A Look Ahead

Over the last five weeks, I’ve led you to my favorite local treasures here in Athens: Donkey Coffee and Espresso, Athens Book Center, Casa Nueva, Athens Underground and Bagel Street Deli. I must say, I’m glad I had an excuse to visit each of these, and then promote them through my posts.

As a part of this project, we are required to have an interactive map. So for mine, I decided to mark the places I’ve been to in pink, the places I will be visiting shortly in purple and where I live in yellow.

View "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" in a larger map

As you can tell by the map, I haven’t really branched out from on- or near-campus attractions. After this week, I intend to change that. While my next few treasures are still within about a mile (walking distance) from my little corner on East Green, Read Hall, they’re a bit of a trek for me, though I’m sure I can manage.

So, without further ado, I would like to present my final few destinations.

Passion Works Studio 
Passion Works is an art shop and studio located on East State Street. The best and most unique part about this artwork remains that it is a place were creativity is born and collaboration is the key.

Beads & Things 
This shop not only carries beads from around the world, but also bags, sarongs and gemstones. Customers are even allowed to make their beaded art in the store, where they will receive free instruction by employees.

Village Bakery 
The Village Bakery offers a wide selection of baked goods and pastries made from locally grown produce. This café measures its success on its “social, environmental and financial impact in the local and global communities,” according to the menu.

Miller’s Chicken
Though I don’t know much about Miller’s Chicken yet, I’ll be updating you as soon as I do. I do know, however, that its menu items include fried chicken, seafood, fries, sandwiches and salads. I’m definitely anxious to try it.

An Athens-Themed Weekend

Every week, I show you to a different business in Athens and attempt to describe the feel of each place in two blog posts.  But with this week’s second post, I’m stepping slightly out of topic.  Only slightly.  Instead of another post on Athens Underground, I want to take you through my Athens-themed weekend with my parents.

Ohio University has quite a few weekends each year dedicated to the family visiting—Parents Weekend, Sibs Weekend, Moms Weekend and Dads Weekend. Not only do our families have an excuse to visit us and check out the town and our lives as students, but we also have the opportunity to bring money to local businesses in Athens.  But does it really bring money to the little shops, or does it just provide more business for Applebee’s or Bob Evans?

In my attempts to stick it to the “corporate” man, I took Mom and Dad to the little Athens wonders, which I’m in love with. During the 27 hours they were with me, we jumped from place to place, starting with the Athens Farmers Market, an outdoor market located on East State Street, where local producers and businesses sell fresh produce, fruit, breads, pastries, salsas, jellies, flavored coffee and so much more.

At the AFM, Mom and Dad bought me necessities to get me through the next four weeks—pumpkin spice coffee, pineapple hot salsa and Fuji apples. After roaming through the crowds for a bit and getting me a blueberry muffin for breakfast, we left to get any remaining food items from Kroger (OK, I didn’t completely stick it to the corporate man, but you get the point). 

From there, we hopped to Brennan’s for a soup-and-sandwich lunch and some chatting. Then to Donkey for some hot, non-fat vanilla chai drinking, some Pastimes board game playing and chatting (I had to take Dad to Donkey since he’s never been there).  Because of the hours of chatting, we were hungry again, so we left for Casa Nueva, where we ate our share of local veggies with a Mexican kick and did some more, you guessed it, chatting. Sorry, no habanero salsa this time.

We finished up the rest of yesterday by sitting in the lobby of my dorm playing 500 Rummy, and … chatting.

This morning after church, we traveled to the Village Bakery on East State Street to feed our appetite for healthy, local foods yet again. Sitting on high stools next to the window, we enjoyed our slices of quiche Lorraine and fresh, sweet apples and pears. Oh, and we did more chatting.

If you haven’t noticed, we do a lot of eating and chatting.

Although my throat is still a tad bit dry from all the chatting I did this weekend, I wouldn’t have traded that time for anything.

Caffeine with a Conscience

The aroma of coffee is not the only reason customers keep going back to Donkey Coffee and Espresso.

Kevin Jacobson, a first-year graduate student studying music education, has been working at Donkey for a little over one year.

“I like coffee,” Jacobson said, explaining why he works at Donkey. “I like the idea of justice and fair trade.”

Donkey is dedicated to social justice, and it even has a nook with the theme of "improving the world."  This tiny room in the middle of the café has a wealth of pamphlets, posters, bumper stickers and framed quotes of famous social justice advocates. This is where the tagline, “Caffeine with a Conscience,” really comes into play.

“We are committed to promoting justice in our community and throughout the world through public awareness, serving, and financial giving,” reads the social justice page on the Donkey Web site.

  Donkey brews organic beans labeled "fair trade." Its supplier is Dean's Beans in Massachusetts.

Dean’s Beans only buys coffee beans from “villages and importers that are committed to Fair Trade and working towards better economic opportunity, improved health and nutrition in the villages,” states the Dean’s Beans Web site.

Donkey supports wearing your conscience as well.  In the social justice nook, there is an advertisement for the Justice Clothing Company, an employee-controlled cooperative of sweatshop-free and union-made clothing.  All of the clothing is made in the United States or in Canada.

