IT'S COFFEE TALK!

Remember that SNL skit -- with Dana Carvey -- that ran in the late 90's?!?

"Discuss amongst yourselves: I'll give you a topic"

The parody poked fun at daytime "coffee talk" shows and the ironic reality that most of women who watched these shows were already living their own coffee talk sitcom.

I digress...the point is that coffee, besides being an elixir of daily living for some, is a very social drink. If it weren't, every Starbucks would simply be a walk-up or drive-thru window.

During our time so far in India (7 days and counting) we have noticed the absence of a couple comforts of home and discovered some adequate alternatives for other. No, nothing can replace the made-at-home vanilla lattes MC crafts each morning or the coffee AC and MM share post FiA workout, but there is a possible alternative.

Nescafé Classic

These 0.8g packets of instant coffee grinds are actually smaller than the sugar packet offerings, but definitely bring much more joy than the sweeteners! We have enjoyed this brand at every hotel -- in room and at restaurants -- it is clearly the top choice in the hospitality industries we visited.

The process is quite simple, besides the whole "boil the bottled water to avoid the local water" thing; from start to finish, it may take 2 minutes.

This process was working quite well -- DM and I (AC) would enjoy coffee at breakfast while our spouses enjoyed Tetley Tea and Masala Tea (respectively). These hot beverages ease us in to our days and get the conversation going -- it's coffee talk, y'all!

Well, as mentioned in the Jaipur post, during our "free" afternoon, we decided to venture out by foot in pursuit of: lunch a bank/ATM, a grocery store, coffee, and maybe some wine. Yes it was in that order, which is perhaps in reverse order of priority! ;-)

We all remembered passing a "Café Coffee Day" during our many tours of Jaipur. Though we did not recall seeing anyone inside -- including employees -- we figured we had nothing to lose and so we ventured inside. (As you can see from the cover image collage, it's rather hard to ignore a door sign that promotes "the best coffee"!

Clearly American tastes have been noticed by this chain coffee shop. Though not listed on the menu above the register, all but DM were excited to see on a printed menu that there was a vanilla or hazelnut cappuccino option. The "barista" seemed to almost predict our order the moment we walked in...but we didn't mind, we were getting flavored espresso and we had just purchased some biscuits (cookies) at the local grocery store.

The conversation had started well before we sat in oversized chairs -- clearly the flavorful aromas energized us as we walked in the door.

Discussion Topics:
UNC-Duke Basketball game
Exchange Rates
UNC Basketball
Photography
UNC Alumni clubs
Motorbike Companies
UNC Alumni trips

Ok, UNC did not overtake the conversation, but it was quite fun to learn more about the program, and our friends' alma mater!

Before finishing our coffee, we were approached by a young woman with a camera. Our tour guides had warned us that people may stop us -- especially MM and her beautiful blonde hair -- and request a photo with us. This young woman had a different request, however. She was preparing her application for a photography degree at university and needed to take 500 portraits. She wondered if we might be willing to have her take photos of us, enjoying our coffee. We were happy to oblige -- especially given our shared interest in photography. As she capture images of our faces, hands, and general conversation, we asked her some questions about cultural things we had noticed -- OM tattoos, motorbike facts, etc.

Our coffee talk was now spanning across cultural lines and creating a whole new information sharing system. And all because we went to one coffee shop, on one street corner, in Jaipur, to enjoy a familiar comfort.