The World's Most Expensive Coffee

While the coffee processing facilities that I work with everyday help to produce high-quality coffee in large volumes, the world's most expensive coffee is in fact a result of truly natural processing practices.  The civet, a nocturnal cat-like animal living in Southeast Asia, eats ripe coffee cherry off the tree, consumes the sweet outer fruit, and excretes the hard coffee bean innards.

The dung is then collected by harvesters who sell the coffee portion to distributors who process the coffee again and ultimately can fetch more than $200 per pound on the open market.

I have heard of this rare coffee before but the New York Times happened to run an article last week on civet coffee (NYTimes: From Dung to Coffee Brew With No Aftertaste).  It is a very high-end product and all sounds quite silly but it goes to show to what lengths coffee connoisseur will go to have a premium cup of coffee.

Shout Out to the Big Brother

My brother Lee is based in Atlanta working for the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service where, as best I can tell, he occasionally zooms around the world setting up studies and investigating outbreaks of all kinds of diseases.  The EIS is closely related to the Department of Defense since it essentially acts as the U.S. defense system against disease outbreaks (He even wears a military-style uniform with an optional saber and may or may not look like your local Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Captain).

In November 2009, Lee traveled to Western Kenya for about three weeks to work on a study in Kisumu, and I happened to be in Nairobi for work so we were able to meet up for a weekend.  We really enjoyed seeing each other, and it is amazing to think we were able to meet up halfway around the world in a small town on the shores of Lake Victoria.

We watched the sunset at the colonial-era Kisumu Yacht Club, visited the Impala Sanctuary, saw a movie (which I can't do in Kigali), and generally wandered around town.  So a very nice weekend all around.  Since Lee was in Kenya, he has traveled to South Africa for another study and Cancun for a cruise ship outbreak.  He misses Kristen, Thomas and Lizzie when he is away but enjoys his work.

On a side note, Obama's father is from this region of Kenya so while he is generally HUGE in Africa, they have essentially already deified him in this area (Obama's grandmother's house is being converted into a national museum).

I mention this about Lee's work because there is a new book about the history of the EIS and a brief summary in the New York Times (NYTimes: An Elite Team of Sleuths, Saving Lives in Obscurity).

BMW Oracle Wins America's Cup

In February, we were able to watch a little bit of the America's Cup in Rwanda and I have been meaning to put some articles up about it.  We feel very attached to the BMW Oracle boat since Chris (Becca's boyfriend) worked for months in San Diego and Seattle helping build this incredible machine (I don't know anything about sailing but the thing looks amazing).

Among other things, Chris helped design and build the mast that supports the 223-feet wing sail (2/3 of a football field; bigger than any airplane wing).  From what I understand this huge sail will allow the boat to essentially lift itself out of the water and travel between 30 and 40 miles per hour.  Watching it on TV you could tell this boat was really flying!

A few articles about the boat and results:

• Thirty Knots, With the Wind at Your Wings
• BMW Oracle Wins the America's Cup

Chris is really good at what he does and also designs/builds/refurbishes wooden boats in his free time (This includes welding in shorts and flip flops).

So congratulations Chris!

Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier

I grew up watching two VHS tapes of Walt Disney's Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier until they would not run anymore.  I had a coonskin cap that I wore with some regularity despite being born almost 30 years after the series debuted on ABC's Disneyland in 1954.

They are truly amazing programs that inspired millions of children in my parents generation to buy whatever they could find related to Davy Crockett.  It essentially became your patriotic duty to support and emulate Davy Crockett.  It was quite the marketing phenomenon in a time when branding and pushing products out to the consumer were limited when compared to today.

The Disneyland shows were compiled and re-released in a boxed DVD set in 2001 (and promptly purchased by my father).  Thankfully, I have been able to watch the episodes again and they are just as good as I remember.

Well, Fess Parker played Davy Crockett, and he passed away last month and the New York Times published some nice articles on Fess Parker and the show.

• Fess Parker, Who as Davy Crockett Set Off Coonskin Cap Craze, Dies at 85
• After the Coonskin Cap
• An Enemy of Raccoons but a Friend of Marketers

KFC Releases New Double Down Chicken Sandwich!

Well, we have returned from our travels in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania and hope to get some posts up on our trips soon.  In the meantime, I am ecstatic to learn about KFC's new sandwich offering: The Double Down.

"KFC is redefining the chicken sandwich with its meatiest sandwich creation ever. Chicken lovers get two 100 percent all white meat chicken filets topped with cheese, bacon and the Colonel's Sauce."

Sandwich	Calories	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)
KFC Original Recipe® Double Down	540	32	1380
KFC Grilled Double Down	460	23	1430

Sounds like a dream come true!

Can someone please confirm the successful purchase and consumption of this brilliant item?

From Hayne: "That monstrosity is just shoving it in the world's face that we have so much chicken here, we no longer need bread."

