HMMM what to talk about? for those that know me well you probably know and can guess what i am going to talk about this week!!!!!! HTTR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats right baby, The Washington Redskins BEAT and i mean crushed the Dallas Cowbitches on their home field, let me tell you that makes my week, month, and year. For those of you Cowgirl fans all i gotta say is RGIII baby. I do have one complaint though, i have been watching the Redskins for 23 years and for the past 22 years we fellow skins fans have been through alot of coaches, QB's and since the 91 super bowl our misery has been unimaginable...basically we have SUCKED. In 22 years, since the last time we reached the superbowl we have not had a QB to lead us, the one year i decide to leave the country we get our best yet QB, probably ever in Skins history. Yea i know what you are thinking, theisman, sammy, sonny, these guys were great QB's but none of them have the talent that our new star has, for the past 20 years we have gone through many many QB's, just to list a few, sexy rexy, cant do it Mcnabb, lefty brunell, banks, george, brad, Mr Gus,OMG i cant believe what list of QBs we have had. But now we have RGIII, i have been waiting for this moment for 20 years and the first time i decide to leave the country RGIII is a redskin. and to make things even more twisted, we beat up on dallas in dallas and i had to watch the rerun on the NFL network, man i was screaming in my house and people the people around were like wtf is going on. They do not understand the implications these games have on us, as redskins fan we have endured so many year wondering what in the world is our wonderful organization is thinking about while selecting a QB or for that fact a lot of other questionable calls they have made regarding draft picks. Even i was a little skeptical when i heard we had gave up almost all our picks this year and next year. But man o man this is guy is sooooooooo worth it (as long as he does not get injured). Now i have not watched the skins games as closely as i usually did in the past, nevertheless this guy is as good as they come, so poised in the pocket, doesnt make mistakes, and my god does he throw the ball well, a natural born leader. This is what we have been waiting for, i mean come on now lets face it, the team that won the super bowl in 91, didnt really need a star QB, for those of you who remember we had the best offensive line in the league, or even in NFL history, one of the best defenses ever to step on the field, and 3 wide receivers that would catch anything thrown their way. Does Art Monk, Gary Clark, and Ricky Sanders ring a bell? how bout Darrel Green, Dexter Manley, Charles Mann? That squad was stacked with allstars and hall of famers, plus dont forget the best coach ever Mr Joe Gibbs. any ways enough talk of the redskins. HTTR!!!!!!
I have 3 more weeks left in Uganda and a lot of work ahead, im counting the days when im back state side, driving my car and listening to music, if you didnt know my car here is a 99 honda CRV with no stereo system, freaking sucks. No music, no nothing while driving can get alittle boring at times, i catch my self talking to my self sometimes. I just hope everything goes according to plan and there are no major bumps along the way. till next week
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
16th Week
4 more weeks to go :) wow i cant believe its already been 4 months since i have been here in Uganda Africa. Last weekend i went to a place about 40 miles outside of Kampala called bujagali falls, its kind of like great falls but this is the place where the Mighty Nile River starts so for me its an incredible chance to actually see it in person. Im kind of sad that i have not had the chance to see all of Uganda and all the wonderful places there are to see. Specially the wild animals that are here, i just have not had the time, most of the animals are in the western part of Uganda which is extremely far, now when i say far, for us 300 miles is nothing right? i mean i can drive 300 miles in 5 hours tops in the US, but here omg 300 miles would take a day. The road conditions are very bad, there are no highways, just one lane roads we have in our neighborhoods. Imagine all the trucks on 495 on a one lane road, but these trucks are not as fast as our trucks are, they are so packed with goods making them extremely heavy, they can not go up and down hills so traffic builds up and it takes 16 hours to drive 300 miles. What im trying to get at is a short trip for us back at home here would be very long. Then when you do get to the area its a jungle and you would have to walk for hours or even days before reaching your destination. For example, when i went to see mount Elgon, which used to be an active volcano that erupted along time ago but that eruption has creating a caldera, i wanted to go all the way to the top to see it but there are no roads, and the local people told me its 3 day hike for an experience hiker and 7 days for normal people. Can you imagine 7 days in the jungles of Uganda with wolves, sphinx, and bobcats and so many other animal around? I dont mind the hike or the camping part but i would need my supplies, like a water proof tent due to the fact that it rains everyday, cooking material, food, water, etc. ofcourse the most important item is a weapon, but in uganda everything is prohibited, cant own a gun of any kind, no knifes, i mean nothing, so you can imagine what i was thinking? I was like hell no im not going into the jungle with out supplies and a gun. Then there is the fact of paying the park authorities, it cost $250 just for the permit to enter the national parks EACH. That is crazy, if i wanted to see everything it would cost me something like $2000 just in permits, not including the trips and fees of guides, transport, fuel, and all sorts of of other costs. But the next time i come back im going to atleast go and see the silver back gorillas, i have heard it is a life changing experience.
