by Seth Gary

Click Clack, Click Clack…. the old, open-air train car rocked back and forth up the side of a lush verdant mountainside en route to a small village in Costa Rica.  I was thirteen years old, traveling with my mother and grandmother.  We clamored through acres of coffee plants, under great canopies of trees scented with the slight sweetness of tropical flowers on either side of the train. 

Clap clap, clap clap, clap clap, squireeeeek…. We came to a stop at a very small clearing.  Calling it a “village” would be generous.  Our guide descended from the train and minutes later returned to our car with small cups of coffee for all to try.  It was my first taste of “real” coffee.  The color was dark, opaque, and mysterious.  And the scent was unlike any coffee scent I was familiar with from 7-11 or breakfast restaurants.  Much to my surprise, I found the elixir quite palatable and even pleasurable!  Brilliant!  Much to my mom and grandma’s surprise, I requested a bag of ground coffee to take home to the States.

I remember smelling the coffee the rest of the trip, escaping from my suitcase, both the scent and some of the grounds themselves!  Back home I would return to the bag of coffee just to smell the heavenly aroma and be transported back to the metronome train ride through the coffee hillsides of Costa Rica. 

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