So why do I like flaked coconut in my coffee drinks? Well I’m glad you asked! I know it sounds weird, but hear me out.
In October of 2023, I had the opportunity to go to Ukraine for 3 weeks with my uncle Jesse and my cousin Adrian. That suited me just fine, since I love to travel, and I’d wanted to go to Ukraine for a long time already. So after 4 flights, not much sleep, an 8 hour layover in Bucharest and 30+ hours of traveling, we finally made it to Ukraine! We flew into the tiny airport in Suceava, Romania (and I do mean tiny!), and slept for a few hours before we went on to Ukraine.
photo credits to Jesse
The first day in Ukraine was very exciting. And exhausting. Exciting because we toured two castles that were in our route. Exhausting because I was still very tired from traveling and sitting in the car for so long made me really sleepy but I wanted to stay awake so I wouldn’t miss anything. Also exhausting because around 9 o’clock that night, we hit a massive pothole and it blew out one of the front tires. We also didn’t know till after unloading all our luggage, that the car didn’t have a spare tire. But thankfully people stopped to see if we needed help, and one of them was a guy that had a friend who owned a tire shop, so he was able to get a tire for us. We also stopped at several gas stations trying to find one that the computers worked so that we could buy hot dogs for a very late supper. (by the way, Americans have no idea how to do hot dogs! The hot dogs over there are so much better!) We ended up at the mission in Horods’ke very late, but we definitely made memories!
Don’t these look so good?!
We spent that first weekend there. They were just ending their youth Bible school, so it was interesting to catch the last day of that. Saturday we helped them clean at the mission, and in the evening, I went to town with two of the girls to do some shopping and for supper.
Here’s where the coconut coffee comes in. We went to a lovely little coffee shop, and I ordered a coconut coffee because that was my go to even before this. And I’m not kidding, it was the best coconut latte I’ve had before or since! Even though it was in a to go cup, they had done lovely latte art on top, and there was some flaked coconut sprinkled on top. I thought, oh that’s neat that they put flaked coconut on top of a coconut latte. But as I started drinking it, I realized that there was coconut mixed all thru it. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but the longer I drank it the more I liked it, till by the end I was telling the other girls that my family was going to think that I’d lost my mind when I went home and put flaked coconut in my coffee drinks. (and some of them did)
Such a cute coffee shop!
The coffee that started it all!
The rest of our time in Ukraine was spent packaging food parcels, helping the staff families, etc. Adrian and I did get to go on a distribution trip, which was a lot of fun! But all to soon, it was time to go back home. We spent Sunday and Monday in Suceava, and Monday, we borrowed a car to go to the Carpathian mountains. It was a lovely drive, and when we got to the mountains, they were beautiful! Part of the road went between two of them, and from inside the car, we couldn’t even see the tops! At the top, there was a lovely lake and small tourist market, so we spent some time walking around.
We flew out the next morning, and after 3 flights, an overnight delay thanks to missing our last flight, having to listen to earsplitting fire/evacuation alarms all night while trying to sleep on a freezing cold airport floor (I really don’t like the Newark airport!), and 1 more flight, we finally made it home.
So do I like flaked coconut in my coffee because it’s good? Yes. Do I like it because of the memories it brings back? Also yes. I don’t know which is the bigger factor here. But no matter which one it is, I hope I’ll always like it. And whenever I have it in my coffee, I’ll always think of this trip and the many good memories that I have from it! You should try it sometime!