So far this trip to Uganda has been mostly about business, i mean there are occasional weekends where i go somewhere but its mostly work, we start work at 8 am and usually i get home around 530 or 6, then im doing US work, so my days are pretty much work, except when i work out, i try to work out everyday, helps me pass the time faster at home, but i dont have weights here so i am kind of limited to what i can do. Even though i dont have the equipment i still manage to do my P90X almost everyday. I still have not consumed any kind of meat or chicken for nearly 15 weeks, who would of thought i could manage this long with out meat or chicken? I have fish once in a while and can tuna twice a week but my diet is strickly beans, salad, and vegetables, i do eat alot of fruit, and let me tell you the fruit here is amazing, i dont know how im gonna eat our fruit when i get back, one thing i have to admit is my sister is right about eating only organic foods, i think it make a huge difference. We always made fun of her about organic this and organic that, now i am actually seeing the difference, so i owe her a huge apology for all the crap i gave her. Recently i have found this nut the locals call G nut, when it is roasted is very tasty, i dont know if my standard have gone down or what, but this G nut thing is pretty good, tastes exactly like peanuts.
Even though its been a nice trip and my host edmund has taken care of me big time, i miss home and i miss my family and friends. I am counting the days until i reach home. I was telling someone that the first thing im gonna do when i get back, on the way home i want to stop by PHO 75 and have a large bowl of #12 with extra noodles and white onions and onions in oil :) then hopefully a nice home cooked meal from my mom for dinner. I have put some pictures of the falls on my facebook, so if anyone wants to see its amazing. till next time.
So far this trip to Uganda has been mostly about business, i mean there are occasional weekends where i go somewhere but its mostly work, we start work at 8 am and usually i get home around 530 or 6, then im doing US work, so my days are pretty much work, except when i work out, i try to work out everyday, helps me pass the time faster at home, but i dont have weights here so i am kind of limited to what i can do. Even though i dont have the equipment i still manage to do my P90X almost everyday. I still have not consumed any kind of meat or chicken for nearly 15 weeks, who would of thought i could manage this long with out meat or chicken? I have fish once in a while and can tuna twice a week but my diet is strickly beans, salad, and vegetables, i do eat alot of fruit, and let me tell you the fruit here is amazing, i dont know how im gonna eat our fruit when i get back, one thing i have to admit is my sister is right about eating only organic foods, i think it make a huge difference. We always made fun of her about organic this and organic that, now i am actually seeing the difference, so i owe her a huge apology for all the crap i gave her. Recently i have found this nut the locals call G nut, when it is roasted is very tasty, i dont know if my standard have gone down or what, but this G nut thing is pretty good, tastes exactly like peanuts.
Even though its been a nice trip and my host edmund has taken care of me big time, i miss home and i miss my family and friends. I am counting the days until i reach home. I was telling someone that the first thing im gonna do when i get back, on the way home i want to stop by PHO 75 and have a large bowl of #12 with extra noodles and white onions and onions in oil :) then hopefully a nice home cooked meal from my mom for dinner. I have put some pictures of the falls on my facebook, so if anyone wants to see its amazing. till next time.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
15th Week
Let me start out this blog by saying i cant wait to get back home, dont get me wrong this place is great weather is a little on the warm side, but i keep on looking at the weather back in the states, and thinking to my self damn last year it was not cold at all but this year it seems like its gonna be cold and wet one :). There is one problem though, when i was packing for uganda i did not pack any warm clothing. I arrive in DC December 20th and i believe it is going to be cold, whom ever is picking me up better bring one of my warm jackets. im so sick of the same freaking weather and rain everyday. over and over and over again nothing changes, its mild at night and warm in the day and rains almost everyday, so freaking predictable. I want that cold brisk weather, when at night its like 20 deg, open the window alittle bit and sleep sooooo good. and omg the freaking moquitoes that come out at night, i have to sleep under two yes i said TWO nets so i dont get bitten at night. Its like they are attracted to me or something. I just wanna sleep in a cold room with no mosquitoes, no net with no freaking noise. I dont remember if i had mentioned that thursday through sunday nights the clubs are allowed to play music as loud as they want, and to make things worst, there is a church right around the corner from my house, 630 am sharp every sunday the preacher or what ever is on the loud speaker talking or praying or preaching. 630 in the morning? Jesus will be there at 8 or 9 and he can hear you, you dont need to be on the loud speaker yelling. As i said before i cant wait to get back to my home and have peace and quit. I remember sitting out side sometimes at my parents house thinking to my self its too freaking quit here, believe me i dont think that anymore. God bless our neighborhood.
