“My service deeply impacted my life by leading me to meet people who told me ‘get into the shade’ and once I was there, invited me to slow down, drink tereré and listen to a story.”
- Dan Westerhof, Returned PCV Paraguay (from Peace Corps Times newspaper)
What is tereré (teh-reh-ray)?
Some possible answers might be: cold beverage, herbal tea, refreshing, a lifestyle, a pre-meal drink, a way to pass time, summer survival, story time, Paraguay. All are correct answers.
me drinking tereré
Before arriving in Paraguay, I had read and heard about tereré in my research about the country I would be living in for the next two years. And as many times as someone explained that tereré was an integral part of Paraguayan life and culture, I didn’t quite believe it, until I lived it.
First clues: leaving the airport upon arrival, I noticed our future trainer Ricardo was sharing tereré with our bus driver. And my first full day in Paraguay in training, professora Ramona led our training group in a class strictly about tereré (priorities!), to explain the preparation and “rules” for drinking it…and there are rules!
day 1 in paraguay: a class about tereré
Equipo
First, I’ll explain the equipo or gear that makes up tereré.
Guampa (gwahm-pa): the cup (can be metal, wooden, plastic or cow horn). I prefer metal- it’s colder.
cow horn guampa
Bombilla (bomb-ee-yah): the metal (and sometimes wooden or sterling silver) straw with filter
fancy assortment of bombillas
Termo: thermos (for cold water and ice), or you can use a pitcher if you’re not traveling with your tereré. Termos are an artisan craft in Paraguay (my woman’s group is learning how to do this craft). Those types of termos are super lindo (pretty). They may be personalized with your name, hometown, sports club, business, hobby. I prefer a simple name or hometown.
leather termo with guampa
Yerba (yehr-bah): dried tea leaves
Yuyos/Remedios (jew-joes): normally fresh herbs, leaves or roots, often with medicinal or refreshing properties, that are added to the tereré water for flavor and for their desired effects. Some examples are lemongrass (cedron) and mint (menta).
yuyos - given to me by the Valenzuela yuyero who rides a bicycle around with his herbs for sale.
Mortar and pestle: for smashing up yuyos and extracting their oils
yuyero with yuyos, plaza de la libertad, asunción
Yuyero/a (jew-jehro/a): a person that sells yuyos and ice water, and often prepares tereré completo. Often they are stationed in plazas or along major highways where bus drivers or cars can pull over.
smashing the herbs
Tereré completo: If you wish to drink tereré in a public park, at a bus terminal, or a plaza, look for a yuyero/a. He or she can will “rent” you an equipo (pitcher, ice water, guampa, bombilla, yerba, yuyos) for about 3,000 Guaranis ($0.75). If you just want yuyos and water they can do that too.
che ha, tereré completo with me in a plaza in the capital
How To
Tereré is a communal beverage, although it can be drunk alone as well. But when shared with others, one person is designated the server. Usually the youngest person in the tereré circle. He or she begins by pouring cold cold water into the guampa, which contains a few spoon fulls of yerba. There should be enough water to almost cover the dried yerba. The first cup you let sit because it is reserved for Santo Tomas. Once Santo Tomas “drinks” his serving, or the dried yerba absorbs the water, a second glass is poured.
A serving of tereré (2-3 sips) is called a ha, which means turn. As tereré is served, the server may ask you Nde ha? O che ha? In Guarani that means, Your turn? Or my turn? In other words, where are we in the serving circle?!?! It’s up to the server to keep track of the order. Though it can get confusing.
In my experience, the server drinks first. It was explained to me that this is done to make sure that the yuyos are good. After drinking all of the water in the guampa, the server refills and passes the cup to another person at his or her side. The server continues pouring and passing the guampa around the circle. Once you feel satisfied, you just tell the server “Gracias!” and you will not be served any more.
It’s good to remember the guampa is not a microphone (I give attribution to my friend Maureen for that funny quote). While tereré is synonymous with storytelling (and often chisme, ie gossiping), it’s important to keep the terere moving around the circle! Drain the tereré, and pass it back to the server.
Another serving method is autoservicio. This is popular at my family’s house when there’s lots of cooking, or activity in the house. The tereré equipo is on the kitchen counter. And you help yourself.
Typically folks drink tereré throughout the day. Usually around 1030/11am (always with yuyos at that hour) to simultaneously stimulate the lunch appetite and fill you up a little bit. Again mid-afternoon (but wait a while after eating a big meal before drinking it). And again around 6pm. In summer this is critical and a true means of survival. And regular hydration.
Oh my gosh! But germs!
Tereré is communal (with friends, neighbors, family, the post office workers stamping your postcards, the bus driver), so of course germs can be a concern. I mostly ignore the germ aspect, or politely refrain from joining if I have been sick or don’t feel comfortable accepting the offer.
Here are some excuses for politely turning down a tereré invite:
- I haven’t eaten anything yet. (In order to drink tereré, one should consume the tereré rupa. In Guarani that means tereré bed. It’s a place for the tereré to rest. And it could be a fried tortilla (like a salty doughnut sometimes with vegetables), an empanada, bread, etc. Drinking tereré on an empty stomach can make you feel ill.
- I just drank milk/yogurt (anything dairy). It’s believed those don’t work together.
- I just ate an orange/watermelon. Orange/Watermelon (citrus) + tereré = Poison. So they say.
- I’m sick.
More Tereré Myths/Superstitions
While sharing tereré you might have a clumsy moment and spill the guampa. This just means that you’ll come into a small fortune in the future. And if you are the person who receives the last ha of tereré, your future mother-in-law will love you.
History of Tereré
There was a Tereré Expo in the capital of Asunción this year: tents, people hawking tereré equipo, different brands of yerba. I learned a lot at the expo about the origins of tereré.
The word tereré is an onomatopoeia. This means that the word te-re-re mimics the suction sound achieved after draining all the water from the guampa! How cool is that?!
There are a couple versions of the origin of tereré. One explains that the troops during the Chaco War (between Bolivia and Paraguay, 1932-1935) wanted to drink mate (tereré’s cousin, but with hot water). However, the troops did not want to give away their positions by lighting fires to heat the water, so they drank the beverage cold. Another explanation: the troops were forced to drink water from trenches or sometimes even urine, and thus used refreshing, fragrant herbs to mask the bad odor.
Another possible explanation for the origin of tereré is that slaves on mate plantations in Paraguay and northeast Argentina were tortured for starting fires, and so they began to drink their traditional beverage of hot mate, as a cold mate, now tereré.
And lastly, the indigenous Guaranis of Paraguay are believed to have drunk yerba in the 17th century, and then passed the tradition on to the Jesuits.
So there it is…
I have imparted all of my knowledge about tereré. Any visitors to Paraguay will most certainly be “t-raying” with me. That’s volunteer slang for drinkin’ tereré.
P.S. Know something else about tereré? Comment on this post! I’d love to learn more about the folklore of this Paraguayan pastime or your experience.
Tags: terere
