Blog 5... Coffe Tour, Lunch in Town and Shopping

Day 6?

Today we woke up at around 7:51 and went out for breakfast at 8 ish. We ate these tortilla things with peppers in them, waffles, eggs, fruit, and toast. We all got ready to go to the Mikocheni village and then we had a meeting with Baba Dick telling us plans had changed and we were going on the coffee tour today instead. We were all pretty hyped about this because it was a tiring day yesterday with manual labor and all our activities. Everyone then had to change into different clothes. Girls had to go from skirts to jeans, which was pretty awful. We packed water, snacks, cameras, and money. We left around 9 on the bus and no one had any idea how long the ride would be. It took about 40 minutes until we were on a dirt road. Didn’t take us long until David, the manager of the lodge, said that he “lost his way”. So, we ended up driving for about 2 hours and 15 minutes instead of 40 minutes.  This was unexpected but we eventually got there after driving on the edge of many many cliffs. After getting to the coffee tour, some went to the bathroom, aka “squaty potties”, which is pretty much a hole in the ground with some siding around it. We walked over to where the demonstration was going to happen and all sat in a circle. Right away they starting singing, hitting drums, smushing the coffee beans with a stick, and clapping. This was unexpected because most of us thought it was going to be a tour where we would walk around, see the plants, and taste different beans and what not. But, when we got there we one by one went up to take part in smashing up the white coffee beans so that the shell was separated from the bean. The white color was also very surprising to us. The next step was straining out the outer shell and then roasting over the fire. They made sure to sing songs along every step. After they put the beans over the fire they turned black, they grounded them with a stick and then put it into water for us to try. It was super hot but pole pole as they reminded us. Then we left, this time without getting lost on the way home. We stopped at a small shop where Bryce found a paining for $500 dollars. It was about 6 feet by 4 feet and extremely overpriced. So, naturally Bryce tries to get it for $20. His offer was unexpectedly declined. After arguing for about an hour and a half he finally got it down to $150, then left. We drove back to the lodge and got into our groups for lunch. (Since we split up we will be writing from two different points of views) 

-       Zanny & Bryce

My group was me, Ben, Sam, Jake, Brock, Grayson, baba Dick, Nathan, and Jim. We left the lodge in the Dala Dala and went to the bank because Jake and Sam needed money because the other ATM did not work for them. After we got the money we went to a art gallery that was a block away. Baba Dick is a friend of the owner so we were thinking that we would get a good deal which we kind of did because for us everything was 20% off. But everything there was 2 grand plus so we decided not to buy anything. After leaving the gallery we started walking to the restaurant we signed up for which was Deli Chez. We decided to go there because they have a lot of options and they have all different styles of food. We all ordered milkshakes, but they were just thick milk. After waiting for about 30 minutes all of us but Grayson got our food. I got fish fillet. Then we all got done eating and then Grayson got his food about 30 minutes after all of us. All of this was surprisingly cheap my meal was only $3, but the thick milk was $4. After leaving we started making our way to Tinga Tinga, a collection of small stores. I wanted to but a colorful picture of an animal with a black background. I looked in every store and I found one I like (but not as much as the one earlier). The guy said it was $120, which was very overpriced. I was trying to get it for $20 by saying I have only $20 with me. So I tried to only pull out a $20 from my pocket but I accidently pulled out $50. Then it went down hill from there. He took my money and pretty much made me buy it. So after being forced to buy it I looked around for a little longer and bought one more painting. But it was much smaller and actually a good deal. Then we headed back to the lodge and we had some dinner.

-       Bryce

My group was me, Kendall, Taylor, Larkin, David, Shelly, Jason and Lizzy. We went to the Italian Restaurant. Not sure what it was called. It was the furthest away from where we were dropped off. I also “forgot” to put on sunscreen, sorry Shelly. We walked for about 25 minutes. Along the way the fly catchers made sure to keep us company. At first we all felt bad saying no 20 times to the same person but after a while it got a little bit old. Jason made sure to keep them around by buying everything they offered him and single handedly ended poverty in Moshi. Once we got to the restaurant we got some cold pop, that was nice and also ordered way too much food. David paid someone to go buy us cards so we played BS while we waited. There were about 9 fly catchers that followed Jason there and continued to sell him stuff the entire time. He bought all the necessities of course. He ended up buying 2 knifes, 7 hats, 12 bracelets, 3 paintings, and bright orange pants with giraffes on them. He ended up ripping his first “one size fits all” pair while sitting down. We left the restaurant where there were more people waiting by the entrance to sell to Jason. Then we went shopping and bought more than what was needed. I bought pants, shorts, two candlesticks for some reason, a painting, a hat and a bracelet. We walked home hearing people occasionally yell “Mzungu” which means white person. Then we went back to the lodge for dinner. After Dinner we had the Jason show where he modeled everything he bought. Everyone else also shared what they got and we voted on who got the best bargain. Kendall got the best bargain by buying a $20 painting that was very small. Just kidding, it was maybe worth $5. Now Bryce and I have been blogging for about an hour… its about 10 now here. Goodnight:)

- Zanny

Hi mom and dad, oh wait you are with me never mind. Hi Kayla I miss you and love you see you in 9 days ish I think <3

- Zanny  

Hi mom<3

- Bryce