I only have 4 more weeks left here in Uganda, things are starting to get a little crazy. coffee orders coming in left and right, nile coffee is doing pretty well. I just sold a ton of coffee to south africa and im bringing back 2 tons with me so our factory is on over load right now trying to meet the local demand and the export demand, im a little worried about how things will run once i leave here, while im here everyone is behaving and pretty much listening to our instructions, but when i leave i cant watch them, these people are lazy and will do what ever it takes to not do anything, and now i dont trust most, couple of days ago i had 200,000 ugandan shillings stolen from my room, its like 90 dollars which to us is not much but 200k is alot of money here, average salary here is 500k. Edmund had some electricians working around his house and i guess they had to go to my room, even though the money was not in plain view (i had it under some clothing) they must of found it and took it. Edmund was furious, so now i have to lock my room even though i dont keep anymore money there but my passport is hidden in that room so im worried about losing my most precious item.
I have completely moved into my new office, and its nice still needs alot of work but for uganda its nice. everything happens here on a pace so slow that its starting to get to me, for example we had to build a partition dividing the office so customers can not just walk right up to me, they first talk to my secretary. building that partition or divider would of taken me and my brother 2 hours tops to make, its been almost 2 weeks and its still not done. the are no tools, no electric saws, or drills everything is done by hand and a screw driver which the carpenter did not have so i had to provide him with mine. so you can imagine how frustrating it is for me, since i know how to do pretty much all this stuff and im watching this poor guy trying to make this thing, struggling to level it, paint it, secure it. I am so glad im around people back in the states like my uncle and my brother who are very talented when it comes to carpentry and regular house hold stuff.
I know i have been bitching but had to get somethings off my chest, now my office is right next to UCDA and every morning i go there to have coffee, and my god the cappuccino's here are fantastic. I have never been a fan of cappuccino's till now. specially when the coffee is freshly roasted, and i make it my self. mmm mmm mmm so freaking good, i hope i can make the same when we open up our own coffee shop. Whom ever is reading this be ready because in the next year or so, we will have opened up a coffee shop somewhere in the DMV area, but first we are opening one in brunswick GA. anyways thats all for this week. all is good and i hope all my friends and family are good too. oh i forgot to mention that i found an iranian restaurant, with authentic iranian food, i had sabzi polo mahi friday night, and the week before i had loobia polo...here are some pictures of some places i have visited
I only have 4 more weeks left here in Uganda, things are starting to get a little crazy. coffee orders coming in left and right, nile coffee is doing pretty well. I just sold a ton of coffee to south africa and im bringing back 2 tons with me so our factory is on over load right now trying to meet the local demand and the export demand, im a little worried about how things will run once i leave here, while im here everyone is behaving and pretty much listening to our instructions, but when i leave i cant watch them, these people are lazy and will do what ever it takes to not do anything, and now i dont trust most, couple of days ago i had 200,000 ugandan shillings stolen from my room, its like 90 dollars which to us is not much but 200k is alot of money here, average salary here is 500k. Edmund had some electricians working around his house and i guess they had to go to my room, even though the money was not in plain view (i had it under some clothing) they must of found it and took it. Edmund was furious, so now i have to lock my room even though i dont keep anymore money there but my passport is hidden in that room so im worried about losing my most precious item.
I have completely moved into my new office, and its nice still needs alot of work but for uganda its nice. everything happens here on a pace so slow that its starting to get to me, for example we had to build a partition dividing the office so customers can not just walk right up to me, they first talk to my secretary. building that partition or divider would of taken me and my brother 2 hours tops to make, its been almost 2 weeks and its still not done. the are no tools, no electric saws, or drills everything is done by hand and a screw driver which the carpenter did not have so i had to provide him with mine. so you can imagine how frustrating it is for me, since i know how to do pretty much all this stuff and im watching this poor guy trying to make this thing, struggling to level it, paint it, secure it. I am so glad im around people back in the states like my uncle and my brother who are very talented when it comes to carpentry and regular house hold stuff.
