hn29.

before the post: go to mycapucascoffee.com It's the new page of my cooperative that I participated in the creation of. More like facilitated it. Check it out. If you would be so kind, link to it in your site. That would be the kindest. Love you guys.

and now to the entry that i wrote last night.

I think its about time to write an entry that doesn't revolve around my horse. Otherwise, you guys might start to think that I do nothing but work with this horse of mine, and the truth is, there's actually work happening here. So first and foremost, coffee season is up and running. Although the quantity of coffee picked is somewhat small right now, but it's coming in, and for me it seems like a lot. Every day, visiting coffee pickers go out at 7 and start cortando, or cutting coffee (which in reality is more like a pulling off the branch motion but whatever), and by 3 pm each producer is delivered a quantity that depends on the number of pickers. this coffee is measured, by volume, and paid for. the going rate is 20-30 L per bucket of 2.5 gallons. That comes out to about a dollar fifty per bucket. pretty cheap labor if you ask me, but a family of four can cut up to 25 buckets in one day, which comes out to about 500 L, and that's more than minimum wage.

this coffee is then processed in one of two ways. there's lavado and melado. lavado is a conventional processing type, where the coffee is de-pulped, then washed to get rid of the miel (sugar based coating) that surrounds the pergamino (bean with shell), and finally dumped onto a patio where it dries with the sun and heat of the cement. this coffee is then sold as pergamino humedo, or dried in huge industrial driers (or even in some very environmentally friendly cases using solar driers), and then sold as pergamino seco. one could even go as far as one step further, take the shell off the bean, and sell it as cafe oro, but usually that's done by the roaster or importer. some farmers will also select the coffee prior to sale, removing bad beans and over dried beans, improving the taza, or flavor bouquet (whatever you call it). this is done by hand and is actually quite a relaxing experience.

melado is an awesome process which i may have already described in the past. the pulp is left on the coffee and it is thrown onto the same patio to dry in the sun. the red pulp soon turns black, and hard, and removed through a mechanical process. the coffee is then dried further, and the taza comes out bolder, sweeter, and overall better in my opinion.

anyway, moving on, coffee season involves a whole lot of manual labor. coffee is moved around in 100-200 pound sacks, which need to be moved, dumped, filled, thrown, and manipulated in millions of different ways. it leaves one sore day after day, but i think ill look like szchwarznegger within a few months. probably not, but one can dream. there's also rediculous hours, since coffee needs to be depulped the same day, washed the same day, and dumped onto the patio the same day. this means that people work well after nightfall, some til 9 or 10 pm, with a wake up call at 7 to continue with the labor. its arduous, a pain in the ass, but it's apparently worth it. and you guys better be damn thankful that so much labor goes into your specialty import organic coffees that you spend 14 dollars a pound on. just so everyone knows, the farmer almost never gets more than 2 dollars for the same pound. and sure there are costs involved in importation and processing, but the same green mountain coffee, or whatever else it is that you guys buy in whole foods or trader joes, is making a pretty penny.

outside of coffee, my life right now revolves around worms and GIS. The worm project now has two new project managers, youngins from my community. although they lack a formal education, they are both very intelligent and excited about the project. hopefully it doesnt fail and discourage them for life. we have begun project planning, have done some analysis of its faults and benefits. basically we are starting from the beggining together, which is awesome as it gives the kids a sense of involvement more than anything.

the gis is another thing where i wish i could involve others, but since everyone is so metido in coffee, its hard to find anyone available who wants to trudge through farms with me. but, regardless, its an awesome experience. not only am i learning an assload about ArcGis and GPS stuff, but I am also getting to personally know the farms of the people who live in my community. which means getting to know them as well, since they act as my guides. i spent about an hour and a half walking the farm of my host dad yesterday, and i ended up learning things about him that i probably would never have found out any other way. later today i will be visiting the farm of a carpinter, and by next week i should have about 10 farms done. i love my job.

alright, well that's about it for now. i wish you guys would ask me things to write about, but since none of you do, i will keep going as i have been for about 5 months now. its amazing i'm still writing. thanks to all of you who read.