Saturday, November 12, 2011

An amazing coffee break!

Wow I had an awesome morning today! We met for service and paired off six girls. We made our map and set off to the territory. So we went to the street we were supposed to work but were unsuccessful with finding our not at homes. Apparently the name changes on the street but thankfully we hadn't been there too long before I asked for directions at a colmado. Anyhow, we were more than halfway to Monte Alto, a coffee plantation with the most amazing frappuccinos I believe I've ever had, anywhere, so needless to say we made our way to the plantation for a coffee break. We were sitting there enjoying (or should I say devouring?) the frappuccinos when in walked two English speakers. So right away we talked to them found out where they were from and visited for a bit. They were tourists from Germany, familiar with witnesses but not very interested in the truth. A few minutes later one of the workers comes in and asks if one of us can translate, the Germans needed someone to translate the tour because none of the workers spoke English and they obviously did not speak Spanish. So they let all of us take the tour for free! Tara and I served as translators and it was amazing!!! There were a few words that we were stumped on but for the most part it was rather easy to explain. I had soooo much fun! As most of you know I am addicted to coffee so it was incredibly interesting to find out how it was made. Like how many years they can get the tree to produce and how after seven to ten years they have to cut it so that it will produce like a young tree again! That it takes seven months before a seed gets planted in the ground for real! That the workers check the seeds fifteen times a day while they dry in the sun! And how did we find out that coffee beans must be steamed and than put through a process to cool them down to optimize taste before they are bagged? It was very very interesting! And all of this in Spanish! It was so fun! So after the tour I was able to talk to the girls again, not an outright witness as far as doctrine or scriptures but just a little and that's sometimes all you can do with tourists. Not break out your Bible but just leave a positive view of Witnesses in their mind and that brings honor to our God. So when they asked me how long I was staying, I mentioned that it depends on finances, that we are all self supported and that our work consists entirely of volunteers because the Bible says we should not be paid for we 'ought to be doing' While I was talking to the tourists the other girls in the group started talking to two Americans studying at a table. Turns out they are teachers at one of the christian schools in the area. So Tara was able to share a scripture and Kali left them some literature. So our coffee break turned out to be a very productive morning! We should have known it was going to be an incredible day when a man stopped us on the way to the territory and requested magazines! He said his neighbor was a witness and he enjoyed reading the magazines. It is an incredible feeling to be stopped by people requesting Bible literature, doesn't happen like that in the states, right? Here are some pictures, sorry guys, I didn't take pictures of all the phases but here are a few snapshots.


Our Tour Group


Our tour guide, the tourists, and the translators :O


Before we got coffee


After coffee :D
(sorry the shot is a little blurry, can you tell I was excited?)



Where the beans are sorted


First, the beans put through a machine to be sorted according to quality.
Afterwards, the are sorted by hand for a second cyle of quality control.
These women work from 7:30 am to 12 and than from 1 to 4.


The men were putting together packages for the local hotels.
They told us that they can make twenty orders in about three days.
These packages include coffee, two packets of creamer, four of sugar and two stirrers.

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