But I didn't realize just how important a role maté plays in Argentine society until I got here. First of all, EVERYONE drinks it. Old, young, men, women, upper class, lower class, maté is
And people drink maté ALL THE TIME. Everywhere. People walk around with thermoses of hot water in their bags, along with a container of loose mate, and the gourd and straw. You can fill up your thermos in many restaurants for a small charge, and there's even these guys that wander around on the streets with carts with containers of hot water that will fill up your thermos.
And if you always have your maté with you, you can have a little tea party virtually anywhere. When I was hiking near Córdoba, when we got to the lookoff at the end of the trail, one of my fellow hikers whipped out her thermos and we had some maté to warm up. When you walk through the park on a Sunday afternoon, families are sitting around under a tree passing the maté gourd around. You see truck drivers drinking maté at red lights, office workers with their maté on their desk.
I really think we should import this habit back to Canada. I mean, really. It barely snows here outside of the deep south. 5 degrees is considered really cold. Why aren't we the ones constantly equipped for instant access to a hot, stimulating beverage? I urge you, Canada, to start a hot beverage revolution.
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