Coffee

As most of you know, I am a coffee addict to the extreme.  My day doesn’t begin and my mind doesn’t function until I have a large cup dark and delicious coffee in my hand.  I look forward to my coffee time every morning, and my day doesn’t start right if I don’t have it.  I also have become quite the coffee snob.  I am never a judgmental person, except for when it comes to coffee.  I need coffee to function, so I will drink bad coffee, but possibly with a little disdain.  I live for flavorful, strong coffee.

         The first thing I packed for Ecuador was my wonderful aeropress coffee maker of course.  Traveling to South America, I had the idea that I would be drinking delicious, cheap, coffee straight from the fields.  When I arrived in Quito, people raved about Ecuadorian coffee, and it was pretty delicious.  However, I was then told, that Cuenca (where I am staying) is different.  Everyone in Cuenca drinks instant coffee.  Haha, I definitely had to hold my jaw from dropping.  Instant coffee is a ridiculous, terrible concept for me.  Imagining myself drinking instant coffee everyday killed me a little inside.

         When we arrived in Cuenca, it was true.  Instant coffee is everywhere.  People here don’t have coffee makers.  All of my friend’s families make instant coffee every morning.  However, someone out there was looking out for my addiction and avid passion for coffee.  When I arrived to my new home, my host mom immediately offered me café y pan.  To my great surprise she pulled out an old fashioned coffee sifter maker and freshly ground beans.  The smell of fresh coffee filled the room, and I was at home.  Since this moment, Marlene and I have ever bonded over coffee. She loves fresh coffee, and makes coffee usually 3 times a day.  We have café y pan everyday and hangout and talk and laugh.  She hates instant coffee, and will make it only in “una emergencia”.  She buys fresh coffee from a pueblo, and is probably one of the only women in Cuenca who does so.  How lucky am I..