By Eugenio Leitón Vargas, San Luis, Costa Rica
I am going to take this opportunity to write of my memories of the history of our family, evolving around the coffee crops in the highlands of San Luis, Monteverde. Though I am not too old, I have stories from the time I was very small — carrying lunch to my father and climbing coffee trees. My mother and father also have many stories to share; they have written their part.
Above: Eugenio (far right) with his immediate family in June 2007: his wife Miriam (to his left), his father (next left), son Daniel (next left). To the left of Miriam is Eugenio’s mother, and Eugenio is resting his hand on his daughter Felicia’s shoulder (right). At the back is his son Marco, who is graduating from the Monteverde Friends School in this photo, June 2007.
My father is Francisco Vargas and mother is Herminda Leitón. We are six brothers and six sisters, and I am the oldest. My first memories go back to 1965 when I started primary school, bringing lunch to my father at the coffee farm. At the time the farm belonged to my uncle, José. Uncle lived in Santa Elena and Papa was in charge of the coffee farming. Some years he was paid a wage and other years he received part of the crop in pay for his labor. Around ‘our’ farm was my grandpa’s bigger coffee farms. Uncle Miguel Leitón told me that our great grandpa, Ramon Leitón was the first one to bring coffee seeds to San Luis. I estimate that must have been around the 1920. I remember seeing some of the oldest coffee plants in San Luis, that were still in production after more than 40 years planted by Ramon Leitón.