¿Tienes café café? Or, Please tell me you sell real coffee!

Strike one:  I've had this box
with 10 packets of coffee since
the first week and haven't used
it all yet

Coming to Chile, I thought there would be good coffee here, since Colombia is nearby and they have great coffee.  Upon arrival, I learned just how wrong I was.  Most places only serve instant coffee.  Having never tried instant coffee, I thought it might be okay.  I was wrong about that, too.  Since we got here, I've been looking for a decent cup of coffee and have had various amounts of success with espresso and similar drinks, as shown below.

First, I tried something from the grocery store similar to the International Coffeehouse flavored powders.  It wasn't great, so I tried to mix it with the instant coffee.  That was worse.  I kept asking people about where I could get real coffee, and everyone told me to go to Starbucks, which seems a little silly in a foreign country, since I can get that at home, or a Colombian chain cafe, but I haven't found one of those yet.  We have had some brewed coffee at meetings with the Crusade team here, but it's really, really weak.

During the first week here, I had an iced coffee that was decent, but after that, I didn't find anything good until last week, when I got a cappuccino while waiting for the bus to Valparaiso on Saturday.  Since it was a bus stop coffee stand, I had very low expectations, but it was really good.

Monday, I had to go buy a new plug adapter for my computer since I lost mine, and on the way, I stumbled upon a street full of coffee shops, including a Starbucks.  (I checked their website after getting back, and there are two right there, one on either side of the metro stop).  Since I finally had options, I decided to go to one of the local shops and got another cappuccino.  It was better than the first, and I got cookies with it!

Cappuccino Tuesday

Last week, I also found a Colombian cafe near our hostel.  They only have espresso drinks, even though they use french presses as decoration. I've been there three times this week (unfortunately, I don't have enough time for it to be a daily thing), and it's all really good, but the cappuccino was my favorite (and it's much prettier than the rest).  I still want a plain cup of coffee, though, and the only place I know has it is Starbucks, so I might have to break down and visit them.

Latte Thursday

Macchiato Friday