Day 6: Working Like a Local/Global Business

Hi from the Dominican Republic! Today’s leaders were/are Nora and Sihe. The themes were Working Like a Local and Global Business. It was a very laborious morning and a fun and interesting afternoon.
We started our day at 7:00 am and had breakfast at 8:00. Breakfast was toast, cereal, eggs with sausage, and my (Nora’s) favorite… fresh tropical fruit.
After that, we had a morning meeting before getting on the safari bus to meet Miguel Cerafin Ortiz at his coffee farm. On the way there, we got to see a lot of goats and chickens, while also having to dodge the branches that came through the bus.

There, we split into two groups to work the fields of the greenhouse. The greenhouse held the juvenile coffee plants, from germination to a couple of months old. One group was in charge of throwing the unusable coffee seedlings into the compost area to be used as fertilizer. The other group began weeding the walkways between the coffee plant rows and the plants themselves, which were growing in small bags. Both groups then combined for maximum weeding power. This was very tiring, hot, and muddy, and we had to take multiple water breaks. My knees were sore from bending over to weed, which my mom would say means I need to weed more.

We returned for lunch and a quick shower before heading out for the second part of our day, visiting Cafe Monte Alto, a coffee factory.  For lunch, we had another traditional Dominican dish, arroz con frijoles and some non-traditional meatballs (which we were all very excited for). Before we headed out I (Sihe) took a much-needed rest on the ground while others enjoyed some free time.
Then we departed for the large-scale coffee exporting company located in Jarabacoa. Before we entered the facility, there was a unique dress code. We had to remove all of our jewelry including earrings, bracelets, and nose rings. Additionally, we cosplayed as lunch ladies (see photo below). There we got to see the process of how coffee was mass-produced through harvesting, drying, roasting, and grinding. We also got to try the raw coffee fruit seeds which tasted like sweet bell peppers. After the tour, we all got to try some of the coffee they make in little cups, while additionally getting some frappuccinos which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Even the non-coffee lovers! However, the coffee didn’t agree with all of us (specifically me -Sihe) who delayed us a bit in the bathroom. And don’t worry we were able to buy coffee there for everyone at home to enjoy!

When we returned, we had free time for a couple hours before eating a delicious dinner of soup, potatoes and rice. Then Sihe and I led the nightly meeting where we reviewed our day and went over roses and thorns.

We had a great time as leaders of the day and got to enjoy our first tropical rainfall!

P.S.  Hi Mom, Dad and Artemis, I’m having a lot of fun and it doesn’t feel like we’re practically half-way through our trip. Don’t worry dad I bought coffee for you. Love you guys and see you soon! – Nora

P.S.  Not much to say except that I love my mom and Damien ( a little less) As well as thanking my dedicated reader Peter! (Please tell my mom I love her she probably won’t end up reading this) – Sihe