From NPR via Becca: Live Blogging While Eating the Double Down

Girl Scouts

We’re starting after school activities at ISK next term. We got to pick our own activities, so drum roll please….I’m starting a Girl Scout troop! Those of you who know me well know that I was a “Girl Scout Overseas” at HKIS and that being a brownie was a highlight of my young life. So I’m really quite excited.

I’m going to be running the troop with my friend Emily, who as it happens is a highly qualified Girl Scout—she has her “Gold Award”, the Girl Scout equivalent of being an Eagle Scout. We are the first troop in Rwanda, so our troop number is 51601, 516 being the number they’ve assigned to Rwanda and 01 being our troop. Quite cool. Hopefully you'll soon see us listed here on the Girl Scouts USA website: http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/global/overseas/committees/africa.asp
I was very impressed by how helpful Girl Scouts USA was in getting us started. They have a whole office devoted to Girl Scouts Overseas and they’re incredibly responsive and helpful.

One of the funniest parts of organizing all of this has been talking to Bridget and Kersti, my fellow British citizens, about Brownies in the UK. They were both Brownies when they were little and seem to have quite a different sense than Emily and I do of what Brownies are supposed to do at their meetings. I’m still not sure I understand it fully, but they are quite set on the necessity of a lot of skipping and dancing around (imaginary?) mushrooms, walking in straight lines of six (always six!) and on the fact that there are not “troop leaders” but rather The Brown Owl and The Tawny Owl who rule over the Brownies. Of course, The Brown Owl wears only brown clothing and The Tawny Owl only tawny clothing. Much to their dismay, Emily and I are reluctant to commit to a future of making owl noises and wearing only brown clothing. We’ll start our meetings in April, when we get back from spring vacation.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with two girl scouting fun facts:
-Girl Scouts USA is currently in its 98th year. It was founded on March 12th, 1912.
-One of the activities for earning the “Girl Scout Ways” Brownie Try-it is learning to make a s’more. Tragically there are no graham crackers or big marshmallows in Rwanda…

Grenade Explosions in Kigali

Over the last month or so there have been two instances (that I am aware of) where grenades were thrown into crowded areas in Kigali.  One event happened at the main bus stop in town where we go when traveling on public buses out of town to Kibuye or Gisenyi on Lake Kivu.  The other happened near Kimironko Market where we do our grocery shopping for fruits and vegetables.  Both instances happened at night when we would never be there, but it is still slightly unsettling that it happens.

The explosions are related to the upcoming Presidential election in Rwanda  Paul Kagame was a major player in ending the genocide in 1994 when he led an army south from Uganda to establish order.  He became President in 2000 and has ruled, for better or for worse, as a dictator since then (Rwandans will readily admit to this).  While he has been in power, Rwanda has become THE place to do business in East Africa and is seen as a the rising star of the region.

The Wall Street Journal randomly had an article about the upcoming election yesterday (WSJ: Land That Outlawed Hate On Edge as Key Vote Nears) so please read for pretty solid background information.  For those who may worry about us, right now there is nothing really to fear.  Incidents like this get front page billing in Rwanda because there is literally no violence.  Expressing any kind of emotion (positive or negative) is so rare and culturally inappropriate here that events like this simply reinforce how safe we feel on a day to day basis (I still read the Memphis Commercial Appeal pretty much everyday and the crime reports there are so dramatically worse than anything in Rwanda).  So do not fear!

Fire Burns Down Kasubi Tombs / Uganda for the Weekend

Nena is unfortunately leaving on April 1st so we have decided to go back to Kampala for the weekend to go rafting on the Nile one more time.  I have to be in Nairobi the next two weeks for work so am not traveling with the others and am currently in the Nairobi Airport for a 4 hour layover (there is no such thing as a short layover at NBO which is quite a dumpy airport) on my way to Entebbe to meet the others.  It has given me a moment to post about the violence in Kamapla this week after the Kasubi Tombs burned down on Tuesday night.  You may remember that Lucy, Nena, and I visited the tombs on our last trip to Kampala and it is a shame that apparently it burned to the ground.

It isn't clear yet if it was arson or what happened exactly but considering this is UNESCO World Hertitage Site this is kind of a big deal.  There has been sporadic conflict between members of the Bugandan tribe (the tribe that historically ruled all the other 30+ tribes) and the government of President Yoweri Museveni that has been in power for 24 years (He took over after a rebellion in 1986 that deposed Milton Obote who ruled both before AND after Idi Amin...we've got some real winners here).  Anyway check out the following links if you want to learn more:

• NYTimes: Suspicion of Arson at Royal Tombs Fuels Deadly Clashes in Uganda
• AllAfrica.com: Three Killed As President Museveni Forcefully Enters Kasubi Tombs
• AllAfrica.com: Kabaka (Traditional Bugandan King) Cries As Tragedy Is Linked to Kingdom Enemies
• AllAfrica.com: Kasubi Tombs Fire Puzzles Security
• AllAfrica.com: Museveni Orders Probe on Kasubu Fire
• AllAfrica.com: Country Loses Key Heritage Site

Needless to say, I am pretty excited about going to check out the sight on Sunday, and Lucy is still TBD (I am wearing her down).  On our trip this weekend will be Nena, Iris, Josh (new VolCon as of a few weeks ago helping with potentially starting up a tea project in Rwanda), Mia (new Volcon as of last Tuesday who will be taking over for Nena when she leaves), and Dave (VolCon in Kenya helping with financing and other projects).  Josh has generously treated us to the Sheraton in Kampala (nicest hotel in the city) with his rewards points accumulated while consulting so we should be living high on the hog.  Rafting all day Saturday and visiting Kasubi Tombs and Baha'i Temple on Sunday.  I will be flying straight on to Nairobi Sunday night and the others will return to Kigali.

