Sharing mate around the picnic table!
A collection of mates and thermoses!
As a response to my desire to be more attentive to my call to place, I am blogging on my favorite things in Buenos Aires. (See my January 22 post by clicking here.) These favorites are in no particular order of “favoriteness.”
This February our church community enjoyed two summertime picnics about an hour outside the city. These days were a fun time of playing, eating, and relaxing together. Among other things, these days with my Argentine friends reminded how much drinking and sharing mate is something I love about Argentine culture. I have described mate quite a bit on this blog, so I won’t repeat myself. However, for my blog description of mate, click here.
The picnics began and ended with mate and snacks shared around the picnic table. As the mate gourd is passed around the circle from friend to friend, conversation, friendship, and laughter are enjoyed. I had to leave the first picnic early and everyone expressed disappointment that I would miss the time of sharing mate. I have found sharing mate to be a meaningful gesture and act of hospitality, welcome, and friendship. Go to any plaza or park around 5:00 PM in Argentina and you will quickly notice circles of family and friends drinking and sharing mate. I love it!
Sharing mate is a staple activity with the youth and young adults at the train station. Usually one of the first things our friends ask for is our thermos, so we can fill it with hot water (which is available just about anywhere in Argentina). Just about every Sunday afternoon our community gathers to hang out and play. Sharing mate is a common part of these community gatherings. Church events and gatherings always include sharing mate. No visitor to our community can escape trying and experiencing mate.
Our WMF community recently began expressing our commitments to one another through covenant, once a staff member renews his or her contract. As we discussed meaningful symbols to include in our Buenos Aires covenant celebrations, mate was one that all agreed needed to included on the table. We have one specific mate that always goes with us to the train station. Walter bought this mate when he first started building relationships with our friends at the train station. I love how this particular mate represents six years of friendship, welcome and hospitality with our friends, whether sitting on the train station floors or the grass outside in the plaza. So, this mate is a perfect symbol to include in our covenant ceremonies.
So, yep, mate...another favorite thing in Argentina!
1 comments:
I really love how you have been so intentional and attentive to loving and embracing this "place." Very inspiring for me, friend!! Much love...
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