I know i have been bitching but had to get somethings off my chest, now my office is right next to UCDA and every morning i go there to have coffee, and my god the cappuccino's here are fantastic. I have never been a fan of cappuccino's till now. specially when the coffee is freshly roasted, and i make it my self. mmm mmm mmm so freaking good, i hope i can make the same when we open up our own coffee shop. Whom ever is reading this be ready because in the next year or so, we will have opened up a coffee shop somewhere in the DMV area, but first we are opening one in brunswick GA. anyways thats all for this week. all is good and i hope all my friends and family are good too. oh i forgot to mention that i found an iranian restaurant, with authentic iranian food, i had sabzi polo mahi friday night, and the week before i had loobia polo...here are some pictures of some places i have visited
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
14th week
Sometimes your having a pretty good week then something terrible happens and makes everything else disappear. My weekend was not bad, i actually went out for once, for some drinks and let me tell you Kampala is very cosmopolitan at night time, we went to a couple of places, the first place was not bad, it was called Casablanca, we ate had a few drinks and smoked some hookah, which is getting very popular i guess here too. then we ended up across the street at a place called bubbles, man let me tell you if DC had the same clubs it would be awsome, this place had it all, nice bar indoor and outdoor, dance floor, and to my surprise alot of white people, mostly european ofcourse, its funny because all the african girls are looking for a white guy and all the african men are looking for white girls, which is hilarious to me. All in all it was not a bad week or weekend. Last week we have been shifting to our brand new office and i have been pretty busy setting up the place and organizing the office for the arrival of my staff. Then i took a Boda Boda (for those of you who do not know what that is, it a motorcycle taxi) which i have been told that it is very dangerous, but for me its actually pretty fun, anyways, on the way back i saw the most horrific accident and the most unhuman act i have ever witnessed in my life. We are not really used to death, i mean we see it on TV or some one in our family passes away due to old age, but im sure most people have not witnessed what i just saw. For those of you who are sensitive to this please stop reading now.
:(((((((((( I saw a woman get hit by car right in front of me close to my office and i was on the back of the boda boda, OMG this poor woman (god bless her soul) hit the ground and i think she was dead on impact, i wanted to get off and instructed my driver to stop by the time he had stopped a couple of people had gathered around and she was bleeding pretty badly from her head, her side of her face was completely smashed in, couple of men grabbed her by her legs and arms threw her on the side and traffic went by as if nothing had happened. I was and still am in complete shock, for those that know me know that im not really a sentimental person, but i just stood there while tears where coming down my face, frozen stiff didnt know what to do, my driver grabbed me and said this kind of thing happens all the time on busy streets and traffic, if she was still alive, she would lay there for hours before an ambulance or help would arrive. I dont even know how or what to think its just amazing how human life is not worth anything and how they can just throw her body to the side so traffic can keep moving. With all the problems we have in the states, one thing for sure is, nothing like that would ever happen, i remember about 16 years ago, a group of us were driving down to UVA to see one of our DJ friends, and there were alot of us, if im not mistaking 8 or 9 cars full of people and about 7 guys on motorcycles, i was with pouria in his old honda accord and we were on route 29 going bout 80 or 85 mph, and i saw in my miror one of the guys on a motorcycle, flying, he must have been doing 130 150, because he came up so fast, as soon as he reached next to our car his bike slipped from under him, right in front of our car, i saw his body hit the ground and bounce about a good 200 to 300 feet while hitting his head on the rails on the side of the road. We stopped and i was the first person to reach him, i thought he was dead, everyone had stopped and thank god the car behind us that had stopped was a doctor, he jumped out and felt his pulse and said run for help, this was back in the early 90's we didnt have cell phone. I started running, if anyone knows fauquier county you know that there is nothing around for miles and miles, i must have of ran for 10 or 15 miles. Finally got to a house and called 911, within 7 minutes ambulances were coming from all directions. They took him to the hospital, and from there they airlifted him to fairfax county hospital, i think. but the point is our systems works, we might not like the police but fuck, they do their job and try and protect us, the rules and regulations are there in place to protect us, not like here, there is no law and order, people pretty much do as they please, and no one is there to stop them. I just wanted to share that story to compare our structure and the structure here in africa. Please do not misinterpret my intentions here, this place is beautiful and full of life, but in one moment the perception of something could change drastically. I think this experience has changed me in a way, life is precious and we do not know how precious it is until it is gone. I believe we take a lot of things for granted back at home, i know because i was a perfect example. The luxury of turning on your faucet and being able to drink the water, taking hot showers anytime, buying what ever we want where ever we want, getting sick and i mean something serious, for example if i get malaria here (which i have 3 times) i go to the local clinic and in 10 minutes they diagnose me with malaria, but they do not have the equipment or facilities to treat a major injury like broken arm, or anything of the sort. There are no ambulances, or fire trucks to help anyone out. Any ways, its been a weird week. i dont have any pictures, and even if i did im sure nobody would want to see a dead woman laying in the street, then her body thrown to the side like garbage. sad week