Working in Coffee > Drinking Coffee

Since arriving in August 2009, I have been very lucky to be working on TechnoServe's East African Coffee Initiative as a Volunteer Consultant with the title of Regional Credit Analyst.  The projected is funded by a US$47 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the goal helping small-holder farmers double their incomes over the lifespan of the project.  In phase one of the project (first four years of what is hoped to be 12 years) that means 180,000 farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.


TechnoServe was founded in 1968 and has had who knows how many projects around the world stressing business development that leads to economic development.  The Coffee Initiative was the very first Agri-Business project funded by the Gates foundation and has to be one of the largest ever implemented by TechnoServe, if not the largest (from what I have gathered, before the Gates Foundation showed up in the last decade, grant sizes from various funding organizations like USAID, Ford Foundation, The World Bank, etc. were either for small projects researching specific topics and employing 5 people or huge $100M+ programs that took on huge issues with broad topics like HIV/AIDS prevention or community development).  On a related note, we meet people everyday who are here working on all kinds of different projects that are funded in a variety of ways whether it be a  Clinton Foundation and Partners in Health funded program building hospitals and training doctors or any of the dozens of programs funded by USAID and the UN.  There are also a number of people who have visited East Africa on vacation and thought some of the crafts could be imported to the U.S. and sold at a premium so small-scale programs are set up that provide jobs to a handful of people and ultimately funnel the profits back to the employees for training, healthcare, school fees, etc.  (The cooperative where the Christmas presents our families receieved were made was started by a woman from Chattanooga and now has a storefront in Washington, D.C. to distribute the laptop cases, oven mitts, aprons, purses, etc.)  While these programs are much smaller in scale than the Coffee Initiative, they are essentially using the same model as TechnoServe that relies on teaching business skills to spur economic growth (This story about Ugandan Bead Makers in the New York Times is quite normal across East Africa).


So back to what I am doing...The Coffee Initiative at its core provides comprehensive technical assistance programs throughout the coffee production cycle to various stakeholders.  These programs include agronomy training (pruning, fertilizer usage, soil testing, etc.), coffee quality testing and training (aka "cupping"), general business education (cooperative management, equipment manufacturers, etc.), and market linkage to coffee buyers and roasters.  We have constant interaction with these stakeholders including national coffee boards, coffee processing machine manufacturers, coffee exporters, and international roasters. While this brief description doesn't begin to do each portion of the program justice, it should give you the idea that this is not a fly-by-night operation.  There are over 60 people on the ground in Rwanda and probably nearly 300 across the four countries and the U.S.  Of the project's headcount, there are no more than 25 Westerners on staff.  There is a great Business Week article here that tells more about the Coffee Initiative that is a little too generous on Peet's role in the whole program (I guess there have to be buyers!), but the video is excellent and filmed with people I work with in the Starbucks cupping lab upstairs from our office.  Also see the video below put together by TechnoServe on Athanasie Musabyimana who is a Rwanda coffee farmer involved with the program:

Having no experience in coffee prior to my joining (I've still never tried drinking coffee since the smell is not appealing to me but I hope to be able to at least make a mean cup of coffee upon my return), I am not the typical Western employee, but they needed someone with my background to help arrange capital equipment (eco-friendly coffee washing stations) and working capital financing to meet the needs of the coffee farmers and their cooperatives.  The TechnoServe model doesn't typically give anything material to the farmers.  It is more about building broader business skills that can be translated into improving the farmers' livelihoods.  Thus the Gates Foundation grant is to provide just the technical assistance and does not finance the washing station operations, the purchase of trucks for hauling coffee cherry from the fields to the washing stations, or the construction of the washing stations themselves.  

What exactly are these washing stations you may be wondering.  First off, it might be helpful to understand the coffee production process.  Coffee is hand picked off the tree as coffee cherry and goes through a wet process that strips the bean of the fruit and produces coffee parchment.  This parchment then goes through a dry process to remove skin and any remaining residue.  This ultimately produces green coffee that is sold to the likes of Starbucks.  They then roast it and sell it to you as a brown bean or grind it for you.  There is this great comic that kind of explains some more about coffee, but it really is an unbelievably complicated process that requires a significant amount of manual labor and is very time sensitive. 

