Mary Catches Up

Official Birthday Photo

You may have noticed that I am a month behind on the blog. No real excuse other than lots of work, daily challenges, enjoying ourselves a lot and sheer exhaustion. The evening routine consists of a quick DVD at 8pm and then in bed by 9-30pm to be up again at 5am. Anyway, it’s a month since Mary caught up with me and achieved the grand young age of 60. The reason I say this is because there’s been an amazing coincidence. Since my birthday, there has been another 5 of the VSO community who have celebrated their big 60. On top of that we also met another man who celebrated his 60^th on the day of the Royal Wedding.1951 was a good year obviously and that explains why the average of VSO has gone up dramatically!

Anyway, back to Mary. Her big day started with the house boys playing the radio in the background with Happy Birthday, She’s 21 today and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. Not for Mary, I’m sure, but a nice way to start. As with my birthday, we took the day off and went into Kigali for the day where we went to a Chinese Restaurant we had passed many times on the bus. We celebrated with a little Waragi (Ugandan Gin) and tonic and had a great sizzling Chinese. We discovered our mail had been directed to the wrong PO Box and so still no cards or presents for either of us. All sorted out now about two weeks ago, Thanks to everyone!



Meal with David, Sarah and Neil



But you know us, we celebrate for as long as possible. We planned to go back into Kigali two days later with David and Sarah to celebrate his birthday with a meal at Sol e Luna Italian Restaurant. It’s one of the best restaurants around with great Pizzas and stunning views over Kigali. They arrived in Rwamagana in the afternoon of Friday and we took a leisurely stroll home via three bars finishing up with a Goat Brochette and Ifiriti in the Solidarity Bar near to home. The next night we stayed in the Beau Sejour Guest House close to the VSO office and Sol e Luna. It’s like an English country garden with a tropical feel. A great place to stay and close to town by bus. The next day was the day we discovered German sausage in a Kigali supermarket. It’s the thin end of the wedge and we don’t want you to think we are food fixated but to have such a thing, which keeps without a fridge, is a real treat. We’ve never looked back!





Round Room in the Beau Sejour