:(((((((((( I saw a woman get hit by car right in front of me close to my office and i was on the back of the boda boda, OMG this poor woman (god bless her soul) hit the ground and i think she was dead on impact, i wanted to get off and instructed my driver to stop by the time he had stopped a couple of people had gathered around and she was bleeding pretty badly from her head, her side of her face was completely smashed in, couple of men grabbed her by her legs and arms threw her on the side and traffic went by as if nothing had happened. I was and still am in complete shock, for those that know me know that im not really a sentimental person, but i just stood there while tears where coming down my face, frozen stiff didnt know what to do, my driver grabbed me and said this kind of thing happens all the time on busy streets and traffic, if she was still alive, she would lay there for hours before an ambulance or help would arrive. I dont even know how or what to think its just amazing how human life is not worth anything and how they can just throw her body to the side so traffic can keep moving. With all the problems we have in the states, one thing for sure is, nothing like that would ever happen, i remember about 16 years ago, a group of us were driving down to UVA to see one of our DJ friends, and there were alot of us, if im not mistaking 8 or 9 cars full of people and about 7 guys on motorcycles, i was with pouria in his old honda accord and we were on route 29 going bout 80 or 85 mph, and i saw in my miror one of the guys on a motorcycle, flying, he must have been doing 130 150, because he came up so fast, as soon as he reached next to our car his bike slipped from under him, right in front of our car, i saw his body hit the ground and bounce about a good 200 to 300 feet while hitting his head on the rails on the side of the road. We stopped and i was the first person to reach him, i thought he was dead, everyone had stopped and thank god the car behind us that had stopped was a doctor, he jumped out and felt his pulse and said run for help, this was back in the early 90's we didnt have cell phone. I started running, if anyone knows fauquier county you know that there is nothing around for miles and miles, i must have of ran for 10 or 15 miles. Finally got to a house and called 911, within 7 minutes ambulances were coming from all directions. They took him to the hospital, and from there they airlifted him to fairfax county hospital, i think. but the point is our systems works, we might not like the police but fuck, they do their job and try and protect us, the rules and regulations are there in place to protect us, not like here, there is no law and order, people pretty much do as they please, and no one is there to stop them. I just wanted to share that story to compare our structure and the structure here in africa. Please do not misinterpret my intentions here, this place is beautiful and full of life, but in one moment the perception of something could change drastically. I think this experience has changed me in a way, life is precious and we do not know how precious it is until it is gone. I believe we take a lot of things for granted back at home, i know because i was a perfect example. The luxury of turning on your faucet and being able to drink the water, taking hot showers anytime, buying what ever we want where ever we want, getting sick and i mean something serious, for example if i get malaria here (which i have 3 times) i go to the local clinic and in 10 minutes they diagnose me with malaria, but they do not have the equipment or facilities to treat a major injury like broken arm, or anything of the sort. There are no ambulances, or fire trucks to help anyone out. Any ways, its been a weird week. i dont have any pictures, and even if i did im sure nobody would want to see a dead woman laying in the street, then her body thrown to the side like garbage. sad week
Monday, October 29, 2012
13th Week
This week has actually been kind of slow, im waiting on my new office to be finished, we were suppose to move in Oct 15th, it is now 29th of oct. This is how slow things are here, people say ill be there in 30 minutes and show up an hour later, just doesnt make any sense, time to some people is not important but to others its very important. We had very long weekend, to my surprise the muslim population here has had a dramatic effect on the government, to those that know, friday was Eid Qurban, and for those that dont know this is the day god commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his young first born son as an act of submission to gods command and his sons acceptance to being sacrificed, before god intervened and provided ibrahim with a ram to sacrifice instead, so friday everything was closed, from government to schools and even some shopping centers. any ways i had to mention the reason for the holiday.
I have been following the weather on the east coast, wow you guys are in trouble..just kidding i dont think its going to be that bad, its only a category one hurricane. but i hope all is going to be ok with family and friends. keep safe and stay indoors and keep me informed please (for those of you who actually read my blogs). For now this is all i have to write, pretty boring week.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
3rd Month
This is my 3rd month here in Uganda, and so far it has been very exciting, time is going by fast and i cant believe its been this long already. This blog im writing will be divided in to 2 parts, I will explain why. On thursday night Edmund told me to pack a bag for a 3 day travel to the source of where our coffee comes from, which is east of Uganda on the border of Uganda and Kenya, a 3 hour drive from Kampala. Ed informs me that there will be a short meeting and then we will visit some of the factories that produce and manufacture coffee as well as the farmers and their farms where the coffee grows. Naturally i was extremely excited, i mean to learn about coffee is one thing but to actually go to the source and interact with farmers and traders is another thing. That night i packed a small bag, i was so excited i couldnt sleep. but i think eventually i managed to fall asleep and woke up around 6:30 am, Ed had arranged a driver for us but as usual he was late so we didnt get to leave till about 8 am. Now, i said earlier that this story was going to be divided in to 2 parts, here is why, first i am going to tell you about the business part (with pictures of course) then i will tell you my personal experience of beauty that i saw.