Historically in East Africa, the "wet process" has been completed at home in a basin of some kind or in huge washing stations (or "factory" in Kenya) on coffee plantations.  The typically washing station looks like a huge water slide with a roof over it and requires a substantial amount of water and labor (i.e. not very efficient or cost effective except at very high volumes).  As you might imagine, the quality of home-processed coffee is not very good and the large washing stations have a number of issues related to coffee volumes, operations costs, and water sources, among other things.  This is where the TechnoServe Coffee Initiative comes in to help farmers and cooperatives adopt a different business model that focuses on maximizing yields from coffee trees and the utilization rate of much smaller, eco-friendly washing stations and minimizing wasteful spending and corruption.  The one pictured below can process 500kg of coffee cherry per hour and at least 125,000kg in a season.  That would result in about 20 tons of "fully-washed" green coffee.

So it has been my responsibility to identify potential funding sources, meet with them, and push the financial institutions along their funding process.  Since my arrival, I have developed a bank-friendly pitch book on the project, met with dozens of financial institutions across the region, created business plans for cooperatives in all four countires, and am now in the midst of pursuing the most interested parties and negotiating terms.  All of this while figuring out exactly how coffee goes from a little red berry when it comes off the tree to being sold to a roaster (i.e. Starbucks) as a green bean to getting to your table as a brownish thing you grind and brew in water (as the Italians said over Christmas with a smirk "Americano").

The financing needs vary by country since each country has a slightly different coffee model with different regulatory requirements, sales and export systems, and capacity constraints.  Coffee is highly regulated in all of these countries because it is often the leading provider of foreign exchange for the governments and has been a critical part of the local economy for decades.  The funny thing about this is that many Africans don't drink coffee at all, preferring tea, and some of the most rural farmers don't understand why they grow it at all since they have absolutely no use for it.  Our goal is to find sustainable funding sources that engage local lenders and when possible can be applied across our four countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania).

On a side note, I am pleased to write that just last week, we finalized the financing for 14 new washing stations in Rwanda, totaling around $185,000.  Some of the machines were financed by a local coffee service provider (local or international business that does dry milling, bagging, marketing, and exporting of the coffee...and all of this varies by country but that is the gist of it) and some machines were financed by the largest bank in Rwanda in terms of rural branches, Banque Populaire du Rwanda.  To give you a sense of the capacity building that had to be done with BPR (though all of the banks have the exact same issues), we first met with them shortly after my arrival in early September 2009 and it took a full six months to explain our model, line up guarantee providers, explain the model again, put paperwork in place, explain model again, and find all of the people who need to sign with their appropriate rubber stamps (In Africa, you aren't anything without a rubber stamp).  In the banks 35 year history, it had never granted a U.S. Dollar loan, even though the Dollar is essentially the only trade currency in the region, and this loan was the first.  I can't begin to describe all of the hoops we had to jump through to do this, and I was literally camped out a BPR headquarters for the two weeks prior to the money being disbursed.  Even at BPR, they joked that I was a part-time employee and they wanted to get me a badge, of course with a stamp.  The best way to describe the mindset of the banks here the first question from any commercial bank during any meeting (it has to be repeated over and over again) has been "What type of guarantee are you providing?"  The only use of a guarantee I was familiar with in the U.S. was when people graduated from college, moved to New York, and couldn't afford their apartment, someones parents would be put on the lease as a guarantor.  In Africa, a guarantee is typically a cash infusion into the bank ranging from 50-100% of the loan.  For example, if you wanted a $100,000 loan to buy a new piece of heavy equipment, the banks would require you (or someone else willing to do this) to deposit $100,000 into the bank so that the bank could then loan you $100,000. All of this while the bank is charging 15-20% interest (on someone else's money!).  The banks' aversion to business lending and unwillingness to assess risk appropriately is impossible to believe until you hear it repeated over and over again.  So these are the conditions we are working under, and I am certain it would be impossible for me as individual to walk into a bank, apply for a $5,000 loan to start a business, and receive money within six months, if at all.

This financing in Rwanda is a big achievement for the Coffee Initiative since historically the washing stations and the working capital have been financed through a patchwork system using social conscious lenders, development organizations from various countries, and even TechnoServe itself (see above...this is not what we are supposed to do). This is the first time the Coffee Initiative has navigated the difficult financing environment and accessed capital expenditure financing from a local commercial bank in truly sustainable way.  The first full-time finance person, Michelle (my boss), was hired shortly before I arrived and this success demonstrates the need for more resources to address the financing challenges for the program as a whole.  

