Las Terrazas, Cuba
We were at Las Terrazas, a settlement high in the jungles of
Cuba’s highest mountain range. There, nestled away in Cuba’s sunny, mountainous
countryside on the shores of a quiet, green mountain lake, pale homes with
clay-colored roofs and open windows lay tucked into the hillsides among the
mango trees, bromeliads, and hibiscus hedges.
The group had stopped to visit a tiny coffee shop that was
decades old. Our guide, Julio, told us that Café
de María had started as support for a servant, María, in the 1940’s when she
lost her husband. A business man came and had a cup of her coffee, which she
worked daily to make locally for plantation owners and neighbors.
“This must be hard for you,” the business man had said.
María had nodded.