After a 3 hour drive we arrive to a town called Mbale, this town is on the foothills of ugandas, highest mountain and africas 17th tallest peak called Mt. Elgon. (which i will get to in the next part), this town is know for its coffee trade, because Mt Elgon was a volcanic mountain, the soil, cool climate, and the constant rain creates the ultimate conditions for growing and harvesting the coffee bean. This particular region is called the BUGISU region and it is why this coffee is known around the world as a one of the best coffee beans produced (the Bugisu AA is the highest value coffee traded on the market today), but last seasons crop was not up to standards as far as UCDA is concerned and that is why we are here, to discuss these issues, the bugisu is known for certain traits and UCDA is seeing that trait starting to slip. I would like to explain more but it is very technical, for those of you who dont care skip this part and go to then next. Coffee is very complex and very delicate at the same time. Bugisu coffee is know for its mild acidity and bold chocolate taste, but recently this acidity has been going down, now why is acidity so important? when i say acidity most people refer to the acidic taste from a lime or orange, sort of a sour, salty taste, but in coffee it also has to do with the sweetness. if an orange did not have a a sweetness to it you would now eat right? so acidity goes hand to hand with the sweetness of the coffee. This acidity comes naturally from the phosphoric soils of Mt. Elgon, but during processing ( and i mean not processing the raw coffee properly) if the delicate bean is not handled properly it will lose its characteristics which makes this particular coffee special. Anyways, me and edmund enter the town hall and there was about 50 people there waiting for edmund, farmers, traders, and exporters, i was just there to observe, even though im there to purchase 2 tons of coffee to bring back with me in December. Basically this meeting was about a warning that UCDA was giving to everyone regarding harmful practices coffee farmers, traders, and exporters where involved in. I wont get into details but Edmund clearly stated that if the procedures where not followed UCDA has the authority and mandate to shut down operations of a certain factory if standards are not met. It was nice to see the government actually taking steps to protect its most precious commodity which is the Bugisu AA. After the meeting there were alot of questions and concerns which was understandable, but Ed handled it very well. After the meeting we had lunch and ed wanted to make a couple of suprise visits to some factories that he had heard were not up to par with their standards. So we went to a couple of factories and he gave out warnings about some drying methods and told them next time the factory will be shut down. by this time it was late so we decided to find a nice hotel and get some rest because the next day we wanted to visit the actual farms, we ended up staying at a very nice hotel (which i have pictures of) woke up the next day and headed to the mountains. Now this is where i get excited, these mountains are freaking beautiful and we where going to a town called Kapchorwa (11000 ft above sea level) on the way to kapchorwa edmund saw a coffee factory and told the driver to stop, we approached the gate and a security guard inercepted us and would not allow Ed to enter the facility, even after he introduced him self and showed him his government ID card and demanded to open the gate, the guard refused, ed returned to the car grabbed his UCDA lock and placed it on the gate and ordered the factory shut down, panic started, managers came out pleading and begging to forgive their security guard for being ignorant, so ed removed the lock. i had to tell that story to show people the power that this humble man has. We then proceeded to the city and the peak of the mountain (check out the pictures), man what an nice area, cold, breezy, exactly the way i like it. we talked to a couple of farmers and walked through a farm because i had not seen what a coffee plantation looked like. i took a bunch of pictures and hopefully i can download them. but the real exciting part of the trip was being able to walk through the forest and get on an area where they call Sipi Falls. I put the a couple of pictures up of the place but it does you have to be there to fully enjoy the beauty, its like niagara falls and grand canyon at the same place but not as extreme, but while your walking through jungle you really start appreciating the beauty of nature and how untouched this place really is. When i got to the falls i was just in shock at first, and its not just one, from what ive been told there are many falls but this particular one is the most famous. everything is green the soil is very fertile, anything could grow here, i picked an avacado from a tree and it was the best avacado i have ever had in my life. being in a place like that changes you, nothing is important anymore, you sit and just enjoy the beauty and calmness of the area. The hike was not easy, we were deep in the mountains, full jungle getting through it all was a challange, but to my surprise, people actually live by this area, no electricity no gas, just nature and water. anyways redskins are about to play and i have to work out so this part for now is over but there are alot more i could write but then it would just be too long to read :)