All of that being said, you might be wondering what how does all this help the farmer.  With the end goal of doubling farmers' incomes, the Coffee Initiative focuses on increasing the amount of coffee produced and almost more importantly on improving the quality of the coffee that is produced.  Most coffee in the U.S. comes from large plantations in Latin America that is produced in bulk very cheaply with little focus on quality.  As the world's demand for "luxury items" has sky-rocketed over the last few decades from yachts to shoes to bottled water, the everyday cup of Folgers out of the blue tin doesn't get it done anymore.  With the rise of Starbucks and other boutique coffee outlets, Americans and much of the rest of the developed world are happy to spend $7.00 for a caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso and dollop of whipped cream twice a day.  What the Coffee Initiative is trying to do is make sure the farmers get a larger share of that $7.00.  This is different than products that are "organic," "free trade," " or "pesticide free" (though the coffee may be some or all of those things and I have another post about that coming).  It is about helping farmers produce more high-quality coffee that roasters like Starbucks will pay a premium price for because the consumer wants to know that they are buying truly some of the best coffee in the world from the Virunga Mountains in northwestern Rwanda or the region around Jimma in southwestern Ethiopia.  In the end everyone wins since the farmers increase their income, the roasters get the social-responsible marketing cachet  with increased sales, and the consumer gets the coffee they want (or to go with a regular theme of mine, they think they NEED).


For those of you who don't drink coffee or buy luxury items (like me!) and have little context for how big this market is, please see the following links from some major international roasters, boutique coffee shops, and other sources that demonstrate what must be huge consumer demand for coffee (keep in mind that buyers might pay anywhere from $0.50 to $10.00 per kilogram of green coffee, with our cooperatives getting $2.50+ for specialty-grade coffee, that is then sold roasted in 12-ounce bags (roughly a third of a kilogram) for $8.00+):

• Stumptown Coffee Roasters Vunga Blend - Vunga is a TNS-supported cooperative and Stumptown paid almost 50% more than any other buyer last year and included farmer payment stipulations in the purchase price.  They are selling this coffee for $16.50 per 12-ounce bag.
• Peet's Uzuri African Blend - Peet's homepage is pretty much dedicated to this blend
• Bourbon Coffee - This is a purely Rwandan brand owned (we think) by some high-level government officials with three outlets in Kigali that attempt to be the first Western-style coffee shops in Rwanda with wireless internet and speedier service (i.e. less than two hours).  Bourbon has just opened a store in Washington, D.C. (near Dupont Circle) with plans to open on Boston and DC as well.  In the U.S., I assume these shops will feel like any other coffee shop that everyone is familiar with by now, but in Rwanda the clientele is largely expats, tourists, and upper class Rwandans and the concept is revolutionary.  Lucy's family received examples of all of their blends (100% Rwandan coffee) for Christmas this year and the reviews were quite positive so if you are in DC please stop by and let us know how it is (even though this coffee receives no direct assistance from TechnoServe).
• New York Is Finally Taking Its Coffee Seriously
• Peet's Commitment to Quality Coffee Creates Sustainable Change for East African Farmers
• Crop to Cup - another small roaster that has specific feature that lets the consumer trace where the coffee was produced
• Peet's Community - The TechnoServe Coffee Initiative is critical to the ultra high end blends and roasters since without us it is much more difficult for them to source the best coffee out of East Africa. 

Here are a few other links on the project:

• Gates Foundation to Help Farmers Improve Quality
• Athanasie Musabyimana's Story Covered by Starbucks

So this is a long post that has been in the making for a while with a couple more in draft form but please send any questions or comments along so I can better address specific topics.  I am committed to being a better blogger!

Birthday Cake!

As you may have noticed, I am not a very good blogger. This may be due to the fact that a) I forgot how to post things to the blog and Jon only got around to re-teaching me today or b) my job does not require me to sit in front of a computer all day or c) the fact that I generally far prefer talking to people to writing to them. Draw your own conclusions. In any case, I am trying to turn over a new leaf. I am going to make it easy for myself by focusing today’s post on one of my favorite things: baking! Jon’s birthday was last weekend, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn’t get to make him a cake on his actual birthday. These circumstances were that Jon decided that a fun activity for his birthday would be visiting the mountain gorillas at the Volcanoes National Park in Northern Rwanda. In order to see the group of gorillas that Jon was interested in we had to hike 4 hours straight up a (n inactive) volcano and three hours back down. It was pretty amazing, but needless to say, after this everyone was more interested in sleeping than in cake. Here is a picture of me with a gorilla so you can get a sense of how close we were to them. For those of you who are more interested in gorillas than in baking, Jon is going to put up a whole post on our gorilla adventure soon.

So, I decided that yesterday would be cake day. Jon’s preferred birthday cake is funfetti, which to the uninitiated is white cake with confetti melted in so that it has colorful spots throughout. I had asked my mom to bring a funfetti cake mix from the States over Christmas but something was lost in translation and instead she brought funfetti icing. She did manage to bring many other amazing food items including pretzels, gold fish, Kashi granola bars, and all important taco seasoning so I wasn’t too upset (thanks mommy!) And it turns out to have been a blessing in disguise because I learned how to make my own funfetti cake.

