A Coffee Drinker in a Green Tea World

When a coffee pot at the GR-mart costs over $100 dollars, you know you might be in trouble. This is not a state of the art espresso machine that grinds your beans before seeping in perfectly heated, filtered water. No, it’s just a Braun 12-cup plastic coffee pot. The ten-cup pot was a cheap $60.

A 100 gram bag of Starbucks coffee is $17. Yes, this means that there is a Starbucks here, located on the 2nd floor of the E-Mart (are you seeing a trend in the way they name their big stores, a.k.a. K or Wal), but it also means that a mug of house coffee is $4 and weak as water. Globalization is disappointing.

My other options are McDonalds and Dunkin Doughnuts. I think I might pass. It may be time to just give in to the green tea. I could save a small fortune in just a weeks time. I could also start eating pork and going to church.

The solution here, so far as it seems, is to regress to my Slovak habits and pick up the fine art of cappuccinos. No, they are not served on silver platters but there is at least a taste of coffee in them. Next to the school is a Paris Baguette, a lovely bakery and coffee house with adequate coffee and an interesting assortment of breads. Like Pea Bread. Yes, a Danish with split pea filling, slightly sweet, slightly gritty, taste acceptability to be determined when my taste buds acclimate. As with the weather, it might take a while.