On my way home from my family’s weekend out, I saw a field of coffee ripe for the picking. White hats looked like they strolled down the rows, when in fact it was people, picking red bean by bean. Each plant must be “gone over” for a period of days because the berries all ripen at different times.

This work is not paid well. And, it can be a long day in the sun. Much of Costa Rica’s crops are now picked by people from other Central American countries: Nicaragua, Panama, and so on. Immigrants come here for a better life; Costa Ricans move to the U.S. for a better life; and I came to Costa Rica for a better life? Funny how it works.

Since moving here, every time I sip a cup of coffee, I give a tip of the hat in thanks for the hands that have held that little bean for an instant. It makes the coffee all that much more a alive.