I used a white cake recipe that I found on allrecipes.com (I picked it because it only required ingredients that are readily available here), followed the suggestions for modification given by some posters, made some of my own modifications, and voila! my first every from-scratch white cake. In case you are interested in making a white cake or funfetti cake of your own, here is the recipe I used. Also, keep in mind that Kigali is at almost 5,000 feet, so if you’re baking at lower altitude, your cake will probably turn out slightly differently (I’m not sure exactly how it will be different, but I’ve read enough baking books to know that it will be different…so if you try it, let me know)

White Cake for Jon’s Birthday

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups white sugar
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
(Sprinkles for funfetti cake)

1. Butter and flour a 9x13 pan
2. Preheat oven at 350
3. Sift (mix) together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. (I don’t have a sifter, so I mixed and it turned out fine)
4. Mix in egg yolks, milk, oil, and vanilla.
5. Beat.
6. Beat egg whites in separate bowl until soft peaks form (I have no electric mixer so I did this by hand. It took a little while but it’s definitely possible).
7. Fold in egg whites (and sprinkles for funfetti cake)
8. Bake at 350 for 30 min

Here is a picture of the cake. The icing looks a little bizarre, but the cake really was delicious. Happy baking!

Uganda over Thanksgiving Weekend

Yes, I am behind!  But I have put some pictures up from our trip to Uganda over Thanksgiving weekend!  Wait wait, there is actually no Thanksgiving here so it was really just like any day (I had Mr. Noodles for lunch!).  Except for the feast we made on Thanksgiving Day with Matt, Nena, and Zach.  I don't remember everything we had, but the two things I do remember are that there was no meat and that butter was the primary ingredient for all of the dishes.  It was delicious!

Well onto the trip to Uganda...

We went to Uganda in November so Lucy could take the GRE in Kampala (the closest city to Kigali that offers the test)  before her graduate school applications were due soon after the new year.  I didn't see the inside of the testing center when we visited the day before her test, but given the 8 flights of crumbling stairs, iron-gated entryways, and abundant use of spray paint to identify the offices, things were not looking good.

Lucy had been very disciplined in her studying and was well prepared for the test.  Despite 2 power outages and 3 server reboots (with the clock ticking in the meantime), she did not get flustered and did quite well on the test.  I think she could write an essay for her application just on her testing experience.

We had planned to go to Uganda anyway since other than visiting the mountain gorillas and going on safari, the most common "must do" activity in East Africa is going white water rafting on the Nile.  Matt and Nena came on the trip as well so they could raft and see Kampala while they were here.  After arriving in Entebbe at 2am (thanks RwandAir!), the hour taxi ride to Kampala, and a disastrous hotel experience, Nena, Matt, Lucy, and I woke up very early on Saturday 11/28 to move to the Hotel Ruch.  While it was quite expensive (compared to our other lodging experiences in Africa), it was was much much nicer then the other hotel and has an excellent location in the city center. Nena, Matt, and I left Lucy around 7am (so she could rest and prepare for her test on Monday) to meet our rafting outfitter Adrift for our 2 hour ride to Jinja where Lake Victoria pours out to form the Nile.

We were on the one-day trip and had an unbelievable time.  The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but having just received them last week with the DVD, I am very eager to go again (and tricking Lucy into thinking it is a good idea).  All in all, the whole experience felt very safe even though it was impossible to not get dumped in the water on virtually every rapid and experience a brief moment of a total loss of control.

We proceeded to pass out on the bus ride back to Kampala where we met Lucy at a thai restaurant for supper.  It was certainly no Jasmine in New York, but it has inspired us to attempt to make pad thai (approx.) at home with rice noodles I bring back from Kenya.  We haven't hit it spot on yet but will continue to try.

As for the rest of the weekend, we enjoyed shopping at the Garden City Mall, visiting the Kasubi Tombs (UNESCO World Heritage Site - Home of the largest thatched-roof hut in the world...CAN YOU IMAGINE!), and eating at an excellent pizza restaurant.

Matt, Nena, and I returned on Sunday night while Lucy returned Monday after taking her test.  Lucy and I would very much like to return to Uganda to go rafting again and see a number of other sites including Kampala's Baha'i House of Worship, the only Baha'i Temple in Africa.

In conclusion, please see picture of me with my moto driver in Kampala and check out the map with relevant sites:

Tennessee Vols Viewing Update

I was unable to watch a single Tennessee game despite pretty a strong effort throughout the season.  I tried streaming video at work on ESPN360, "sports bar" in Gondar Ethiopia, western hotels with satellite TV in Gisenyi, my boss' house in Kigali with the premium TV package, and even explored splitting a Slingbox account with Charlie.

Thankfully it seemed like a pretty good season to take off with all of the coaching changes and player jail time, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the progress I followed from afar.  With the close calls against Florida and Alabama, I could only be optimistic about the future.  But then this past week Lane Kiffin angered all of Vols fans (especially those named Knox since he had the gall to name his son after us) and left the Vols for USC and the irrelevant Pac-10.

While I was shocked how anyone could insult the Vols like this, my initial disappointment and anger have subsided and I am actually feeling much better about the whole situation.  I have decided that Kiffin really never was a long term play since he was never going to understand SEC  football, its fans, and its tradition.

