Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Sunday, August 29 - Can it really be the end of August already?
Finally, I am able to make a good cup of coffee. You would suppose that since Kenya and Tanzania are renowned for the best coffee in the world, it would not be a problem here. But everyone here drinks chai instead – chai is strong tea that is absolutely saturated with sugar. Maybe black (chai rangi), maybe not (chai na maziwa). I guess the British ruined the place.
If you try to buy coffee in a store or order it in a restaurant, you get powdered instant coffee that tastes and acts like decaffeinated. It was the same kind of story in Guatemala, actually. Strange. You can buy coffee beans in a metallized plastic bag though, from one of the two groceries in town that caters to us gringos (mazungus, here. Sometimes when I am riding my bike to town, little kids set up a chorus of Mazungu, Mazungu, Mazungu... I smile, but I hate it. Sometimes if there are no adults around I feel better by telling them to go fuck themselves, knowing they won’t possibly understand it.).
Anyway, when I was in the US I made sure to bring back my Cusinart so I could grind coffee beans and a French press to make the good stuff. Well, the Cusinart chops great and makes wonderful smoothies with avocado and banana but it won’t grind, so that didn’t work. I tried various types of mortar and pestle from the market, but they didn’t work either. I think they are used mainly for squashing garlic and the bigger ones for smashing corn. Finally I found an Indian store that actually sells coffee grinders. That was Step One. But the French press still made dishwater. My latest discovery is that if I grind the coffee, dump it in a pot with water and boil it for five minutes, then put it through a strainer, I get it the way I like it! Life is good.
My school headmaster suggested that Mama Anna Unpronounceable would be a good person for my project’s Board of Directors. I had a great conversation with her on Friday. She is enthusiastic, understands the problems I ran into, and feels that the project will run pretty easily if I get powerful local people on the Board and do that first. Further, she confirms that my headmaster is well connected and so should be on the Board, and that he can also provide introductions to other potential Board members. And we agreed that with the programs that we now know are available, we no longer need expensive university graduates in order to create a program from scratch. That cuts the cost of the project in about half!
Had to chase cows out of what is left of my garden today. Several times! I learned that cows don’t move any faster even if you kick them or throw stones at them. They must not have any nerve endings. Goats weren’t bad enough?
Finally, I am able to make a good cup of coffee. You would suppose that since Kenya and Tanzania are renowned for the best coffee in the world, it would not be a problem here. But everyone here drinks chai instead – chai is strong tea that is absolutely saturated with sugar. Maybe black (chai rangi), maybe not (chai na maziwa). I guess the British ruined the place.
If you try to buy coffee in a store or order it in a restaurant, you get powdered instant coffee that tastes and acts like decaffeinated. It was the same kind of story in Guatemala, actually. Strange. You can buy coffee beans in a metallized plastic bag though, from one of the two groceries in town that caters to us gringos (mazungus, here. Sometimes when I am riding my bike to town, little kids set up a chorus of Mazungu, Mazungu, Mazungu... I smile, but I hate it. Sometimes if there are no adults around I feel better by telling them to go fuck themselves, knowing they won’t possibly understand it.).
Anyway, when I was in the US I made sure to bring back my Cusinart so I could grind coffee beans and a French press to make the good stuff. Well, the Cusinart chops great and makes wonderful smoothies with avocado and banana but it won’t grind, so that didn’t work. I tried various types of mortar and pestle from the market, but they didn’t work either. I think they are used mainly for squashing garlic and the bigger ones for smashing corn. Finally I found an Indian store that actually sells coffee grinders. That was Step One. But the French press still made dishwater. My latest discovery is that if I grind the coffee, dump it in a pot with water and boil it for five minutes, then put it through a strainer, I get it the way I like it! Life is good.
My school headmaster suggested that Mama Anna Unpronounceable would be a good person for my project’s Board of Directors. I had a great conversation with her on Friday. She is enthusiastic, understands the problems I ran into, and feels that the project will run pretty easily if I get powerful local people on the Board and do that first. Further, she confirms that my headmaster is well connected and so should be on the Board, and that he can also provide introductions to other potential Board members. And we agreed that with the programs that we now know are available, we no longer need expensive university graduates in order to create a program from scratch. That cuts the cost of the project in about half!
Had to chase cows out of what is left of my garden today. Several times! I learned that cows don’t move any faster even if you kick them or throw stones at them. They must not have any nerve endings. Goats weren’t bad enough?
