Sometimes when traveling you have to learn to be independent. Sometimes you have to figure things out for yourself. Sometimes All the time, you really need coffee.

Traditionally, your kafa would be served in a lovely copper setup like this. While it may appear to be Turkish coffee, do not call it Turkish coffee. It is Bosnian coffee.

On this gray Sunday morning, the need was strong and the instant Nescafé just wasn’t going to cut it. But we all know that going down the street to the local cafe to get the good stuff requires a tremendous amount of steps, including, but not limited to, putting on real pants.

There are no Starbucks in Bosnia. Coffee never comes in any kind of paper, plastic, or otherwise disposable cup. Coffee is not fuel to get you through the day like an IV drip; it is meant to be sipped and enjoyed, preferably in the company of friends.

1. Boil some water. Easy (once you figure out where to plug in the stove.) Fortunately, the women of BOSFAM are always prepared for coffee breaks, as a pot with water sits on the stove, waiting to be heated at all times.

5. Scoop up the foam and put it in the bottom of your cup. I have no idea why we do this, but those are the rules.

6. Pour into a cute, tiny cup, like so. A saucer with a couple of sugar cubes are good too.

7. Try that first sip. You can add milk or sugar cubes. Nobody thinks you’re cool because you drink it black. If you want, you can dip a corner of a sugar cube in the coffee and then bite the sugar cube.

8. Realize the serving size you made is for like four people and do a happy dance. Now you have enough kafa to get you through the whole day and probably keep you up all night.

Ideally, this would be a social activity, but I am not ashamed to say I drank the whole thing myself.

Kafa is one of the most important aspects of Bosnian culture. Back home, a coffee break is running to the Starbucks on the corner and then heading straight back to the office to drink it while I work. In Bosnia, a coffee break is a real break. Everyone stops what they are doing, comes together, and talks (and not about work). If you’re interested in a how this tradition came to be, I recommend this article.

It wasn’t quite as good this time as it is when my BOSFAM friends make it, but learning new things is always exciting. I will be going up to Srebrenica tomorrow, so more serious blogs will follow but here’s a little reminder that life in post-conflict countries is not always doom and gloom. There are some little things that are really beautiful.