Having lived through the Calipari era at Memphis where everyone looked the other way whenever questions of integrity came up, I think the Vols may have dodged a bullet on this one.  We (I) had begun to embrace Kiffin since there seemed to be so much progress, but at the end of the day this may save us from future problems.  At the end of the day, I think USC and Kiffin may be extremely successful together but who knows at what cost (Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com wrote this great article about the situation and I learned he actually went to UT.)

While the new Vols coach Derek Dooley may not be that high-impact hire we were hoping for, he certainly has the pedigree to get the job done and I am excited for what I hope to be a rebirth for the Vols.

On a related note, now that we have moved into the Coffee VolCon House (down the street from the Dairy VolCon House), we have internet and TV access.  I haven't really watched any TV or movies since we got here but have enjoyed watching NFL playoffs this weekend.  We watched the Colts-Ravens game tonight with Matt, Nena, Emily, and Iris (a new coffee VolCon who got here last week) before supper (vegetable lasagna that was delicious).  Matt and I are watching the Jets-Chargers game now (it is 12:30am).  These are the first downs of football I have seen all season.  I am optimistic that I will be able to watch the Winter Olympics next month as well.

Akagera National Park

After much delay, I wanted to do a brief post on our trip to Akagera National Park in October.  After getting up at 4:00am to pack, we were on the road by 5:00am in our spacious Landcruiser with our trusty driver Amos of Bizidanny Tours & Safari.  The landscape of the eastern part of the country is different from the other directions we have been since you are essentially driving out of the mountains to an area of rolling hills that lack  the tiered agriculture that defines much of the rest of the country.  This park covers much of the eastern border with Tanzania (we even received text messages from our cell phone provider welcoming us to Tanzania) and includes many finger lakes of various sizes as it transitions into the generally flat plains leading to Lake Victoria.

Due to Rwanda already being the most densely populated country in Africa (it is doubling every 25 years) and a significant number of people having fled the country over the last ~50 years, there is a major land shortage here and unfortunately the government is chipping away at the national parks in their efforts to repatriate people.  Akagera has been the park most effected by this policy as it was reduced by nearly 2/3 to 1,085 km2 in 1997 and has numerous refugee camps scattered around the current border of the park.  As a result of this and general poaching (though more for food and resources than sport from what I have gathered), the park does not have the sheer volume of animals that the savanna parks of Kenya and Tanzania have.

This was my first safari experience and it certainly lived up to my expectations (see above).  From what Lucy has told me about her past safari experiences, one of the major downsides of the better known parks (Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Masai Mara, etc.) is the number of tourists and safari cars.  While it is widely known that safaris can be quite expensive with plan tickets, tour operator costs, rising park entry fees, and lodges that are outfitted for people who demand the services of the Ritz Carlton, this has not stopped tourists from around the world flocking to these parks as an "adventure" vacation.  What actually results is one safari car spotting a couple of lions, the driver radioing other drivers, then all of a sudden safari cars are surrounding the lions and the lions run away.  Apparently, the whole experience can lack a sense of authenticity or intimacy.

I think Akagera must be the polar opposite of this.  What it lacks in animal volume is made up by the real feeling that you are out there all alone in the bush.  We did two morning and one evening game drives and literally did not see another car once we picked up our guide and left the ranger's station.

I am fading on the description here so I am heading to bed, but for $100 per person per day this was a pretty amazing experience.  I have put some pictures up on my dropbox account, and we plan to make a couple return visits.

Merry Christmas!

If you were in Ethiopia, today would be Christmas!

After a long hiatus, we are committed to doing a better job on the blog with more pictures and stories of everyday life going forward.  Hopefully this weekend will be the beginning so check back every so often.

My lunch experience yesterday is a good example of a normal customer service experience in Rwanda.

Jon: "Do you have meat and vegetable samosas today?"

Attendant at Novotel: "Yes!"

Jon: "I would like two vegetable samosas and one meat samosa please."

Attendant at Novotel (without moving, pausing, or looking at what was available): "No vegetable samosas today.  It is finished."

Jon: "Ok, I will have two meat samosas and a coca cola."

Attendant at Novotel: “Ok”

Keep in mind that this interaction happened in real time with no pauses at the second most western-oriented hotel in Kigali.  Lo and behold, I ate my two samosas and they were both in fact vegetable.  And my coca cola arrived after I had already finished eating them.

Also, currently it is 9:30am in Kigali and it is 73 degrees.  It is 30 degrees and snowing at 1:30am in Memphis.  It is 33 degrees and clear at 2:30am in New York.

Have a nice day!

Tennessee Bye Week = Trip to Akagera National Park

With the Vols off this week, we are headed on safari (Rwanda style) in Akagera National Park.  The park makes up most of the Eastern border with Tanzania and is a similar landscape to the Serengeti with potential sightings of elephants, lions, giraffes, hippopotamus, buffalo, zebras etc.  We have hired (we think) a 4WD vehicle with driver for two days and will be staying at the Akagera Game Lodge.  The lodge is the only hotel within the park and the closest town is an hour away.  It has been "recently under new management" for quite some time (a Mantis Group Hotel) so we we can only be cautiously optimistic about what is to come.   There are also boats for hire on one of the lakes so you can go swimming with the hippos which I am very excited about but Lucy is less so.  Matt (he did most of the organizing himself which I very much appreciate) and Nena from TechnoServe and Emily from ISK are coming along as well.  We will leave at 5 or 6am tomorrow morning and return Sunday night.

