Chimarrão (Yerba Mate)

 I would call Chimarrão (pronounced She-Ma-How for the English speakers reading this) a ritualistic social drink. It is a loose-leaf tea made from ervamate, and is prepared in a special way. Chimarrão is a tradition of the Gauchos (Ga-Oo-Show) here in Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. It is also found in Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Argentina, and other Brasilian states, but with less popularity.  The cup in which Chimarrão is prepared is called a Cuia (coo-ya). It is traditionally made out of the narrowing part of a gourd. 

The straw that has essentially a mini-colander on one end is called a bomba.  The higher quality bombas are made of stainless steel.

The Ritual: Hot water is put into a 1-liter thermos; the water is best just short of boiling. The Erva is then prepared in the Cuia normally by the owner of the house, or the most experienced participant, or by who ever the owner asks to do it. The person who prepares the Chimarrão takes the 1^st turn and drinks all of the water from the Cuia. When the Cuia is empty the drinker often makes a slurping noise. The Cuia is then refilled with water by the preparer and passed to the next person in line. If you are sitting in a circle it usually rotates around the circle, regardless of the formation the order is always maintained. If someone joins the group they are usually offered the next turn and thus are in that spot of the order. Below is a list of the 10 commandments of Chimarrão that I have translated to English for you all.  The 6^th commandment is VERY important because if the bomba is move it will most likely cause it to clog.

The 10 commandments of Chimarrão:

1.     Thou shall not put sugar in the Mate

2.     Thou shall not say Chimarrão is unsanitary

3.     Thou shall not say the Mate is too hot

4.     Thou shall not leave the Cuia half-full

5.     Thou shall not be ashamed of “slurping” as you finish

6.     Thou shall not move the Bomba

7.     Thou shall not alter the serving order

8.     Thou shall not fall asleep with the Cuia in hand

9.     Thou shall not condemn the owner of the house for taking the 1^st turn

10. Thou shall not say Chimarrão causes throat cancer

If you have had enough, then when you have finished your turn, as you hand the Cuia back to the person serving the Chimarrão you say “obrigado”. This means “Thank You”, but in context it is a signal for I don’t want any more.  If the water runs out and some people still want more Chimarrão you simply refill the thermos with more hot water.

Chimarrão is very social, and a huge part of the culture in Rio Grande do sul.

Museo de Futebol

In São Paulo, while I wasn’t taking pictures of Graffiti, I had the chance to visit the soccer museum they have there. I have to say, it is one of the coolest museums I have ever been in. For starters it is located in Pacaembú Stadium, with part of it taking you underneath the bleachers. When you first enter the museum you come to a path that has smaller goal frames lining it. Each frame represents a World Cup, and each crossbar has the host countries name printed on it and “Why did we win?” or “Why did we lose?”
 

I found the attributions for loss in 1986, and 1998 to be the most interesting. In 86- “Because Maradona, unhappily, was not born in Mato Grosso do sul” for those of you who don’t know Maradona was an Argentine soccer star who most Brasilians are NOT a fan of. In 98- “Because the real Brasilian Futebol ghost is not Uruguayan” After reading about the Cup wins and losses I continued on and came across some wonderful facts that are quite relevant to my field of study. For example did you know in England during the 1966 World Cup coffee was prohibited because the English considered it a stimulant? However, the Brasilians asked why English Tea was not also prohibited, and the subject was said to be dropped there. Somewhere in the middle of the museum I had a chance to play foosball on tables that varied greatly in the configurations of players.

I also got a chance to pop my head into the actual arena.

The museum was filled with all kinds of terms of the game and displays of the development of equipment. These were exciting to me as a sports fanatic and would make a die-hard soccer fan feel as if they found the Holy Grail. I would like to share a few more fun facts about Brasilian Futebol here. The biggest win in Brasilian Futebol history was during the Rio de Janeiro state championship of 1909 Botafogo beat Mangueira 24-0. The most expulsions in a game was 22, when a fight broke out between Botafogo and Portuguesa in a 1954 tournament match. The fastest goal scored in Brasilian Futebol history was in 3.17 seconds, by Fred of América- MG in 2003. Next I’ll talk about the lower level of the museum that has a ton of interactive activities that use projection. They had one game that projected on to the floor. It was similar to air hockey, but it was futebol themed so you blocked and kicked with your feet. They also had an area where you could kick an actual ball at a goal with a projected goalie on the wall and it would tell you the speed of your kick. I did not wait in line for this because a few school groups were in line making it a very long wait. If you enjoy sports at all and find yourself in São Paulo this museum is a must see. It is exciting, interactive, and teaches you about History of the Sport and Brasilian culture as it is tied to the Sport.

Acarajé

Acarajé is a delicious sandwich type snack typical of the Brasilian state of Bahia. One thing you need to aware of when trying it is that Bahian hot sauce is very strong, but also very tasty. The bun for this sandwich is fried in palm oil, and the dough is made from peeled black-eyed peas. Inside it has shrimp (they often aren’t peeled) and a few different pastes. This is great snack or you can eat a couple for dinner. This dish embodies the African roots in this part of Brasil and boy does it taste awesome!