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Experiencing Beautiful Costa Rica! |
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We have just returned from a trip to the coffee farms of colorful Costa Rica! As our airplane landed at the international airport outside of San Jose, it was dark already. Our flight was late out of Miami, but we were still excited to finally get to Costa Rica. Then reality hit us! We needed to get to the Siempreverde (meaning 'always green') Bed and Breakfast on our own, ruling out our initial plans of renting a car. As we negotiated for a cab, many of them were not sure where to go. Finally, one cab driver came forward and said, "I know where to go." As we were walking toward his cab, we spied a hand-made sign with our names on it! Two wonderful people from the DOKA Plantation stayed up late and came to pick us up, to take us to our B. and B. The Siempreverde Bed & Breakfast is affiliated with the DOKA Plantation. They had been waiting for several hours for our plane. We thought "how considerate of them," and as we soon discovered, there would have been no way for us to find our own way there in the dark. As we started to drive up the mountain, we couldn't believe how dark it was, and the road seemed to go on forever. As we arrived at Siempreverde, we met Jesus the groundskeeper, who had a big smile on his face at 2:00 a.m. In Spanish, he gave us a warm welcome, which we somehow understood, even with our very limited grasp of the language. We then settled into a short night's sleep, as we knew breakfast would be at 7:30 the next morning.
The next morning we were up early and we went downstairs to look around. What a site for our eyes to see! It was a beautiful bright green landscape with the mountains in the background. As a coffee trainer, Don always thought that coffee trees all had canopy trees above and over them, in order to protect them from the heat, but that is not the case in this part of Costa Rica. Most of the year, there is a cloud cover and the temperature is about 68F to 88F year-round. By the cloud cover, these trees have natural shade from the sun. Each morning we had a typical Costa Rican breakfast of scrambled eggs, "gallo pinto," which is a rice and black bean dish, fresh papaya, pineapple, toast, and of course, some of that wonderful Costa Rican coffee! That first morning, the DOKA Plantation sent a car to take us to our meeting, which was our reason for coming to Costa Rica. As we drove even further up the mountain, the scenery was incredible! When we arrived, they led us into an open-air pavilion, gave us a cup of their famous coffee, and we waited to meet Alexandra. She was fluent in both Spanish and English, which was a big help. The topic of our meeting was "How we can partner together to educate people about quality coffees?" The pavilion would be an ideal open-air classroom that could seat up to 150 people. As you look out, you can see thousands of acres of coffee trees, with banana trees planted in between them, to help break the wind.
In the afternoon, the plantation driver took us back to the B. and B., because we did not have our own car as yet. It was looking like there would be no dinner for us that night! However, our luck changed when we met a delightful couple from Belgium, also staying at the inn. Their names were Dirk and Els, and they were in Costa Rica, looking to migrate from Belgium. After sitting, talking, and getting to know them for awhile, they invited us to go out to dinner with them. They had found a nice restaurant that overlooked the city of San Jose. How could we resist? What a stunning view it was, with all the bright city lights! The dinner was also very good similar to Mexican food, yet different. We had some wine with dinner, and our conversation flowed for hours. What was shaping up to be a sad, hungry night by ourselves, turned out to be full of fun, food, and fellowship!
The next morning we rented a car and explored a little bit on our own. We wanted to see where the people live and what they do each day. Beverly loves the ocean, so that morning we were on our way to the closest beach, which was Playa Tarcoles on the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica. It was a long 3-hour drive, but it was worth it. The winding drive reminded us a little of the road to Hana, Maui in Hawaii. As we neared the coast, we saw many people looking down from a high bridge. Curiosity made us stop, and what a surprise we found real live crocodiles were living beneath the bridge in the Tarcoles River! When we arrived at the beach, we stopped to have dinner, and enjoyed a spectacular sunset. As we headed back, we stopped at roadside vendors that sell everything from fresh fruit to handcrafted items. What we found on our first day's venture is that Costa Rica is still wild and untamed in many respects, from its natural beauty to its wildlife.
We were in Costa Rica for only a week, and now we realize that one week was not enough time, to truly see all that this lovely country has to offer. Besides two oceans (the Pacific Ocean on the west coast and the Caribbean Sea on the east coast), there are the rainforest reserves with canopy tours, the coffee plantations, the waterfalls and lagoons, the tropical flora and fauna, and best of all, the friendly people and their hospitable way of life. What a magnificent place to come to have a training program about Costa Rican quality coffees! If you have never been to Costa Rica, you should take the short two-hour plane trip down from Miami. Many pleasant surprises awaits you!
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Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_80564_29.html |
About the Author
Occupation: Sales Management
I was born in the Ghetto. Of course, it was not by choice. Let me tell you some of my story of how I went from the Ghetto to my MBA.
I was born on the eastside of San Jose, California, USA. I hated people for most of my young life. I had a mother who was never home. My father left my mother when I was 6 months old, and I had no contact with him. Because of my sad circumstances, I joined a gang called the Blue Jackets. Later on, I became the president of the gang, staying in it until I was eighteen years old. I was involved in five gang wars by the time I was fourteen years old. In one of the gang fights, I lost my best friend, Hector Lopez. I will never forget his name because he took a knife that was supposed to go into my body. In another fight, I was hit on the head with a bottle that knocked me out cold. There was a lot of pain for me in those days. I was taken to Juvenile Hall for the first time at nine years of age, and I was in and out at least twenty times before I hit eighteen.
At that time in my life, I started to realize that there was something wrong with my life. During this time, I met a girl by the name of Beverly, who was from the other side of the tracks. She helped me to realize that I needed a change in my life, so I decided to go into the U.S. Army. My enlistment really helped me grow up and see things in a different light. During this time, Beverly and I got married and we had a son and daughter. To this day, we have been happily married. When I was in the Army, I did get my GED. I have always been a hard and ambitious worker, so when I left the Army, I immediately got my first job delivering milk to homes. Yes, I was a milkman! As a milkman, I had the time to go back to school and then college.
I worked my way up the ladder with a few companies, going from a sales person to the GM/CEO of First Choice Services, a consumer products company. In May 27 of 1996, I got my BBA and in May of 2000, I received my MBA.
As a business consultant, I have had the privilege of working with some companies internationally, as I really enjoy working with people from other cultures. I have learned so much from friends that we have in Japan, Australia, the U.K., The Philippines, Korea, and Costa Rica, just to mention a few.
Presently, I am a Business Consultant for One Cup International Consulting Group. My background in sales, sales management, and operations provide strong organizational credentials.
I have over 20 years experience as an employee and consultant with such companies as: Langendorf Bread, Coffee Systems, Inc., Bobart Consulting, Inc., San Jose Chamber of Commerce, Turning Point Programs, Majordomo Services, Inc., First Choice Services (a division of Daiohs, Inc.), Associated Services, F. Gavina and Sons, Inc., Take a Break Service, Lindsey Coffee Company, and at the present time, One Cup International Consulting Group.
My goal as a business consultant has always been to help companies build their sales, management, and marketing teams and/or reorganize their business, so they can make a profit or improve their bottom line. As a team player, I work with management and operations to get the best results.
Finally, let me say that I am looking for a new career that will both reward me inwardly in my personal growth, and financially. I am a very active person. As a business consultant, I find that I have too much time on my hands. I want to be more actively involved, helping grow a sales staff or a business, by using my many skills. As you can see from my opening statements, I have endured much in my life, but out of lemons, I’ve decided to make lemonade.
I am available for sales and management seminars. Also, I would be glad to do seminars for any organization, to reach young people, in order to help them get out of the ghetto and poverty. I require a small honorarium, plus traveling expenses.
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