So Have A Cup of Coffee And Catch Your Breath

(Written Thursday night)
Today was pretty amazing. 4 other volunteers and I zoomed out of Spanish School in the pouring rain, seriously the hardest it’s rained here yet, to wait for our ride to the coffee farm also known as Finca Filadelfia-having no connection to Philidelphia, PA.

Once at the farm, we got on the craziest looking jeep/mini bus thing. We had to pretty much climb a ladder on the back to get on it and the back was wide open. I will remind you the streets in Antigua are not exactly smooth and all made of stone, so it made for one interesting and bumpy ride.


Up we went through seriously beautiful scenery. It was green, mountainous, and gorgeous. Have a look.


Our guide, Roberto, took us around the entire farm on foot and in the scary but very fun jeep thing. We even got to pick our own coffee beans. I found a great one. We put them in our mouths and sucked on them for a while and they were super sweet.



We then were taken through the entire process of how the beans are picked, sorted, washed, roasted, etc. If you want more detail here then come to Guatemala and take the tour! You won’t be sorry! I mean really, look (although the pictures could never do it justice)…




While the tour was really good, it was the scenery that really took my breath away.

So, we found out that they export there best coffee to the US and keep the crappy stuff locally. And where does it go in the US? You guessed it…Starbucks.

So, at the end of the tour we went to the gift shop and all bought a bag of the best coffee they had, although there is most likely a more quality bag waiting for me at the corner of Broadway and Grace in Lakeview. Here is the bag they export the beans in.



The final part of our tour was the restaurant. This place actually houses a beautiful hotel and big restaurant. We were served, what else, coffee. Even though it was pretty humid out and more in need of Claritin than coffee, I drank every last drop. Mmmmmm.

More adventure lies ahead this weekend when I put another stamp on my passport and head to Copan, Honduras. As of now I am getting picked up at 4am on Saturday morning and headed to another country with 5 people I met like 3 days ago, but who all have known each other for several years. We have a ride there and back, but no where to stay or a guide or anything else yet. Copan is a big place to see Mayan Ruins. Not quite as big as Tikal, which is a place I hope to visit, but still supposed to be pretty fantastic. I have no idea how long it takes to get there. (Debra, some help here?) So, another expedition awaits.

To all you loyal readers out there, which is probably only like 2 of you since I get so few notes (hint, hint), I most likely will not be writing quite as much in the weeks to come. Soon I will be teaching in my school and taking Spanish school after and there is just so little time! But I will do my best! Don’t worry, I won’t sleep, just blog.

I will leave you with a few pictures to make you wish you were here!







Love,

Julie

“Fee” -Phish