"Coffee and Mexican food"

I’ve been asked a few times what I miss most about the States. Other than family, friends, sports, and decent TV, the answer is simple – regular coffee and Mexican food.

The first time I went to order coffee, the cashier gave me a blank stare and asked, “What kind?”

My response, “Just regular.”The cashier looked at me with a patronizing stare and asked, “yes, well is that a latte, espresso, flat white, long black, short white?”

Since none of these words made any sense to me after latte and espresso, I just asked for what most Americans like best. Flat white it was, which is actually more milk than coffee. Much to my chagrin, the coffee available in the Bain office was either of the French-pressed or instant variety. As a guy who drinks 2+ cups of coffee a day, this was very upsetting news.

I adjusted and went with the instant coffee for awhile. Then, last weekend, I happened to be walking by a Starbucks in the morning and I walked in for a regular “drip” coffee. It was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had because of the month-long layoff. And I don’t even really like Starbucks.

I learned later that during the 2000 Olympics, NBC brought over an insane amount of “drip” Starbucks coffee (don’t remember the exact number but more than a few tons) to keep its employees happy and awake when it was doing “live” broadcasts in the middle of the night.

The other thing I really miss is Mexican food. At home, I’d eat Mexican probably twice a week, whether it was Chipotle, at home, or at a restaurant. In Australia, there aren’t any good Mexican restaurants. The ones they do have are just meat covered with cheese and really isn’t all that great. And the grocery store doesn’t carry the taco seasoning, good salsa, or Mexican cheese varieties (only shredded cheddar).

As I’m writing this, my mouth is watering for a big cup of coffee and a Chipotle steak burrito. That’s the end of this post - I put myself through any more of this pain.