Mate Mania!

What is mate? (pronounced Mah-tay) It's kind of like green tea, but it's much more. Very much an Argentinian cultural institution. It is everywhere. Everyone drinks it, all the time, everywhere. But it isn't just Argentinia's Coca-Cola (everyone drinks that too) but a social custom. Mate is shared among friends from a single mate mug, sipped through a straw which is usually made of silver, often with some ornate metalwork. They love it, couldn't imagine life without it. MateMania! For the record, I find it quite nice as well. A bitter variant on green tea but very tasty, to be sure.

And now, for the first time in this blog's history......(drum roll please) ........ PICTURES! BTW, these were all taken at the Recoleta/Plaza Francia street fair that happens every Sunday.

P.S. Apparently I can't rotate the pix. For now, you'll have to twist and turn. I'll fix this when I get home, to my MACINTOSH!!!!