Coffee

Ahh...Coffee...  Okay, let's go way back--to my Senior year of college.  Early morning yoga class followed by a cafe' mocha and a David's chocolate chip cookie as big as my head.  I smile just thinking about it... 

Coffee takes me somewhere.  Just the smell of it warms my soul.  (A little dramatic, maybe, but, oh, how I love coffee and coffee AND chocolate--that's a sweet combo!)

I actually worked at Starbucks for a short bit during grad school.  Seriously, the best part-time job I ever had.  All the coffee drinks I could drink during my shift, a free pound of coffee every week, great co-workers, and smelling like a pot of coffee when I took a shower.

And now for how this all relates to this adoption stuff.  We alluded to it in our Christmas letter when we asked, "What do coffee, children and airplanes have in common?"  The answer--our newest addition joining us this year from Ethiopia! 

Yep, Ethiopia is believed to be the birthplace of coffee.  There are a few different versions of the legend of the origin of coffee.  Here's one (from here)...

"The legend is that it is said Kaldi discovered coffee after noticing that his goats became extremely spirited after eating berries from a certain tree – no doubt this was the “coffee tree.” They became so highly spirited or you might say “agitated” as coffee sometimes makes some humans a bit agitated or stimulated, that the goats did not want to sleep at night.


Kaldi was dedicated and loyal to the abbot of the local monastery and promptly reported his findings. The local monastery made a drink with the berries. He discovered the drink made from the berries of no doubt “the coffee tree,” kept him alert in the long hours of evening prayers. It was not long until the abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery. Very slowly, the knowledge about the energizing effects of the berries began to spread throughout the region and on into the east until coffee reached the Arabian Peninsula. At this point coffee began a journey that spread its reputation all over the world."

Love it!

A few more coffee notes (which I am drinking while writing this :) ).  First, did you know that coffee is the 2nd largest traded commodity (after oil)? 

And learning a lot more about Fair Trade these days.  There are many places to buy certified fair trade coffee.  So, what does fair trade mean?   Basically that coffee farmers are paid a fair market value for their product. 

And did you know that when you buy Starbucks' product (RED) coffee FROM AFRICA, TO AFRICA that $1 from that purchase goes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa?  So if you like and buy their coffee, what a cool way to give back!