Argelia is a cook. She has a peaceful life; she spends her days in her garden and kitchen, and enjoys preparing delicious stews and breads for the coffee workers who come here every day to eat. She works Monday through Friday, and on weekends she prepares for the following week when she is told how many people will be working the fields. She is tall, dark-haired, and good looking. Her white house has a tiled roof, red windows, and a red door.

Flowerpots surround the house, and nearby she has planted plantains and peppers, as well as lemon trees for lemonade and wood for her kitchen. And hanging on her house is a cross made of bamboo, or what they call guadua, that is over two meters long.

In her spotless kitchen, Agrelia’s pots, shiny as mirrors, hang on the wall waiting to be used. On the fire there are cast iron pots filled with steaming sancocho, rice, and thick red beans that she prepares daily, as they are a must for the evening menu. While we talk, she looks out the kitchen window at her daughter. Then she offers us some juice from guavas freshly picked from a tree in her garden, sweet and refreshing perfect for an afternoon like today. When we walk to her field looking for ideal picture locations, we pass by her husband, silently sitting at a table he is keeping her company today while he recovers from being sick. Her daughter helps with the afternoon chores and is never far from Agrelia, to whom we listen and photograph.

Argelia cooks daily on a fixed schedule for about 70 workers with big appetites. At dawn, she offers them a tinto, a hot cup of aromatic black coffee, to send them off to work. A couple of hours later, while it’s still cold outside, it’s breakfast time. She boils some water to make agua de panela, a cold, sweet beverage, and prepares thick, smooth chocolate for a hot beverage. She also bakes golden arepas, made of freshly ground corn, which she serves hot. This concludes the morning stage, which gives the workers strength to pick coffee until midday. When the sun is high and the air has warmed up, everyone returns to Argelia’s for lunch. The menu changes daily. Today it’s the sancocho I saw cooking in her kitchen earlier today, with yucca, plantains, rice soup, pasta and meat; other days it’s another comforting and nutritious favorite. Every day she sends the coffee pickers back to work loaded with energy after sharing a delicious meal cooked with care. When the sun sets and the workday is over, the workers return for supper. They remain at Argelia’s until late, resting or playing tejo or cards, or simply chatting before returning home or to the bunks to sleep and then rise again at 5:30 a.m. to enjoy their send-off tintos.