Our Journey to Adoption: Coffee Plantation

Monday was another low key day after a long day on Sunday. We wanted to be sure to have A get some good sleep. We ventured out to El corral gourmet for lunch and played at the park. Isaac loves hanging at the hotel as the other families are here with many kids his age. We are really going to miss them when they go home. One family with 3 boys is hoping to leave at the end of the week. We are praying that all of their final paperwork goes smoothly!!

Tuesday we hired Freddy to take us to a coffee plantation 2 hours outside of the city. There is another area in the country where most of the coffee is produced but it is 7-8 hours from here. This is a small plantation but Freddy said we will learn about how coffee is grown, roasted etc. Being that this country is the third largest exporter of all coffee beans we thought it would be great to learn more about it.

We have found that traveling to our destination is almost as fun as getting there. There are so many things to see and learn along the way. Going to the plantation required us to drive through the entire city. We were able to pass through the south side of the city which is considered fairly unsafe and the poor area of the city. Freddy said that over a quarter of the city's population lives on the south side. He said many people live together with many members of their family. Many people are very happy even though they have very little. We passed by many markets and stands selling fruits, vegetables, flowers, hardware, but the place that sticks out in our mind was the meat market. An open air market that runs from 7am-2pm every day. It was a small section off the street that we were driving down but you saw MANY diffent types of meat hanging from chickens to full pigs. The smell was indescribable. Freddy said that the meat is very cheap there but again it is out and not refrigerated for several hours. He said many people get sick after eating what they purchase. Very sad!

It was a 1.5 hour drive once out of the city through the country side to get to the plantation. The coffee needs a warm environment to grow so it is at a much lower elevation than the city. We drove through many small towns and many mountain valleys. My pictures and video don't do the view justice as it went from 65 degrees to almost 85 in that short distance however in the valleys the clouds get trapped so it appears kind of gloomy. We told Freddy that many of the views that these tiny homes and restaurants have are views that would be worth millions in the US.

When we reached the plantation we were able to see many tropical flowers in full bloom along with hundreds of coffee plants. Orchids are also grown in this region and were extremely beautiful. We learned the entire process of coffee production. We also learned that 99% of the coffee produced in Colombia is exported so Freddy said that if you drink coffee here in the country it won't be that great. We also learned that you should always buy your coffee as beans. When you buy it ground up to 50% can be mixed with beans that are not of great quality. We were able to try the coffee bean in a raw form. It had a bit of a sugar taste. They have to be soaked and dried to get rid of the sugar taste. Many beans are picked by hand which is a very labor intensive process yet provides many jobs for people. We learned that if you drink decaffeinated coffee it has to go through a chemical process to remove the caffeine. It was a very interesting process and a process which no part of the plant is wasted. In the parts of the bean that are removed they are used for fertilizer of the trees or burned in the roasting of the beans process. We were able to see how they roast the beans and at the end of the tour we were able to try some of the coffee along with a coffee liquor that is made at the plantation. Isaac tried both before we knew it was liquor...oops! :-) It was a great learning experience and we are so glad that we went!!

After our tour, we stopped at a restaurant recommended by Freddy for lunch. It was amazing as usual traditional Colombian food. We were in a region where rabbit is consumed but Freddy said most people are not interested in trying it so he thought this restaurant would be good. Jeff was relieved as he was not too interested in rabbit! The view was absolutely stunning of a river valley that went on for miles. The best part of the restaurant was that it had a pool. Once we were done eating, Jeff and Isaac went for a quick swim. It was 85 so they were happy to cool off.

On our way back from the plantation Freddy drove us through an area that is considered one of the poorest areas inside the city. He said he felt comfortable going here but the other side of the mountain was very dangerous. Once again Isaac was looking out the window and later made a comment he is very thankful for all he has. Being this area is inside the city most houses have some form of electricity and access to water and are built from cinderblock, a bit nicer than what we have seen in the countryside. Almost every house we have seen here has collection bins on the roof to collect rain water. Freddy said it is used for many things but not for drinking.

It was a great day and we are so thankful to have Freddy to take us places. We are hoping to go with him this weekend again. The family that is here on vacation is leaving the hotel tomorrow to visit a town about 3 hours from here called Villa De Leyva. We have talked that we may also want to visit this area. Katya told us that in the news there has been talks of an agricultural strike however which may close the roads in the weeks to come. So we are not sure if we will make it there or not. Waiting to see what happens but hoping that we can go to see the city.

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (Psalms 46:10 NLT)

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