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Coffee farmers in Altagracia were happy to cooper- which did have all the Federation’s stamped documents I grew up on the family farm with all my cousins. I
ate. Gradually, they formed a cooperative and together and licenses. They bought coffee from the farmers at the can’t remember how many there were in the family. We
harvested the best coffee from their farms to fill the two same low price as the Federation, regardless of the cost used to have another farm that belonged to my parents.
containers, each with a capacity of 20 metric tonnes and of selecting good beans or the time and effort the farmers There were rabbits, guinea pigs, coffee, herbs, fruit, cas-
both known as Café J. Even the Federation lent a hand by put into growing good coffee. The tunnel narrowed once sava and bananas, and a little hut where we never slept in
providing agricultural training, so that they could harvest again to what it was at the beginning. We lost the clients, because it was too crowded. That farm was as big as half
coffee beans with higher quality. even though they might have received coffee in Canada a block big, and maybe that’s why it was called Medio-
It didn’t go so well for Ángela’s son. Instead, it was or Japan. Who knows, nothing mattered. mundo (meaning half of the world). For me, it was the
more of a torture. Though he had sorted out all the paper- whole universe.
work, he was ignored by the Federation every time he Chapter 2 One day, my father told us he was seriously ill. I can’t
called to check the progress. At first, he was told the remember how old I was, but emptiness still wells up in
documents would be reviewed, but later no one answered Clouds shrouded the sky, the rain was about to fall, my chest when I think of the feeling of powerlessness. He
the phone. He decided to go to Bogotá and solve the prob- a storm was looming … We looked at each other without was the most important person in my life, carrying the
lem in person. Initially, he was rejected with excuses like a word and ran up the hillside. The workers were already pressure of raising seven children.
the person responsible for reviewing export documents there waiting for us. They cut the agave leaves knives and In Pereira, my father was declared hopeless by the
was out of town or in a meeting. Whether for him in removed the spikes; we put the leaves on our feet like doctors; the family sent him to Bogotá, where an expert
Bogotá, his family in Altagracia, or the buyers in Canada sleds or skis. The rain poured down and the storm creat- in the team was a friend of his. We didn’t dare to sleep
or Japan, patience was slowly running out. Finally, one ed huge rivulets rushing down the hillside around the during those months, because we were not sure if some-
day, he couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to sneak coffee trees. The coffee plantation became a giant chute thing would happen to our father when we woke up. My
into the building to find the official who refused to see and we slid down the stream, constantly bumping into father’s company helped a lot, but the money was not
him. He unlocked the combination lock, crossed the cor- the coffee trees along the way. We knew we would be enough, so we had to sell Mediomundo. Eventually, after
ridors, avoided the security guards and eventually arrived chastised when we got home, but we still had a great time. several months of closed treatment, my father recovered.
at the right office. He walked in without knocking. This was my childhood and my first encounter with cof- He was under thirty years old and lived to the age of 92,
“Hello, you seem to have been avoiding me,” he said, fee; it was more of an omen. when he passed away in peace.
“I am from Altagracia. You know very well why I am here
and I will not leave without an explanation.” “Okay,” the
officer replied, barely looking up as he was reviewing the
documents, “you should know that we need one more
With the first sales with Le Garçon, Ángela raised document.” “What do you need?” He asked in rage, “We
the money to roast a new sample of beans; completely have sent you all the documents over thirty times.” “We
selected beans for this time. The beans were sent abroad. need a letter from your buyer. It should outline who the
In Canada, she won the Cup of Excellence. It was not in buyer is, how much coffee they are buying and where they
her plan to go from smuggling coffee to winning an award are shipping the coffee to.” “You think I’d be stupid to just
in Canada for the quality. She never thought she would give you the whole information about my client?” Anger
be so lucky, if that could be called luck. The Chairman of flared up in him, “You want me to give up my client to
the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the client you. You want to be the player and the referee. Don’t make
who received the samples visited the farm a week after a fool of me and be serious.”
she got the award. An agreement was reached and the “Well then,” said the officer eventually, picking up a
partnership began with two containers of coffee beans. piece of paper on the right side of the table, “Let me tell
Ángela and Gabriel agreed without hesitation, but the you something. You are the only one who came here and I
challenge became even greater. don’t want you to make this trip for nothing. Do you see
Two containers of coffee beans meant a lot. They the list of over a hundred items? They are all the coffee
didn’t have enough coffee and had to work with farmers exporters guaranteed by the Federation. Out of the 100-odd,
in the village on a private basis. Gabriel took on the job. guess how many of them can actually be permitted to export
Moreover, shipping two big containers to Canada or Japan coffee? Eight, yes, only eight. Now, you see why you and
could no longer be done illegally through Ecuador. They your farmers in Altagracia failed to meet the requirements?”
had to face up the Federation squarely for an export per-
mit. Only a few in the country had these documents. But *
there was no need for them to hide with legal foreign There was a huge gap between the two sides. My son
contracts in hand. The eldest son took on the daunting returned to the farm, disillusioned. Many strange people
task, while Ángela took the lead on everything. She became joined the cooperative; they were not from the village.
the head of the third-generation farm. Soon there was a new coffee brand called Café J Excelso,

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