When I think about traditions, I think of important celebrations like Christmas or the Fourth of July, which only happen once a year. However, we also have traditions for everyday use. These probably vary in your family or community. For instance, my family has traditional foods that we eat often, like "rivels and dumplings," which are potatoes and dough dumplings in broth. These foods have been handed down in my father's family for many years. When we eat them, my mom talks about my great grandmother and our German-Irish heritage. These foods are special because they bring us closer as a family. Here in southern Brazil, the drink chimarrão is even more important than these foods. Chimarrão, which people drink both hot and cold, builds community and relaxed conversations.
Do you like tea? Have you ever had loose-leaf tea, the kind where the tea leaves are not in a little bag? Then you have a bit of an idea of what chimarrão looks like. The tea leaves come from the hierva mate plant. Growers pick the tea leaves and some of the twigs to make tea. They grind all of the leaves and twigs into a fine green powder.
To drink chimarrão, you need a mug or cuia, and a metal straw called a bomba. Sandra, Monique's mother showed me how to make it.
