Buenos Aires Moonrise

February remains hot, with daytime temperatures usually in the mid 30s. The early evening brings a welcome coolness to our barrio. The birds are noisy and then quiet, traffic seems to subside (though it never really subsides much at all), and many portenos prepare to walk and dine after the sun sets. These photos were taken in the large parks area referred to as los Bosques de Palermo (the Palermo Woods).

Amauta Spanish School ~ Mate: Argentina's drink

Today during my class at the Amauta Spanish School, Cesar introduced us to the Argentine national drink called mate (pronounced mat-ay). This is a drink often shared with friends. It is made from a rather large bunch of yerba leaves, twigs and stems (in Argentina, yerba is pronounced share-bah) and hot water. The water is hot, never boiling. The yerba is put into a gourd and the water is added. Often it is a bit harsh or strong tasting at first, and sugar is added, and more water, usually from a thermos bottle (called a termo). It is a process to develop a smooth tasting drink, and it seems a personal, daily quest to achieve that perfect mate.

The flavour of mate is reminiscent of green tea, though with a more freshly mowed lawn kind of taste. Maybe a lawn with quite a few weeds. Not to every one's liking.

The metal straw is called a bombilla (pronounced bome-bee-cha). The metal straw has a filter-like thing on the end so one doesn't swallow a bunch of the yerba leaves and stems. Something to be avoided apparently.

Mate is everywhere in this city, but due to the nature of personal taste, and the need to share that perfect taste, it isn't served in cafes or restaurants. It is common to see relaxing taxi drivers sharing a gourd of mate at any hour of the day or night, or to see young people in a park passing a gourd around, with its bombilla, adding hot water from a termo. Thermos bottle sales in this country must be astronomical.

In every mercado I've been in, the shelf space provided yerba is as much as that offered coffee, more in some cases. Yerba mate is a big deal indeed.

Amauta Spanish School ~ First Day of School

Sherry's first day of school began early in the morning with a long walk to the Amauta Spanish School. Well, actually it began with a macchiato and a medialuna at a cafe near the apartment, and then the long walk. It was a beautiful day, with a just a hint of autumn in the air.

Sherry arrives and like every student on the first day, poses for a photo and then enters the building to meet others in her class.

Sherry meets one of her classmates. Mika is from Holland, as are many others at the school, including the two young fellows to the right, Luuk and Wessal. They speak Dutch, German, English and a bit of French. They have finished high school and are taking a year to travel before going to university. I have socks older than these guys.




Sherry, first in the classroom (five others will arrive soon), meets her first teacher of the morning, Magali. After two intense hours with Magali, she will meet the charming, and humorous, Cesar, and spend another two hours in class.





So you might ask "Where is Jeem in all of this?" and "What was the result of our faithful correspondent's placement?" Well, Sherry and I are not in the same class, that's for sure. More about my experiences at language school,and the great activities they have us doing, later.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2013 by Jim Murray.