Global Tea Time

 Today we travel to Vanatu , a chain of islands east of the northern tip of Australia. There are 13 principal islands, and many smaller islands in a north-south area described as an irregular "y" shape covering 400 miles. They achieved their independence in 1980, and their name means "our land forever" in the local language. These are mountainous islands that include active volcanoes, and are subject to frequent earthquakes. About 3/4 of the population lives in rural areas, and 99% of the population is Melanesian. They have 3 official languages: Bislama, English, and French. Subsistence agriculture makes the base of the economy. Kava is listed as a popular tea. I also found mention of Chinese tea served in Vanatu. I used this as an opportunity to compare 2 Chinese black teas I have been wanting to compare for a while now. I don't know what type of Chinese tea the people of Vanatu drink, but I thank them for the excuse for a comparison post.  Both of these teas a

 I'll admit I have been procrastinating writing about yerba mate. Part of the reason is that it covers so much of South America. It is also served up a couple of different ways, and I did not want to buy a special cup and straw to emulate the social way that mate is drunk. COVID has been an issue with social drinkers as the tradition is to put the dry leaves into the special gourd cup, add water, stir with a metal straw that has a filter on the end, and pass it around to all your friends to drink out of. Since we aren't supposed to get within 2 meters of each other, sharing a straw is definitely out! Here's a video about drinking mate with friends. Countries that love their yerba mate are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. I also found mention of yerba mate being served as iced tea with lemon juice, so that is the method of brewing/serving that I did instead. I thought for sure I had taken some pictures of the loose leaves that I bought out of a bulk bin before the w

 Some people romanticize snow. Then there's me. I don't know how much more snow we have accumulated over the last week, and I know there's more to come today and tomorrow. The van marooned in the yard across the street has a pile of snow behind it that goes up to the bottom of the back window on the left side. There are still a few inches of the body visible below the back window on the right side at this point, but I'm sure mother nature will take care of that at some point. Granted, that pile has been made in part by a snow plow, but the flat flat Midwest has the transient mountains of winter yet again.  This picture was actually taken a week ago. We've had more snow since then, and it's snowing now - I can hear it hitting the roof in my upstairs office. The mountains are higher, and today's high is -5 F. I don't feel like taking another picture, it's too depressing. Yes, that's sidewalk at the very bottom of the picture. It's also cold. -8