Friday, April 26, 2013

Yerba mate around the world...

I started drinking yerba mate while I was in my mothers womb. 
At least, thats what Im told. 
I do have memories, sitting with my brother in our little chairs, in Paraguay. We would use lemon aid instead of water, passing the guampa back and forth. 
It was always a social thing. Someone would stop by for a visit and my parents, no matter what they were doing, would stop and prepare yerba. We would sit together, chatting about life, passing it around. To me it speaks of family, heritage, community and togetherness. I always loved how my parents made time for people, making them feel valued. Yerba mate is an extension of that. If you have spent any amount of time in my parents house, you have been offered to partake. Hopefully you accepted! 

Thankfully, I married a man who loves the horn. He starts every morning with mate (the hot version, terere is when we drink it cold) and reading his bible. 
I love it. 
We have shared mate in many countries across this beautiful world, and I thought I would share some of those memories with you. 
No matter where we are, mate always makes us feel at home.

Recently the kids here in Thailand have been drinking terere with us (well, once we are have drank enough that its weak! We do want them to sleep at night!) Andrew has been teaching them the "rules" and they love participating! They sit patiently and wait their turn. Its adorable






We enjoyed it in Jordan, especially in the evenings, on the rooftop! 


In Israel we shared the love with all we met. Our roommates loved it. We would prepare terere, then they would make arabic coffee! An awesome (jittery!) exchange! 




In India we drank it a lot. It was our connection to normalcy in a difficult season. We hooked our friends in Dehli and they have since requested that we send them their own guampa! 


In Halong Bay, Vietnam, it was the perfect way to wake up on the ship! The scenery wasn't too bad either! 


I love this picture. It captures Andrews travelling style so much. Relaxed, bible close-by, yerba in hand.  We enjoyed drinking away many hours on buses and trains! 



A trip to the beach is never complete without terere! 


In Phuket, we celebrated Andrews birthday on the beach, our faithful guampa by our side. 


There were many times when I (now) wish I would have captured moments of us drinking yerba. In Greece in our tiny rented apartment. Walking the streets of New York City. On the longboat in Laos, watching elephants pull logs.

 We brought 5 kilos with us and have been sent another 5 by our parents. 
10 kilos in 14 months. Awesome.
There were times when we were about to reach the end of a bag and we would just pray, "Please make it last another week!" and it would! 
It was awesome. 
Maybe it was God, maybe it was good portion control. Either way, we have immensely enjoyed drinking yerba around the world. It has started conversations, hydrated us, kept us sane, bonded us together, and made us feel "home" wherever we are. 

A friend once told me, while in Australia, "If I can drink tea, I am home". 
I laughed at the time, but now I couldn't agree more. 

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful post Edolbina. For some reason it kind of made me tear up. Maybe its because I miss you guys so, so much.

    I am sorry to say that I don't share your love of steeped hay, but I do love you. And I love these pictures so much.

    xo

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  2. Did I ever sip from that cup? Either way, I will always associate it with you guys. I had a dear friend I lost who used to drink it all the time as well. Glad it brings up so many happy memories for you two xo

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