Day 5 - Coffee Finca

It's been a Sunday to remember. We attended a 2-hour Catholic mass that actually had a wedding in the middle and we were actually able to take communion during the mass. What a shock! Kathy had told us prior to going that she knows the priest and had asked him when he first came to town how he felt about that and he told her that all were welcome.

After that we went to Sunday market and walked through the shops and people to see all that was for sale today. You see everything... absolutely everything. You see the pigs groveling in the gutters; you see the smelly fish and every other kind of food for sale; you see the clothes, shoes, pens, pencils, paper, aprons, etc. for sale; it's all right there for you. You have to experience it to believe it. When Larry Lepper fell behind by his own choice, he found out which way we'd gone by merely asking "Gringos?" And he was pointed in the right direction. Yes, we're very obvious everywhere we go. But, still, all are so welcoming. We have the opportunity to shake hands often.

We ate lunch at the pastoral house and then loaded up the truck again for a trip to the coffee finca. We went through the town of Alegria and then to Santiago where Kathy showed us the equivelant of Jordan Creek Mall. (We had seen a Valley West Mall equivelant right in Berlin after church.) The mall consists of a metal building with wall-to-wall shops of everything imagineable. The only difference is that the one similar to the Jordan Creek Mall, was bigger.

And then it was on to Stella and Vidal's coffee finca*. We traveled on more of the windy roads up in the mountains again. Straight up and on the way home - straight down, with a little winding to add some interest. At one point we stopped so that we could all see the view... we could see so far that we know that we could see Honduras, even though we were still a very long ways away. You know the routine - you're on top of the mountain and you can see forever. It was a wonderful experience and breathtaking view.

We got to see where the coffee plants are that grow our Don Justo Coffee with Dignity. The trees are just starting to bud right now and actually, it's too early for that. That's because there actually was some rain recently. Since it's the off season now, there aren't a lot of beans drying, but we still got to see how the process works and where the beans are dried. Jorge was the 30-year-old worker overseeing the process and Blanca helped him describe all of it and answer all of our questions.

Another stellar job of driving the little Toyota truck by Kathy was experienced today. As always, she had it all under control. And Blanca and Cecelia (pictured here), two members of the pastoral team, went with us on our journey today. As I've learned, they're always a joy to have around and have wonderful senses of humor. Even though they have no idea what I'm saying to them, they're good to laugh with me. (or, maybe they're laughing at me - I'm not quite sure!) Anyway, we've all become great friends.

Tonight after our evening meeting, we even got Milagro (pictured here with Kathy), Blanca, Cecelia and Wilfredo (a friend of the team) blowing up balloons and making balloon animals with our fearless balloon animal leader, Dave. We were all laughing and having a great time while the balloons were popping left and right. We did end up with a pack of dogs and a flurry of mosquitos in quite an array of colors by the time we were done. (and lots of pics to prove that they were actually doing it with us!)

I think it's bedtime now... as the fun is not over yet. We still have 3 full days ahead, so lots of rest is needed. I've seen more in the last 4 days than I have in a lifetime up until now.

–Betty

*Modern Language Association (MLA): "finca." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. Feb. 9, 2009.