Jakay'u!

So I don't think I have ever taken the time to explain the Terere/Mate culture in Paraguay. Maybe briefly in a blog mixed with other information, but not separetely. The difference between Terere and Mate is that Terere is cold water and Mate is hot water. What you are drinking are plant leaves that have been dried and cured over a long period of time from the plant called ka'a or Yerba Mate. In Guarani if you want to say let's drink terere you say "jaterere" and for Mate you say "jakay'u." The word for let's get drunk is "jaka'u" and can easily sound the same, so be careful with this distinction.
When drinking Terere you have your equipo, or your equipment which includes:
1. Guampa (a cup made out of wood for mate and a cow's horn with a wooden "plug" for Terere)
2. Bombilla (a straw that has a filter at the bottom that looks similar to a tea ball.
3. Termo (a thermos. For Terere you usually use just a pitcher, but for Mate the Termo is important so that you can have hot water the whole time)
4. Yerba Mate (The Yerba goes into the Guampa with the straw. You fill the Guampa up almost all the way with the Yerba.
5. Yuyos (Herbs. Found in the garden, in the forest, around your yard, in the street. Lemongrass, or Cedron Paraguaya is one of my favorites along with Burrito and Anis seed. You put the yuyos either in the water and sometimes in the guampa.

Now that you have your equipo invite some friends and sit in a circle. Start conversing about whatever you want. The weather, your day, a good story, some new information about farming. One person is the server. They pour the water into the Guampa and pass it to a person in the circle. That person will drink all the water in the guampa before passing it back to the server. The server will then continue serving all around the circle and will develop an order in the serving. When you no longer want to drink anymore it is polite to say "gracias" or "Thank you" so that the server knows.

Its a beautiful custom that has a lot of ceremony to it, but is surprisingly simple.