Coffee: It’s personal

(Photo: Stephanie Arndt)

Rolling out of bed can be the hardest thing for most of us. Although we have classes to attend, we sometimes ask ourselves whether or not we can use our last free absence today to sleep in. The one thing that still gets me up in the morning is my fresh cup of coffee after a nice, warm breakfast. The aroma of dark-roasted colombian coffee enters my nostrils and raises me up from the dead (literally). How can I describe the earthly feeling I get from holding the cup in between my hands? Well, I’d call it a relationship. Coffee and I have known each other ever since my dad gave me some one night when I couldn’t sleep. Oddly enough, I fell asleep right after drinking it.

Throughout most of my life, coffee has picked me up countless of times and continues to do so without fail. Even when I don’t want to wake up, coffee drags me around until finally slapping my face and coaching me for the day. Well, at least that’s how I envision our relationship most days. Other days it would be sitting at the House of Brews in San Fernando, California, drinking an iced coffee (pictured) on the hottest day of the summer. Though it has been ages since I went there, I still consider it my favorite. I mean, leaving your favorite coffee shop is an incomparable heartache, but for now I’ll make due with the shops around here.

Coffee: liquid caffeine, the drink of the Gods who never woke up early enough to see the sunrise, the drink that was fought over in Central America for being a valued commodity, the drink that was more popular than alcohol itself on the Arabian Peninsula and served at qahveh khaneh. Today they are known as public coffee shops–Starbucks, Biggby, etc–where people played chess, watched performers or exchanged news. They were also known as “Schools of Wisdom” after many people sought out this araby wine that people began to love. So next time when you’re in a coffee shop, have some coffee, relax, maybe strike up a conversation and enjoy the smell. Be sure to celebrate National Coffee Day tomorrow, September 29, at your local shop!