  “If you don't mind buying clothing made by slaves, children, indentured servants, or workers who are paid pennies a day, we are not your kind of store,” says the Justice Clothing Web site.

Other organizations in Athens that Donkey promotes include Amnesty International, World Vision, Good Works, Inc. and My Sister's Place.  The complete list is of organizations is here.

Here is a compilation of photos from the social justice nook:

Chai-nnoisseur

I took a few pictures of my Chaider on Thursday, but I never posted them.  Here's one photo of the infamous Chaider.  And I wasn't lying when I said it doesn't look appetizing, but like our moms always told us growing up, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

Also, if you're wondering just what chai is, take a look here.  This link provides you with history, recipes and products, all dealing with chai.

The Sweetest Thing

I decided to treat myself today.

And lately, this “treating myself” has become a weekly routine.  After my French phonetics class each Thursday, I run to one of the coffee shops in town and grab some chai.

I tried warm chai for the first time last year, and little did I know, I’d be addicted with the first sip. And let’s just say that my chai addiction has become exponentially worse.

  My friends like to refer to me as a “chai-nnoisseur,” or an expert on the best-tasting chai, and as far as I’m concerned, Donkey has the best chai I’ve ever had.

  I can’t seem to figure out what Donkey does to make it the best chai; heaven knows I’ve certainly tried to replicate it with my store-bought chai-mixes. But Donkey’s chai (whether hot or iced, vanilla or spiced) is significantly better than Starbucks, the Front Room and Bibliotech.

  Right now, I’m struggling to figure out how to describe why Donkey’s chai is so different.

  The chai latte at Donkey is smooth, creamy and satisfying, and it leaves an aftertaste of gingerbread long after your last swig. The chai powder is evenly dissolved in the steamed milk, unlike in other chais, in which the liquid chai isn’t mixed well with the milk, making for two distinct tastes. I’m grimacing at the thought.

  Anyway, on a day like today, where the weather is chilly but the sun is warmly shining through Athens’ vast wealth of trees, a warm chai is definitely my beverage of choice.

  But this is not the typical Donkey chai. It’s seasonal. This particular chai, Chaider, is a tasty blend of chai and steamed apple cider. The aroma of freshly baked apple pie is floating from my mug to my nostrils. Although the appearance is not very appetizing (It’s probably good that it’s covered by a lid.), it tastes like liquefied hot apple crisp with a hint of gingerbread. I’m smiling inside.

  Chaider (or any chai, for that matter) is definitely a perfect choice to satisfy your sweet tooth on a cool, crisp autumn day in Athens.

A Conscious Experience

I’m craving Donkey.

Craving the taste, the smell, the look.

Donkey Coffee and Espresso was the first Athens shop I ever stepped into.  Needless to say, this small-town coffee shop has a special place in my heart—it was my first real memory of college life.  During pre-college in June of 2008, I mistakenly referred to the local favorite as “The Donkey,” to which I was harshly reprimanded by the HTC upperclassmen, who continued to correct us unknowledgeable freshmen.

During this premier adventure into the Donkey abyss, I looked around the café, noticing students concentrating on their laptops with ceramic mugs steaming with the hot, non-fat soy latte inside.  A hint of the freshly-brewed coffee aroma seeped into my nose, triggering my imagination.  If this is what college is like, I thought, then this is definitely the place for me. 

I was impressed by the relaxed atmosphere of the place, and I still am. Local artists’ works align the walls (including the cupcake artwork by Cait). Worn-out wooden tables, chairs and old-fashioned sofas cover the interior. The music of indie and not-so-mainstream musicians gently plays on shuffle through the speakers. And on certain nights, the sound of live local bands or musicians can be heard from the back room.

As for the look of the cafe, it’s almost as if it is made of a series of connected compartments, with little nooks for people to hide in their studies.  Each nook contains different artwork on the walls—one with photographs, one with old-fashioned “Sunday best” hats, one with Passion Works artwork.  Recently, I discovered the final nook—the upstairs.  I knew it existed, but I somehow never got around to going up this “mysterious upstairs room.”

I climbed the narrow, wooden staircase for the first time on Saturday.  A mural of musicians (The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Louis Armstrong to name a few) was displayed on both sides of me.  Although I hate to admit it, I’ve only heard of a handful of the dozens of musicians in the mural painted by Kevinn.

At the top of the stairs, I became confused. Where the heck am I going? So, I just decided to turn to the right and explore.

Around every corner was a new room, each with different theme of artwork, of course.   Couples were on dates, chattering over board games or their caffeinated organic beverages.  Groups of friends were discussing the happenings of the previous week.  Or, if you happened to overhear my group of friends on Saturday night, we were getting a good laugh mapping out our futures using the Lord of the Rings Oracle, just one of the many games Donkey carries on its shelves.

I’m used to the hurried hustle and bustle of my hometown Starbucks, where customers scurry in and out within five minutes, music blares in your ears and the bright lighting almost gives you a seizure. But the overall attitude of Donkey customers is not simply “get in, get out,” it’s “I feel like sitting down, propping up my feet and having a deep conversation.”   And this is what gives new meaning to Donkey’s tagline “Caffeine with a Conscience.”