Café

Introduced by Cuba in 1729, coffee has played an important role in transforming Costa Rica into one of the most prosperous countries in Central America. The rich volcanic soil, and tropical climate make it a coffee paradise. Even though i am not a coffee drinker, i had made up my mind that i wanted to partake in the harvest of this amazing bean. I spent 1 week in the countryside of Naranjo picking coffee on local plantations. We got up at 4:30am to pack our lunches and by 6am we were all packed like sardines in a metal trailer that was pulled by an old steam tractor. We had to wear long sleeves and pants, mainly to keep us from getting all scratched up by the coffee branches, but also from being biten by posinous worms. There are 2 types of worms that bite, and your whole arm goes numb for about 30 minutes until it wears off. That's what they told me anyhow, fortunately, i didn't have personal experience. I have never been so physically exhausted in my life. At 8pm i was gone. The second day i could only fill my basket half way because my back hurt so much. But little by little i started to improve. I picked a total of 7 cajuelas (metal box measurement used to measure coffee beans) my last day and got paid 5,000 colones (about $10 United States dollars or about $1.00 an hour). The beans have a guey, honey-like substance that gets all over your clothes and hands and is impossible to get out.