TEA

Memories attached to various cups of tea

1) Yerba Mate - Mate reminds me of half-baked potheads at 3am at a
cereal bar. Besides 13 year olds, they were the only people who would
frequent a place that only serves cereal, coffee, and a variety of odd
teas. Late at night. I like the fact that you need a special cup and
straw to drink the stuff, though probably neither are necessary. I
have high hopes of owning a mate set one day, yet I don't have a clue
how to prepare it.

2) Rooibos - Who on Earth knows how that's spelled? That's my shot at
it. This tea has two strong memories for me to date: dating someone
nearly 10 years my senior when I wasn't yet old enough to buy a *real*
drink, and my favorite corner study spot in my last years of my
graduate program - a small tea house that turned to a wine bar at 6PM.
You seriously never had to leave. What more could you want? Red tea in
the afternoon, red wine in the evening. Rooibos (sp? damn you!)
reminds me of the most irresponsible and the most responsible times in
my life.

3) Jasmine Tea - Jasmine tea is what the office nurse always gave me
when I came in in tears, unable to finish my expense reports and
feeling alone and isolated for my lack of ability to communicate in a
foreign language. We couldn't communicate. She just gave me Jasmine
Tea, and once hugged me. She was the only person who touched me the
whole time I lived abroad. Jasmine Tea, to this day, takes me to the
pit of the absolute deepest despair I have ever felt. The flowery,
light, playful flavor immediately makes my heart sink. I don't drink
Jasmine tea.

4) Sweet Tea - yes, it sure as hell IS tea. And it reminds me of
sitting on the porch, and watching the birds at the feeder, and times
being a lot simpler and sweeter. It reminds me of childhood and being
barefoot. I find it cute that no one up North even knows what it IS.

5) Green Tea - Green Tea reminds me of business meetings. Very long
business meetings. Meetings in which I understood very little, and
compensated by drinking a lot of tea instead. Meetings I often had to
interrupt with embarrassment to ask to be directed to the restroom
because waiting until the meeting was over was really pushing it.