Here is another picture of the coffee beans on the coffee plantation we visited in Colombia. The beans were green there and when they are ripe to pick they turn a bright red. That trip was a great one. I will never forget it because, I am not a regular coffee drinker but on that particular day I drank so much coffee that our family friend Genaro had to pull the car over on the side of a VERY busy highway to let me out so I could be sick. I was sick for a couple of days and strayed from coffee after that. The second picture is mom with Juan Valdez and his burros and mules.
We had many adventures on that trip.One trip we (my mom, Genaro and I) were heading to one of their cattle ranches about 2 hours outside of Bogotá in Guerrilla territory. We were pulled over and searched. By this time I had a grasp of the Spanish language as did my mom and they pulled us out of the truck on one side and Genaro on the other.
Two things saved us that day. One was a tattoo that I have of the Maple Leaf on my arm and the other was that we only spoke English. One of the soldiers didn't realize we were Canadians and called us Gringas which we were not. Gringa is a derogatory name for female Americans, which we knew that the Colombians were not fond of. My mom...got angry with them....of all times to pick...on guerrillas!! Told them we were not Americans that we were Canadians and they said that it was the same thing. (No offense to anyone..please...really, but this is how it happened!) Mom said no, that being called an American was the same as if we called them Mexicans! Two of the soldiers got mad, her point was made, then mom grabbed me and lifted my shirt sleeve to show them my tattoo. Poor Genaro was having heart failure on the other side of the truck. He was helpless as he was held up against the truck. Once the guerrillas realized that we really were Canadian, they started to laugh!!! Their attitudes changed. They let Genaro go, and we stayed there for the next hour talking and joking with them. The whole time we stayed in Colombia and went back and forth from home to the Ranch, we never encountered any more problems. They just waved and let us go by! It was crazy.
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