Mario and Hugo were sharing some maté with a couple of Latino girls when I took my tea out to deck five aft last night. One of the girls was from Argentina, the other from Peru. They invited me over to take part in the maté ritual, Argentine style (Hugo and Mario had untroduced me to it the day before).

The container you drink from is called a maté – in this case, a small wooden cup. You fill it with maté (the leafy, twiggy stuff), make a hole down to the bottom on one side, and but a bombillio (a metal straw) into the hole. Then you pour hot water into the hole so it fills from the bottom up.

It doesn't take much water to fill the maté. When it is passed to you, you drink from the straw until the water is used up. This is only a couple of sips. Then you fill it back up with hot water and pass it to the next person. The leaves are used several times before being replaced with a fresh supply.

This is a little more intimate than just having coffee together, as it involves passing the maté around from person to person and sharing the bombillio.

When you drink maté this way it is very strong, and I discovered that it contains a lot of caffeine – something I was not aware of. You really get quite a buzz from it (at least I did). When I asked the girl from Peru if they drink it there too, she said no, but they have a similar ritual using coca leaves in place of the maté. Maybe there's a little something extra in maté as well.

It was very nice to sit out there, pass the maté around, chat, feel the evening breezes, and watch the lights of Charlotte Amalie recede into the distance.

One thing I've learned since working on ships is that I want to go to South America. In particular I would like to visit Argentina (where I now have a few places to stay), Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. I'd like to get a cruise gig down there, but that wouldn't be good enough. I want some time to experience it beyond the ports of call.

I've always been attracted to the latin approach to life, even though nobody is less latin than me. Latin or not, the South Americans are calling me 'Ricardo', a nickname I've become comfortable with over the years, as everyone knows.

How about this for a plan? I spend six months or so working on a ship, then take a couple of months off to travel, then another six months of work, and so on for a few years.

Of course, I'd spend all the money I make on the ship traveling – but what's money for anyway?



Mario passing me the maté