After a 3 hour drive we arrive to a town called Mbale, this town is on the foothills of ugandas, highest mountain and africas 17th tallest peak called Mt. Elgon. (which i will get to in the next part), this town is know for its coffee trade, because Mt Elgon was a volcanic mountain, the soil, cool climate, and the constant rain creates the ultimate conditions for growing and harvesting the coffee bean. This particular region is called the BUGISU region and it is why this coffee is known around the world as a one of the best coffee beans produced (the Bugisu AA is the highest value coffee traded on the market today), but last seasons crop was not up to standards as far as UCDA is concerned and that is why we are here, to discuss these issues, the bugisu is known for certain traits and UCDA is seeing that trait starting to slip. I would like to explain more but it is very technical, for those of you who dont care skip this part and go to then next. Coffee is very complex and very delicate at the same time. Bugisu coffee is know for its mild acidity and bold chocolate taste, but recently this acidity has been going down, now why is acidity so important? when i say acidity most people refer to the acidic taste from a lime or orange, sort of a sour, salty taste, but in coffee it also has to do with the sweetness. if an orange did not have a a sweetness to it you would now eat right? so acidity goes hand to hand with the sweetness of the coffee. This acidity comes naturally from the phosphoric soils of Mt. Elgon, but during processing ( and i mean not processing the raw coffee properly) if the delicate bean is not handled properly it will lose its characteristics which makes this particular coffee special. Anyways, me and edmund enter the town hall and there was about 50 people there waiting for edmund, farmers, traders, and exporters, i was just there to observe, even though im there to purchase 2 tons of coffee to bring back with me in December. Basically this meeting was about a warning that UCDA was giving to everyone regarding harmful practices coffee farmers, traders, and exporters where involved in. I wont get into details but Edmund clearly stated that if the procedures where not followed UCDA has the authority and mandate to shut down operations of a certain factory if standards are not met. It was nice to see the government actually taking steps to protect its most precious commodity which is the Bugisu AA. After the meeting there were alot of questions and concerns which was understandable, but Ed handled it very well. After the meeting we had lunch and ed wanted to make a couple of suprise visits to some factories that he had heard were not up to par with their standards. So we went to a couple of factories and he gave out warnings about some drying methods and told them next time the factory will be shut down. by this time it was late so we decided to find a nice hotel and get some rest because the next day we wanted to visit the actual farms, we ended up staying at a very nice hotel (which i have pictures of) woke up the next day and headed to the mountains. Now this is where i get excited, these mountains are freaking beautiful and we where going to a town called Kapchorwa (11000 ft above sea level) on the way to kapchorwa edmund saw a coffee factory and told the driver to stop, we approached the gate and a security guard inercepted us and would not allow Ed to enter the facility, even after he introduced him self and showed him his government ID card and demanded to open the gate, the guard refused, ed returned to the car grabbed his UCDA lock and placed it on the gate and ordered the factory shut down, panic started, managers came out pleading and begging to forgive their security guard for being ignorant, so ed removed the lock. i had to tell that story to show people the power that this humble man has. We then proceeded to the city and the peak of the mountain (check out the pictures), man what an nice area, cold, breezy, exactly the way i like it. we talked to a couple of farmers and walked through a farm because i had not seen what a coffee plantation looked like. i took a bunch of pictures and hopefully i can download them. but the real exciting part of the trip was being able to walk through the forest and get on an area where they call Sipi Falls. I put the a couple of pictures up of the place but it does you have to be there to fully enjoy the beauty, its like niagara falls and grand canyon at the same place but not as extreme, but while your walking through jungle you really start appreciating the beauty of nature and how untouched this place really is. When i got to the falls i was just in shock at first, and its not just one, from what ive been told there are many falls but this particular one is the most famous. everything is green the soil is very fertile, anything could grow here, i picked an avacado from a tree and it was the best avacado i have ever had in my life. being in a place like that changes you, nothing is important anymore, you sit and just enjoy the beauty and calmness of the area. The hike was not easy, we were deep in the mountains, full jungle getting through it all was a challange, but to my surprise, people actually live by this area, no electricity no gas, just nature and water. anyways redskins are about to play and i have to work out so this part for now is over but there are alot more i could write but then it would just be too long to read :)
Sunday, October 14, 2012
10th and 11th week
I am combining these two weeks together because i did not have time to write last week. Last week was a very important week for us and i will explain, every year in kampala there is a Manufacturers Trade Show first week of October over 3000 companies from all over africa come here and try to introduce their product to the public, Kenya, Egypt, Sudan, South Africa, Rawanda, Congo, Even Iran was here. It seems Iran and Uganda have very strong relationship as far as trade and manufacturing goes, ill get to that later. We as Nile Coffee had a small booth to sample our coffee to the public, and the reaction i got from the local people and other outsiders was amazing, my original estimate was to serve about 1000 cups of 6 oz coffee to whom ever wanted to try our coffee, with sugar and milk, i was no were nearly prepared for the reaction we received. Here are some final numbers, we ended up sampling over 20,000 cups, using 80 lb's of sugar, and about 25 gallons of milk! it was madness in a good way ( i have pictures and video for those who are skeptical) for 7 days straight we served and sold our coffee from 9 am to 8 pm everyday. The reaction to our coffee was amazing, i mean i already knew our coffee is one of the best in the world but did not expect this kind of outcome, i had Egyptians and Sudanese making me offers left and right, i even had the Iranian Government approach me regarding our coffee.
