By Katelin Walker
Today, our tour guide Madri, welcomed us a the San Jose airport and took us ito town so we could have lunch at a local soda. Lunch was wonderful; it consisted of chicken, rice, beans, salad, squash and we had the option to choose from blackberry, fruit, or tamarindo juice. My first impression of San Jose is that it has a lot of the same stores and restaurants that we have back home which I wasn't expecting, but since leavnig San Jose I haven't seen any of the same restaurants.
After lunch we ventured farther into San Jose and visited Basilica de los Angeles. While at the Basilica, Madri taught us about the importance of religion to locals. He told us that on August 2nd of every year people from all over walk to the Basilica to pray. The people are often praying for family members that are sick or have cancer. They will bring a metal charm of the affected area as an offering and place them in the church.
Next we made out way to Vinas Coffee. Upon arrival we were greeted by Gustavo and taken into the coffee trees. Gustavo explained to us which beans were ripe and encouraged us to try he raw coffee bean...they're not very good raw! Next we were able to practice the tossing method in order to separate the shells from the beans. Then we took the beans to be roasted. In the meantime, Gustavo explained what the different types of roast meant. A light roast would contain the most caffeine while a dark roast would contain less caffeine because by cooking the beans you are cooking out the caffeine. After the roasting process was complete the group took turns grinding the beans. After grinding the beans Gustavo brewed our coffee for us. I loved being able to drink coffee that didn't have added flavors or added preservatives like we are used to in the states.
