Homeward Bound

Note: Gabe is traveling to Santa Rosa de Cabal (near Periera) in Colombia to do a 2 week Fullbright Specialist Program Project with La Corporación Universitaria Santa Rosa de Cabal (UNISARC). He’s made a goal to post at least four times (once after returning) to share about this experience.

I have got to be honest; I am excited to be heading home to Milwaukee and looking forward to a good Father’s Day coffee. Seeing family and enjoying our tradition of Ruby’s bagels, a good Colectivo latte, and a park sounds really nice. Still, I am also coming home filled with gratitude, new understandings, and enough coffee to caffeinate an army. 

The “equipo base” from UNISARC took me out Friday night to a quirky little spot for an evening goodbye drink (for me, a guanabana milkshake since it will be a while until I get my favorite fruit again). Andrés—my main contact, purveyor of many laughs and patient answerer of my many questions—asked me how I felt the project went.

It was certainly not an unexpected question but has me thinking a bit deeper as I travel home. On the professional side, I think I was able to do some important work helping UNISARC, its administrators, and its professors to advance what is currently considered a central part of quality education in Colombia: learning objectives.

On the personal side, I had hoped to reconnect with Colombia and engage a bit more with “coffee country.” Coffee is such a central part of my life. I need it for the caffeine. I love talking about different types, ways to make it, and all that goes into it. I enjoy exploring new cafes and meeting people over a latte. One of my favorite parts of my morning routine is making a latte (now flavored, either caramel or pistachio) for my wife. And of course, coffee resonates deeply within me as part of what has been a lifelong journey to feel truly like my Colombian blood and heritage is central to who I – this White gringo – am.

In this aspect, the trip was also a success and finished on the last day with both an actual and metaphorical summiting of the experience. On the actual side, after lunch, Andrés, a few coworkers, and I ventured a kilometer or so (come on, metric system is so much better) up the road from UNISARC to the Hotel Finca del Cafe. We got to try some pretty amazing coffee, take some touristy photos, learn more about coffee, and then climb their mirador (lookout).

The view was quite spectacular, and the experience made me feel both like I finally made it to a coffee farm while I was there and filled me with gratitude for the nature and experience. The hills outside Santa Rosa are truly green, filled with beauty and life in so many ways that I don’t experience in my daily life, and a reminder of how much Colombia has to offer. 

I was certainly seeing the shiny side of the coin with the commercialization of farming for tourism. But across my two weeks and talking with many folks from the area and involved in coffee, there does seem to be a positive energy and movement in the industry there. Tourism has been growing and flourishing, my constant questions about climate change were dismissed (at least in terms of local impacts on the crop), and there seemed to be entrepreneurial energy. I was left both with my love of coffee even stronger and a sense of deeper connection to part of the area that was my great grandfather’s stomping grounds. Certainly more than I have in past trips to the area. 

As I land in Milwaukee, I will be listening to my traditional return song - “Homeward Bound” - and thinking about getting some sleep, our little Midwestern home, and getting to hug my little ones and wife.

P.S. I’ll treat anyone to a coffee if they can guess how many bags I actually brought home. I’ll just say it was more than 1 and less than too many.