Mate

One thing I really like about our class is that we're able to talk our teachers into doing different things. On Friday we suggested to Marcela that we go to this newly renovated cafe near school - Cafe de los Angelitos. It was an old tango hangout and has been in the process of being renovated for like 15 years or something. They had their grand opening this past week. So instead of taking our break, we went to Cafe de los Angelitos and had our break and the rest of our class there.

Today we had already decided that we were going to a place to drink mate (pronounced ma-tey). Mate is actually the container that you drink it out of. The herb that goes inside is called yierba, and the whole thing is often called yerba mate. I'm not sure of the correct spelling of yierba/yerba, so I'll use both. I have a bag sitting less that 10 feet away from me, but I'm too lazy to get up and look.

Yerba mate is something the indigenous people drank before the Spaniards arrived and wiped them all out. It is supposed to be very healthy, anti-oxident, energizing (natural energy), etc. I guess it didn't help the indians though, since they're all but completely erased from Argentine soil.

In Buenos Aires mate is not as popular as in the countryside and supposedly in Uruguay, where you can see people on the streets with their mate gourd filled with yerba and carrying a thermos of hot water. I've occasionally seen people come into restaurants to get their thermos refilled with hot water.

Our plan for today was to go to a place where we could drink mate, but we also had to prepare presentations on two people - one from Argentina and one from our country.

It turned out to be a great thing to do. I'm happy to report I am no longer the worst student in the class. It's only because the other students were all pretty wiped out. Mike went to Iguazu, the gigantic waterfalls that are on the Brazilian/Argentine border, and his plane was delayed so that he didn't get into Buenos Aires until early this morning (like 3 a.m. or something like that). Anna went to visit some friends who live in a place called Rafaela, and returned by overnight bus last night, also arriving early this morning, and Cynthia was coming down with a cold. I also feel like I'm catching something, but at least I was here this weekend and did do a little preparation for today's class. I also got to class early and Marcela commented that I'm always early and therefore 'the best student' (she may not have said the best, but she did comment on me being a good student). So my reputation has been salvaged.

This is not a competition, but it was important for me to at least give the appearance that I am trying.

So anyway, we ordered our mate and some food. I got a little piece of ricotta cheesecake which was quite good. Cynthia got a full meal and Mike and Anna got snacks. I did my presentations first. I was really nervous, but it was better doing this in a cafe than in front of the class.

First I talked about Mercedes Sosa, who is an Argentine folk singer. I first heard her sing at a celebration for the 5th anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship, when I was there in 1984. She was incredible and I didn't realize at the time what a treat it was to see her perform live (though I don't remember seeing her, just hearing her, so we must have had really bad seats or there were a lot of people or I had drunk too much Nicaraguan rum).

For my "American" person, I chose Harvey Milk. I thought it would be interesting to talk about a gay person, and also I thought he was someone people didn't know much about. Marcela was really blown away by his story and the fact that Dan White, who killed him and Mayor Moscone got a 5 year probation as a sentence. It really is an incredible story - kill the mayor and a city supervisor and get 5 years probation. Totally sick.

The yerba mate is bitter. I bought a mate gourd at the Recoleta artisan fair a few weekends ago and got some mate when I went with Larry to Jumbo. I thought I'd be drinking that instead of green tea. But when I made it, it was very bitter and I thought I had done something wrong. What I wasn't doing was adding sugar. I hate to add sugar to things, but it really helped. We'll see if I become a mate drinker or not.

After class, I hung out a bit with Larry who is undergoing some extensive dental work and is not a happy camper, though he seems to be taking it all in stride. It is a lucky thing to be in a country which has decent, reliable medical care and need to have work done. It's costing him fractions of what it would cost in the States and his insurance will reimburse him. After saying good-bye to him, I made my way home.

I passed this little homemade ravioli place. I looked in the window and considered going in and then changed my mind. I walked a few steps and went back and went inside. There were two women working there and no customers.

I pointed to some ravioli in the case which were made with two colors of dough. I asked what they were, meaning what was inside, but I think she told me what the dough was. Then she pointed to orange ones and told me something about them, and then pointed to other round dumplings and told me they were sorrentini (I think). She also said they had gnocchi.

I then asked a question about the sorrentini, I think I asked what was inside. She told me they were filled with cheese and rattled off other fillings, then pointed to the black and white ravioli and told me what they were filled with and then the orange ravioli and told me what they were filled with as well as the other filling options.

I think even if this had been done in English, I would have been lost, but I was particularly lost because there were so many options and I had no idea what she had just told me. But I wanted to buy some.

So, I frankly said, "in reality, I don't think I understand." They asked me what language I spoke and I said English. One of the woman was prepared to translate for me, but I said, "I speak Spanish, but I don't understand all of the fillings."

It was amazing. I don't know what they did differently, but she patiently took her time and explained once again and I understood that the black and white ravioli were filled with smoked salmon, the orange ones were filled with asparagus, and then she opened the freezer and showed me some of the other options. I opted for the black and white ravioli with smoked salmon inside because they were really pretty.

I was really exhausted and came home and put them in the freezer. I think I'll cook them the next time Hernan comes over. I heated up some lentils, ate them and watched a little TV until I started to fall asleep. I turned off the TV and got in bed to take a nap. I ended up sleeping for about 2 hours and woke up so groggy I went out to take a walk to wake up a bit.

My throat is feeling a bit scratchy and I'm sneezing, so I am definitely coming down with a cold. I brought some tea tree oil with echinachea with me and I am spraying my throat periodically, so hopefully I won't get too sick. I'm not sure why I'm getting sick. I spent the whole weekend relaxing. I guess it's one of the hazards of winter.

It's hot in here and I have the window open. I can hear someone singing and playing the guitar and smell some incredible cooking that is making me very hungry. I might have to forage in the refrigerator to see what goodies I can eat.