Argentinian Momentos

When Steven came home from serving in the Kobe Japan mission, he brought back some awesome souvenirs, so I was really excited to see what Robbie would bring back from the Mendoza Argentina mission.  Below are my new favorite trinkets.

A favorite traditional drink in many South American countries is mate.  No, not to be someones mate, but mate (pronounced like mahtay.)  It's made by steeping dried yerba mate leaves in hot water.  Many years ago when a friend of mine returned from a study abroad in Argentina, she served the drink. To me it tastes like wheat in hot water, but it's been awhile.  Now that I have a nifty mate cup complete with an epic looking mate straw, called a bombilla, designed to filter the leaves, I need to track down some mate and give it another try.

While Robbie was in Argentina, they celebrated their 200th anniversary, which began with the May Revolution, dated May 25, 1810 in Buenos Aires.  To commemorate the occasion Argentina released five 1 Peso coins with different backs, showing locals special to Argentina:  El Palmar, Cerro Aconcagua, Mar del Plata, Pucara de Tilcara, and Glaciar Perito Moreno.  Robbie said the Cerro Aconcagua coin was the hardest to get, because it was in the area he served, and the locals tended to keep it.  I'm lucky Robbie was able to collect three sets: one for him, me, and my Mom.

Above is one of Robbie's favorite snacks called Aguila, which means eagle.  I've tasted it, and it's quite good.  I actually prefer coconut to chocolate.

A precious stone necklace charm given to Robbie from and member, and a copper wire bracelet Robbie bought.

These are definitely mementos I'll treasure always.

So, while searching for links for this blog post, I found out Robbie's Mission has a blog!  And I found a couple  pictures of him right before he came home.

(From the Mendoza Argentina Blogspot blog)

Steven's mission had a blog too while he was serving, but I haven't dug through it to see if he's in it anywhere.