The Aroma of My Country

Sep 30, 2024 | SAMU Blog, SAMU Wellbeing

Written by: Estefania Castro Tatis | SAMU Community Assistant

 

There is something very special in all Colombians, and it is the aroma of our coffee, a memory that we have imprinted in us. Despite belonging to different regions and having different tastes for food, the coffee of the Colombian Quindío, of our Sierra Nevada, of Tolima is a taste shared by an entire country. 

The smell of home at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, where 95% of Colombians are making a little coffee for the soul, is recognized from the other end of the block. It is where my grandmother and my mother sit to share a unique moment of the day, where they talk, plan and seek through a cup of coffee to demonstrate love. It is an inexplicable force that encourages us to spend time together, as a few cold beers do during a game of the Colombian National Football Team.

Coffee is the source of business, of secrets, of family, of love, of heartbreak, of fun and of infinite sunrises and sunsets. Our coffee is as important as our tricolor flag that has the power to represent more than 50 million inhabitants. A Cafecito is a small cup of coffee. It is something that you never deny, that is toasted and shared with everybody in the community. Your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and your closest teachers. Our coffee is our smell and our language. There is nothing more Colombian than a Colombian Coffee.

Our coffee, like our Paramos, is an important source of life. Having a Cafecito as delicious as the one we have, has allowed us to protect ourselves from being put in a box. Many people mock us for corruption, call us a part of the mafia, and label us as lazy. But more than anything else, our coffee, has allowed us to carry our flag with pride. Because no matter how hard we must work to leave aside being stereotyped only for our past, we know within ourselves that we grew up with a Cafecito unique in the world that represents the work of more than 500,000 coffee growing families in Colombia.

This is not a writing for coffee connoisseurs, neither is it for a ranking of which coffee is the best in the world, but I dare to say that mine is special. Who knows, the day you try it, you may agree with me.

Spanish Version:

Hay algo muy especial en todos los colombianos, y es el aroma de nuestro café. Recuerdo que tenemos impregno en nosotros, porque a pesar de pertenecer a diferentes regiones y tener distintos gustos por la comida, el café del Quindío colombiano, de nuestra Sierra nevada, del Tolima es un gusto compartido por todo un país.

El olor a casita de las 5 de la tarde, donde el 95% de colombianos está haciendo un Cafecito para el alma, es reconocido desde la otra punta de la cuadra, es donde mi abuela y mami se sientan a compartir un momento único del día, donde se conserva, se planea y se busca a través de una tacita de café demostrar amor. El café colombiano es una fuerza inexplicable que nos incentiva a pasar tiempo juntos, como lo hacen unas cervezas frías en un partido de la Selección Colombia.

El café es Fuente de negocios, de secretos, de familia, de amor, de desamor, de recocha y de infinitos amaneceres y atardeceres. Nuestro café es tan importante como nuestra bandera tricolor que tiene el poder de representar a más de 50 millones de habitantes. Un Cafecito es algo que se comparte en comunidad y nunca se niegas, es algo que se brinda entre familia, amigos, trabajadores, vecinos y profesores más allegados. Nuestro café es nuestro olor y nuestro lenguaje. Así que no hay nada más colombiano, que un Cafecito colombiano.

Al igual que nuestros paramos nuestro café es fuente importante de vida. Tener un Cafecito tan delicioso como el que tenemos, nos ha permitido protegernos ante burlas por corrupción, ser llamados con distintos nombres de mafiosos, ser tildados de flojos y muchas cosas más.  Pero más que nada nuestro café colombiano nos ha permitido cargar nuestra bandera con orgullo, porque no importa cuánto tengamos que trabajar para dejar de un lado ser reconocidos solo por nuestro turbio pasado, sabemos dentro de nosotros que crecimos con un Cafecito único en el mundo que representa el trabajo de más de 500 mil familias cafeteras.

Este no es un escrito para conocedores de café, tampoco es para una escala de cual café es el mejor del mundo, pero me atrevo a decir que el mío es demasiado bueno, quien quita que el día de lo pruebes compartes mi opinión.

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