maté

[original post June 8, 2007]

I have been in the capital city, Buenos Aires for a couple of days now. So far, I have seen a little of downtown and some of my barrio (neighborhood), but I should get to see more this weekend. Expect to hear about my visits this weekend to the Recoleta Cemetary (where Eva Perón and many other famous Argentinians are buried) as well as some landmarks downtown. My barrio, Palermo Soho is very fashionable and features many artesianal shops, so I should be able to see some pretty neat shops.

I also got my first maté! It was a prize from Andy for finding daguerri (the parasitic ant) in Brazil and Paraguay. Maté is the national beverage, an addiction shared by all Argentinians. It is almost like drinking tea backwards. The vessel, or mate, is filled with yerba (like bitter tea leaves) and then hot water is poured over the crushed leaves. A bombilla, which is a straw with a seive or spring at the bottom, is placed in the maté, and you can sip maté to your liking. A trick that Andy taught me is that if you want your mate a little smoother than the strong stuff the locals drink, put a wet hand over the dry crushed leaves when you are preparing the mate. It makes for a smoother drink. Drinking maté is a very social event, where it is passed around. A helpful hint, though, if you are finished and do not want any more, just simply say gracias. Oh yeah, and it contains a chemical mateine, which is similar to caffeine but doesn't make you jittery.

Today, we will be setting baits for ants in an area outside of the city (we also did this yesterday). The results are then characterized, giving us an idea of the types of ants and the competition between the species.

Stay tuned for my weekend sight seeing. I will try to get some pictures up as well of the pampas grass!

Chau!