Day Two Hundred Ninety-Nine: Mate

The event at Jeff's school today was a mate (ma-tay) class, and we signed up as soon as we found out about it because mate is super popular here, and we've been curious about it. We have seen it everywhere but previously had no knowledge of what it actually was. But we became quite educated during the class! Mate is short for Yerba Mate, which is a type of leaf that is dried and ground and made into a tea, usually with a little sugar added. The special cup used to drink the beverage also goes by the same name.

Drinking mate is a social thing, almost like a ceremony, and everyone drinks from the same cup through the same bombilla (special mate straw that filters out the leaves), which I found completely disgusting. But, I tried it anyway because I wanted to be brave and embrace the "yes, and" spirit and not offend the teacher, who was teaching the class on a voluntary basis and who was very enthusiastic and sweet. The drink itself tasted fine, but I was very turned off by the act of drinking after others, especially strangers. The teacher said I was supposed to make a wish since it was my very first mate, and I wished that I would not pick up any awful germs! No joke. Thankfully, I was only the second person to drink the mate because I don't think I could have done it if I would have had to watch everyone else drink out of that cup and then had my turn!

We also learned that there are other social aspects to the act of drinking the mate, one of which was sort of ugly. After each person take a few sips, more mate and water are added for the next person, but if you are upset with someone and want to send them a subtle/not-so-subtle message, you can make them a "long" mate with more water, probably meant to shut them up because they have more to drink. The class was fascinating, and I'm glad we gained the education, but I now feel like I have done this and don't ever feel the need to do it again!

Mate, anyone?!