from the attic - including her daughter's violin. Martine's decided to learn the guitar so I'm giving this a go - Amanda (her daughter) let me buy it off her for a beer! So it'll keep me amused but it's a good thing we don't have neighbours.She also has an accordion and now a tin whistle (which I feel everyone should posses as it's the only instrument I'm actually relatively good at). I reckon we could start busking on the streets of Edinburgh and people could pay us to stop :opConveniently, not only is there a tobacconist around the corner, but also a fab music shop calledRikki's- how the guy makes any money I have no idea, he was constantly giving us discounts. Really nice guy (Chris, I think his name is?).Yesterday I took the violin in and he charged me£25 to re-string and re-tune it, including a lump of rosin. It hadn't been played in maaaany years so needed TLC. It's all working now though and I'm working my way through YouTube tutorials :)It's just great to have a new hobby - even though it did mean cutting off all my fine, long talons.Anyway, the first night that Cathryn arrived, wecooked Rwandan-style. We each made something. I was in charge of Fufu, having bought cassava flour. Martine made the sombe/imboga as she brought a bag back from Rwanda. Cathryn made a bean and chorizo sauce. So it was the closest we could come to Rwandan cooking in the comfort of an Edinburgh kitchen.I also brought a bottle of waragi (Ugandan 'war gin') which we polished off with tropical fruit juice! Aaah, the memories - or rather, lack of them!It was totally outstanding and so nice just to relax with such close friends and eat our communal meal: the flavours of a shared lifetime.The next day we went to theCentral Mosquewhere they sell outstanding curry for a fiver. We scoffed the lot then went round the local shops where they were selling matoke and cassava! Can't seem to find sombe (cassava leaves) anywhere though and need to learn the Arabic names for things.Instead, we bought pudding. I bought a large tub of pistachiohalva, Cathryn gotbaklavaand Martine went for an Indian-style selection. We walked down to the Holyrood Palace café and ordered coffee, then sat making ourselves sick on sweets :opThat evening we walked up the road to the Regent Bar to meet Laetitia, another former VSO who used to live in my house in Kisimenti, then left to go to Milawe. We'd never met in person but she was really supportive when I was having my mid-term breakdown. It was weird for her because she knew Cathryn really well and had spoken to Martine before but wasn't expecting all three of us to be there together. So we had a good laugh and drink before she had to go run aVSO fundraising quiz.We stayed on at the Regent for Martine's daughter, who was also a total giggle and we got very drunk and atestovieswith oat cakes - which aredelicious.Yesterday was our last day - time seriously flew past and I haven't felt that relaxed or laughed that much since leaving Kigali. I've been back six months now, Cathryn about four and Martine two-and-a-half.We wrapped up the visit by wrapping up warm and heading out on aMercat ghost tour. Laetitia also joined us and we wandered around listening to gory and gruesome murders ending in what the BBC suggest, is possibly the most 'haunted place in Britain' - an underground vault once belonging to theHellfire Club.It was really good fun and we ended up inBannermans, a rock club, for more drinks and chat.We didn't get to bed until about quarter-to-three in the morning. I woke before seven and dropped Cathryn off at the station before driving all the way back down south.It was so sad to leave though - seriously, it was SO good to all be together again; such a laugh. Can't wait to do it again really soon.I was going to head over to London tomorrow to meet up with Cathryn again because Giudi was supposed to be here but due to theIcelandic volcanobringing all the airports to a stand-still, looks like I'll be staying here :( She's flying in for a friend's wedding but if she makes it at all I doubt we'll get to see her before she has to leave again as the wedding is in Bristol.Really sad as she's been looking forward to a break for ages but never made it past Nairobi.Anyway, a final picture that Karen found, it's a lovely one: Florence, Amanda and Martine. It's a really lovely picture of all three andFlorenceis in her trademark smart dress looking so happy and exactly as we remember her :)