coffee with the girls

One morning while some of the guys were off doing testosterone driven things like setting up football goals I escorted some of the ladies around town to shop! Shopping with humid heat and bargaining for everything is certainly not as fun as I remember my days in Chicago but nonetheless it is what we have here and I embrace it. I took them around to ensure they would not get too hassled, get the correct prices for common items, and to take them to dukas in town we frequent because of their contribution to the local economy, empowering women, and giving Wazungu types that speak Kiswahili better prices than the average tourist. Annikah came along as she had reached her next goal in our reading program and was itching for several days to pick out her promised blingy shoes in the market. Her selection turned out to be quite an ordeal but everyone was very patient as she agonized between red and pink and straps or no straps (her final choice is seen below.....just enough bling & girly-girl for Miss A). We were tired after a few good hours of bartering and decided to hit my favorite coffee house in town. Nothing like a proper iced coffee on a sweltering day. Annikah enjoyed some local ice cream after; in an act of providence, a local guy with his cart rolled by just as we were sipping our lassies and coffees. Lucky girl! She also managed to convince various ladies to hand over their cameras to capture her artist whims. After downloading the pictures I actually think she may be an photographer in training. Pretty awesome shots, eh? (In the interest of full disclosure there were plenty of complete misses) But here are my favs of our girl's coffee date from Anni's perspective.....