Still in Ecuador. Ecuador has some of the finest coffee in the world. There has been excellent coffee in Ecuador probably since the Incas, but recently high-end coffee has also arrived it to Ecuador.
No, I can’t draw that…but I can drink that.
Wilmer is a friend of mine and was weaned on the finest Arabica beans since he drank them from a bottle. I have known him for over 20 years. He is the driver at the school in Ecuador where we are building classrooms. The coffee he can find at the neighborhood store is excellent.
From time to time we end up at the airport in the middle of the night to pick people up. It can make for a long night. Flights are often delayed several hours. Immigration lines can seem never ending.
By the time the arriving people suffer through their delay, receive their bags, going through customs, having their bag x-rayed (yes, you read that right) and exit into the humid Guayaquil night a 10 pm arrival can mean a 2 am exit.
With very few seats in the arrival area it means standing around for hours on end, shifting from one leg to another, counting the number of tiles on the floor (1376!).
When we go I try to offer Wilmer something to eat or drink while we wait, even though it is Ecuador, we are still at the airport and have airport pricing.
Tom Cruise is paying Katie Holmes around a million dollars a year in child support which leads me to believe she is doing her grocery shopping at airport.
Coffees are a couple of bucks, which in a country where the average salary is $20/day is quite dear. I was not in the mood for coffee. The bean juice after 10 pm means no sleepy for me but I am trying to be nice so I offer.
Me: you want some coffee?
Wilmer: yea, please
(I start to walk to the Juan Valdez coffee shop)
Wilmer: Make that a cappuccino
(Me, still walking but making a quizzical look)
Wilmer: A Vanilla Cappuccino
And just like that Wilmer is a coffee snob.
He is been drinking regular coffee for 20 years. But these trips to the airport and subsequent coffees have given him a refined pallet.
Does he want a coffee? No.
Café con leche? No.
Latte? No.
A non fat, vanilla cappuccino please, extra foam.
