the magic of mate

along with dulce de leche and tango, mate (pronounced mah-tay for those who don't know) was one of those quintessential argentine things i knew about before arriving here in buenos aires, but assumed that the extent to which people actually drank the stuff was a total exaggeration. as i quickly learned when i got here, mate ain't no overhyped tourist myth. mate mania is the real deal and plays a huge role in the social culture of all argentines, a symbol of friendship and amiability that emerges in millions of small encounters every day: students pass their gourds around in the middle of class, near strangers share mate on freezing cold days, professors sip to stay awake during their lectures. i too am now jumping onto the mate bandwagon. nowadays, i can't get enough of the stuff!!

my first two months here in argentina, i taste-tested mate on several different occasions but had never REALLY taken mate like a true argentine, that's to say drinking the herbal infusion incessantly throughout the day. mainly because, no matter how many artisan markets i've perused in search of the perfect gourd, i still have not found my mate match. (and you gotta have good vibes with your mate gourd, obvi). when i explained this to my argentine grandmother, whose veins practically run with mate at this point, i almost gave her a heart attack. she was NOT pleased. so, she whipped out an extra mate gourd my host family had lying around, showed me the exact amount of yerba i should pour into the cup, grabbed a metal bombilla, and voilá!! i was ready for the mate big leagues. then, in her usual excitableness and enthusiasm (i swear she's the argentine reincarnation of comedian betty white) she proceeded to drag my host brother iñaki out from his room for a photo shoot. he was a good sport and snapped some shots of me and my newly manifested argentinian-ness. my hilarious grandma, whom i call abu (short for abuela), also requested a "sexy shot" of me holding my new favorite drink. again, you gotta love home stays.

 not one of the various "sexy shots" i was forced to take....
most of those got deleted quite quickly. sorry abu!! 

for my immediate family members who are reading (what up doggs!!!) i've finally been able to pinpoint exactly what mate tastes like, just bear with me despite how bizarre this realization will sound: if the alisal ranch's smell could be turned into a taste, mate would be the result. seems crazy but soon you will all see. enlightened and addicted you shall all soon be!! just like me!! (got a tad carried away on the rhymes there, sorry). but yes, little by little i am starting to actually like the bitter taste, very woody and earthy but still quite good. something you get used to over time i suppose. and the caffeine and health benefits are just too good to pass up!! herbal infusions and minerals galore!! to the gannon fam if any of you are reading, mate is the new monavie for me jajajajaja!!!!

i used to be a germ freak to the sixth degree. for better or for worse, argentina is weeding out those childhood cooties slowly but surely. unlike us americans, argentines have zero preoccupations about germs and contagiousness. according to my anthropology professor, she has even shared mate with could-be tuberculosis-carriers in indigenous communities in northern argentina. everyone shares mate together and never prefaces a slurp with a suspicious "estás enfermo??" like i normally would back in the states. which is funny to me sometimes, since argentines absolutely FREAK OUT on my behalf when i walk into a café and dump my belongings on the floor. to argentines, potentially getting a little dirt on my leather purse is  practically a death sentence. but passing spit around in a social circle of multiple different people?? no big deal!! argentines are funny like that. culturally, i'm not sure if this openness means that argentines are less paranoid about getting sick in general or that they simply place a higher trust in other individuals. either way, i would wonder why that might be and where the difference might come from. it's a cultural and social difference that might be interesting to explore and continue thinking about.

but enough with my anthro-infested tangents. the main point is, i now love mate!! i am still on the prowl for the perfect gourd but one day soon i'll find my soul mate (ooooo clever clever me dropping bilingual puns). then i'll be able to share the drink with others and truly embody the argentine obsession with mate. right now, i desperately gotta go back and refill my cup!! and i thought i was addicted to dulce de leche?? psshhh!!!