Lucy had yesterday and today off so has had some time to relax and write some lesson plans that should cover the foreseeable future.  Last night I went to supper at Handee (one of the two Indian restaurants here) with Matt, Nena, Zach (VolCon), Cory (Rwanda Monitoring & Evaluation Manager), and Cory's wife Radhika.  Lucy also went to supper at Handee with Emily, Cady, and Shannon from ISK.  Tonight we are going to the Crocker's house for pizza night which is always quite tasty.

I will leave you with a picture of last night's sunset from my office window. Have a nice weekend.

My International Class

I have seven (!!!) students in my class right now. Four boys and three girls. It is a joy. Really. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back to teaching a big class. Here are the nationalities of my kids: Eritrean, American-Nigerian, American-Brazilian, American-Russian, Rwandan, Tanzanian, and Dutch. Between them, they speak English, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Tigrinya, Dutch, and Portuguese. And they're learning French at school. As the ISK motto says, I'm definitely "Educating Global Citizens."

Bagels!

This past Friday was bagel Friday, a VERY exciting day for me. Some American missionaries here have started an organization that trains widows and orphans to make bagels. They come to ISK every other Friday to deliver them, so we get two bags at a time, freeze them, and then eat them for breakfast (me) and lunch at work (Jon) until they run out. They make plain, everything, cinnamon raisin, and a flavor of the month. September's flavor was Cheesy Onion (it didn't taste much like cheese or onions, but it was delicious) and October's flavor is pumpkin. This week there was added excitement because the bagel man brought his friend the tortilla man. We bought 30 frozen tortillas from him for about $5.50. Not a bargain, but not too bad either. The discovery of tortillas opens up new culinary options for us (burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas) which is great since the other things you need for mexican food like rice, beans, cheese, tomatoes, avocados, peppers etc. are all available here. The tortillas also give use something to eat our guacamole with. Since avocados are everywhere here and very cheap, we've had guacamole a number of times. But we've been eating it with bread, or just spoons, since you can't get any kind of chips. We are very excited about both the tortillas and bagels!

Our House

Here we go with the background info. For those of you who are interested, here's some info about our housing situation. Even though Jon is working on the coffee project, we're living in the Dairy "Volcon" (volunteer consultant) house since the Coffee Volcon house is full. It has four bedrooms, a living room/dining room, a kitchen, and three bathrooms. Our house is also currently full with the two of us, Matt and Nena (my age, formerly worked in consulting in Boston, working on coffee), Pamela (Jon's age, Irish, working on the dairy project) and John (about my parents' age, from Australia, working on dairy). The two dairy people, Pamela and John, work in a small town in the Eastern province from Monday morning to Friday afternoon, so they are only around on the weekends. The house is a 25 min walk from school, up and over a hill and back down the other side, a 15 min walk from Jon's office, and a 10 min walk from a big intersection with lots of shops. So its really quite convenient. We have two guards, Frank during the day and Patrick at night, who are very nice and we all really like. We also have a lady who comes to do our laundry a few days a week, and some lovely bushes in the yard where the laundry gets dried.

We have a blog!

It took a little while, but we finally have a blog! Thank you to Jon for conquering the mysteries of the internet and coming up with a witty(?) title. Its a pun...get it? Anyway, I'll write some recap posts in a bit, but for now I'm going to post current news. This weekend we are cat sitting for Jon's boss and enjoying his internet and his beautiful house. His cat, Castro, amazingly looks very very much like Beecher. Sadly though he is very shy and anti-social. One highlight of the house is the collection of cooking magazines. I've been reading Martha Stewart Living and Saveur to my heart's content. I even found an article (with recipes!) about Maida Heatter, whose baking books I love. Last night Nena and Matt came over and we made Mexican-ish food and a chocolate cake for Matt's birthday. The cake was not quite as successful as I had hoped, but given our lack of equipment and ingredients and our inability to regulate the oven temperature, I think it was a pretty good showing. On the agenda for today: a walk to the "Italian Cheese and Harm" shop (that is what the sign outside used to say), where I've never been and an attempt to make pad thai for dinner.

Touchdown Kigali

Well we made it.  After a smooth check in at LaGuardia and a standard three hour delay on our flight to DC, we had an uneventful flight on United to Brussels (I do not recommend I Love You Man, The Soloist, or domestic airlines for that matter).  After falling short on our search for gaufres (waffles), we raided the chocolate aisle at Duty Free and headed to our Brussels Airlines direct flight to Kigali. 

The eight-hour flight was only about 50% full and we enjoyed the amenities of the only direct European flight to Kigali by primarily sleeping.