On Saturday morning i had group of Iranian come by my booth and try my coffee, and purchased about 30 lbs from me, and ofcourse they hassled me for price, then out of no where a gentleman named Reza Savari Chairman of the Iranian-Ugandan Economical Co-operations Office came by and tasted the coffee and asked me where i was from, naturally i always tell people im from the US, but this guy had a strong iranian accent, so i told him my name is Kave and i am iranian but i was born in the US. He asked to speak to me and we went outside, he basically wanted the take Ugandan's coffee raw which means green to Iran and process it there (roast and package) i told him very nicely that i can not do that, our #1 goal here in uganda is to make sure uganda that the ugandan people get their monies worth for their products, which means producing, roasting, and packaging is all done here so they can get paid for it. Europeans have been exploiting this countries resources for decades and it has to stop, 77% of ugandas coffee get exported to europe! they buy a small percentage of very high quality arabica (my coffee) and a very large percentage of very very low grade coffee mix it together, roast it very dark and sell it, what people dont know is when coffee gets roasted very dark it loses alot of its characteristics that make coffee what it is. anyways let me not get too technical about coffee, but there is so much that regular people dont know. So during our conversation with this iranian, 5 Mercedes Benz S500 pull up and the ambassador of Iran steps out of the car and i get introduced to him, let me tell you one thing i hate is when someone shakes your hand like a dead fish, this freaking guy shakes my hand just like that, who the fuck does this guy think he is, i was told later that his salary from the iranian government is $10,000 a month! can you imagine the poor people in iran are starving and struggling to make ends meet and this fucker is getting paid that much money? 10000 is some people yearly salary if you have a good job. any ways i basically told the iranians to go fuck them selves in a nice way. ill put some pictures up so you guys can see what was going on. for now thats all im gonna write, hopefully ill have time next weekend to write more, this week im moving into my new office which is kind of exciting and scary at the same time.
On Saturday morning i had group of Iranian come by my booth and try my coffee, and purchased about 30 lbs from me, and ofcourse they hassled me for price, then out of no where a gentleman named Reza Savari Chairman of the Iranian-Ugandan Economical Co-operations Office came by and tasted the coffee and asked me where i was from, naturally i always tell people im from the US, but this guy had a strong iranian accent, so i told him my name is Kave and i am iranian but i was born in the US. He asked to speak to me and we went outside, he basically wanted the take Ugandan's coffee raw which means green to Iran and process it there (roast and package) i told him very nicely that i can not do that, our #1 goal here in uganda is to make sure uganda that the ugandan people get their monies worth for their products, which means producing, roasting, and packaging is all done here so they can get paid for it. Europeans have been exploiting this countries resources for decades and it has to stop, 77% of ugandas coffee get exported to europe! they buy a small percentage of very high quality arabica (my coffee) and a very large percentage of very very low grade coffee mix it together, roast it very dark and sell it, what people dont know is when coffee gets roasted very dark it loses alot of its characteristics that make coffee what it is. anyways let me not get too technical about coffee, but there is so much that regular people dont know. So during our conversation with this iranian, 5 Mercedes Benz S500 pull up and the ambassador of Iran steps out of the car and i get introduced to him, let me tell you one thing i hate is when someone shakes your hand like a dead fish, this freaking guy shakes my hand just like that, who the fuck does this guy think he is, i was told later that his salary from the iranian government is $10,000 a month! can you imagine the poor people in iran are starving and struggling to make ends meet and this fucker is getting paid that much money? 10000 is some people yearly salary if you have a good job. any ways i basically told the iranians to go fuck them selves in a nice way. ill put some pictures up so you guys can see what was going on. for now thats all im gonna write, hopefully ill have time next weekend to write more, this week im moving into my new office which is kind of exciting and scary at the same time.
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