My first breakfast, which was delivered to my place, came with a pot of hot water and a teabag and instant coffee. I like tea, but I’m a coffee drinker in the mornings. I opened the instant coffee jar and it was one big lump of coffee crystals… so I had tea.
Later that day, Michael (UNIMAK’s Estate Officer) drove me to town and accompanied me on my shopping trip. I needed a SIM card for my phone and COFFEE! I learned that coffee is not popular with Sierra Leoneans and so, it’s a bit difficult to find. There was no coffee at the market (market – think VERY crowded farmer’s market with megaphones shouting the items for sale and prices – more on the market later when I can get some pictures), so we went to the Makeni Monoprix Supermarket! It’s a grocery store about the size of a QuickTrip. They had one kind of coffee. Well, two – same coffee – one had cardamom added and one didn’t. So, I bought the one that didn’t. My coffee maker is a one-cup pour-over deal with a built-in filter. The flavor of the coffee was ok, but it is ground so fine that it just goes through the filter to make a gritty sludge (and a mess to clean up).
So, when I went to Freetown for my security briefing at the U.S. Embassy, I asked Habib (UNIMAK driver) if we could run by the supermarket there. It is a much bigger supermarket (about the size of your average Trader Joe’s (oh, how I miss Trader Joe’s), and JACKPOT! Well, not really, but I was happy. They had a few options for instant coffee and one option for ground coffee – Folger’s French Roast! I bought two of everything! Freetown is a 2.5 to 3-hour drive and I probably would not be back for a few weeks (to pick up my box of books).
I mostly drink the instant coffee – they are all pretty good, and instant is way easier to clean up than the pour-over one. And in a situation where clean-up (of any kind) is a project, easy wins.
So, if you come to Sierra Leone, bring your favorite coffee with you (Andrew).
Thanks for the tip. I’ll do what I can.
😃
Eep .. I’m not even a coffee drinker and I can’t imagine.
When we were brainstorming about what to take from MN, never even thought about coffee not being available. You can live without a vegetable peeler but NOT without coffee! Glad you resolved this issue!