My first Mate

I woke up yesterday morning to see James and Mark, the puma hunter, sipping mate from a foreign-looking drinking vessel...wooden bowl and silver pipe. I joined them for my first mate experience, which was quite relaxing and enjoyable, even though I hate tea.

Mark taught me the rules of the game, like only accept the mate with your right hand, a minimum of two rounds is polite, only say Gracias when you´re finished, and that its okay to slurp to signal that you´ve drained the mate of water.

Mate is simply water and tea, unless the host is a patagon women or argentine, in which case it is accompanied by azucar.

Mark, the puma hunter, looks the type - rugged, weather-worn, tough exterior with a softness inside for the lions. The day before he had caputured a puma and showed us a video of the gorgeous, enormous, grey cat. He insists there is no need to worry about a puma pouncing on us while hiking, but something tells me not to go out by myself at sunset...and if at all possible to not go out there alone.

I imagine Mark is a loner and introvert who sees as lot of volunteers come and go, but welcomes the chance to share his knowledge of the land and the people. Perhaps this lifestyle has made him a little less prone to demonstrations of overwhelming enthusiasm, but Mark has a gentle and very friendly way about him. I like Mark. and I like Mate.