Father Gabriel, alone and tired, but hoping that his efforts will be rewarded in this or the next life, takes an oboe out of his backpack, sets it up with gentle, rhythmic movements, and then blows until heavenly notes come out of that piece of wood that reach the furthest corner of the jungle.
In the midst of this inhospitable landscape, constantly observed and examined, he never ceases to breathe life into this vital concert of his. He knows that whether he is thrown into the falls or whether it is the beginning of his true "MISSION«.
The missions were places where the Jesuits, guided by their motto (To Love and Serve), poured their entire being into the service of God. Father Gabriel leads the mission of "San Carlos," where different cultures coexist and knowledge is exchanged based on the collective and Jesus. Captain Rodrigo de Mendoza—a soldier, a captor of indigenous people, and with a dark and corrosive past—arrives at this mission, located in a remote place filled with indescribable beauty, in search of a new life that will redeem him from his past and fulfill him fully.
These two adventurers will fight for what they believe in, based on their different perspectives. One with the Bible and faith. The other with truth and strength.
From the time Christopher Columbus set sail from Puerto de Palos to La Gomera in search of the twenty-eighth parallel and be carried by those trade winds that propel you toward the New World, until the year 1750, the Spanish and Portuguese were governed by the Treaty of Tordesillas. From that year on, a new agreement, the Treaty of Madrid, would restructure the territorial divisions—a turning point in the life and outcome of certain missions.
This new continent brought riches of all kinds. Just talking about the culinary experiences we would have without potatoes, tomatoes, corn, chocolate, tobacco, etc., is enough. But since the topic of this blog is coffee, what would Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Costa Rica, etc. be without coffee? There wouldn't be enough time to talk about what coffee culture means to each of these countries. It seems as if these lands have been waiting for centuries for these seeds to arrive, to give them their best.
Who brought coffee plants to the Americas? The history of coffee shows how missionaries and soldiers who crossed the Atlantic between 1720 and 1800 introduced this product to their various regions (Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc.), thus imprinting it on their cultural DNA. Colombia and coffee are so closely linked that they are a world reference not only in quality (100% Arabica) but also in quantity.
They say that when you discover certain aromas, your mind processes memories from a past you've only ever experienced in your memory. Thus, in my personal taste, I tend to drink Guatemalan coffee, attracted not only by its quality but by everything that I believe unites me to these Latin American countries.
-Don't drink coffee, dream coffee-