Juan, my thirty year old "brother," has been helping me with my homework these past few days. A couple of assignments require that we talk to our host families, and Juan has been a great brother to discuss Argentinian culture, NorthAmerican culture, conjugating verbs. He even cooks! For my most recent assignment, I had to prepare mate for my family and put some steps in order on a worksheet. Juan's way of preparing mate- a bitter, caffeinated drink very popular amongst people from Argentina- was completely different from my worksheet. He put many spoonfuls of yerba (the herb) into the mate, a distinct cup made of wood or a dried shell of a fruit or something else, poured in some tea, added copious amounts of sugar, and drank.
For others, mate takes hours to prepare, packing the yerba into the bowl, wetting and coating the bombilla (awesome straw with a bulbous head with holes in it) in sugar, slowing adding hot (but not quite boiling) water, and other steps. For many in Argentina, mate is a cultural symbol that unites people across difference and is a tangible excuse for coming together to chat with others. In my Spanish class, we read a piece by Lalo Mir, a satirist who exaggerated the power of mate to erase all differences of age, class, race, political ideas, gender, etc. His humor style reminded me of Garrison Keilor and his creation of Lake Woebegon. While he was hyperbolic, there is something to be said about the power of mate, which many of my professors/advisors/friends drink.Also, I cooked dinner for Elvira tonight. Juan wasn't home but Elvira and I shared some stir fry- rice, chicken, some vegetables, stuff I improvised because I was sick of eating pasta and beef. I think it was a success but now we have lots of leftovers!
Another thought- upon entering a house, meeting a person, going to bed, waking up, or leaving a house, it is common to give a kiss to those around you. I greet Elvira and Juan with kisses. While I am not used to doing this at my home in the States to friends or family, I really like the intentionality of greeting someone, letting them know when you arrive and leave and that you appreciate their presence. And so, I leave with a kiss!
I was wondering if there are any regional differences in kissing for greeting? In France, for example, the number of kisses you exchange varies according to the region you are in (two in the South, four in the Paris area etc...).
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