The Journey Home and an Art Gallery

So after Bourbon Coffee Erik and Amy and I split up to do random things. I was left alone in the middle of the city to wander around, get lost on purpose, and finagle a way home again. I discovered a few things, one of which was that a super-cute pair of shoes that looked to be about Payless quality was being sold for US$100. I guess that settles whether or not I’ll be buying any shoes while I’m here. I stopped by the supermarket, which is like a super Walmart because it sells food and TVs and office supplies, and basically whatever you could possibly want. However, unlike Walmart, it’s DAMN expensive. The yougurt was selling for about $5 for half a liter. Boxes of cereal run in the $9 range. The cheapest bottle of wine I could find was going for $12, and the whiskey was $100 a bottle!! Ugh… being broke is so annoying sometimes.

Anyway, I wandered the streets and found that two left turns actually brings you back to your starting point… so this’ll be interesting trying to navigate the city. Then, against all recommendations, I took a motorbike (they’re about a tenth the cost of a cab) back to the house. That was an experience since I didn’t realize HOW much French I DON’T know, and the driver didn’t speak a word of English. Erik had written explicit instructions on the back of a receipt (albeit, in English, so I’d understand) with landmarks and left turns all delineated, but once we got to the last main landmark in town, and I had to direct the driver myself, I was hopeless. I couldn’t even remember the word for “pond” or “road”. Seriously… I’m screwed.

With some luck, and a few questions to passers-by who spoke both English and Kinyarwanda, lots of gesticulating and a bunch of false starts, I made it back to the house. A quick shower and a change of clothes (it’s COLD here man, I needed a sweater desperately) I went to meet Erik again. He had a painter-friend who wanted to show him his studio. Oh my god… WAY cool. It’s a little space that acts as a studio and art gallery for about 12 painters. Some of the stuff in there was SUPER amazingly good. I’m jealous I’m broke and can’t buy any – especially since they’re running for only about $300. Erik wants to outfit his house with a bunch of paintings, and boy did we come to the right spot. It was also cool because a bunch of the artists were just hanging out there, and you could talk to them and ask them questions about their work and whatnot. One guy was even nailing together canvases on frames. I was really impressed. Erik mentioned that I was amazingly lucky to see something like this studio on my first day in town only because there’s not a lot of artists around – especially not any good ones – and he’d apparently been looking for something of the sort for the last several months. Anyway… the plan is to go back and make friends. Maybe they’ll even give me a class or two.

After that it was dinner with a bunch of British expats… pesto pasta that tasted remarkably like pesto. I was impressed.