Yesterday and today were coffee intensive. In the plantation then off to the coffee shop.
Up early, get the gear and head for the coffee plantation. That’s me writing down our data while my coleagues count the number of nodes, the number of nodes with fruit and (of course) the number of coffee berries. Today we worked in six plots with counting berries on a total of ten plants per plot.
Luckily, it didn’t rain and it was warm, but not hot. Still, after a couple of hours of standing in the “shade” we were getting a bit thin and dopey. Lunch sure tasted great after a day of hard work. We were challenged by the conditions while counting coffee cherries, but whatever we faced is nothing compared to the conditions that the people who pick the beans endure. We were tired, but it could no where compare to people who need to pick beans to feed their families.
We also didn’t need to work after lunch, but rather went into town for a nice cup of coffee love. Awe, capichino.
We have had some great coffee. Acutally drinking coffee in a coffee shop, the way we do in the States, is a rather new experience for the Tico’s. I find it troubling to know that people are growing things that they don’t or can’t afford to enjoy.
I love the people in this group, but there seems to be a preponderance of fear for little crawley things. After dinner I killed some spiders so my roomate can sleep. Later tonight the guys came out to the common area to ask for help in removing a geko from their room. A Geko. I grabbed a glass to catch it, but they thought it was too small, so I got a bowl. It was a cute little guy and I was able to contain him and with the help of a pice of paper I carried it to a nice place in the garden. Hence, today I was a Bean Counter and I’m also Geko Wrangler Extradonaire.