Estancia Jesuítica

By Kiyoko I. – Guestblogger from Cordoba
Today was Estancia Jesuítica day J Christine and I caught a minibus at 9am, got to Jesús María at 10, grabbed coffee at a gas station and got to the Estancia. We asked for directions but we got bits and pieces from so many bystanders…From Jesús María, we took a taxi to Santa Catalina. The people at Jesús María helped us get one – they were so kind. We had a driver for 40km round trip and about 1 hour at Santa Catalina for $70 (~US$24). Many people confirmed that we got an awesome deal!! The driver's Spanish was hard to understand but conversed with him here and there. We had to go on gravel for 13km to Santa Catalina as it was tucked away. It was totally worth it.
A beautiful white church popped up in the dry field. The guy explaining the church spoke really clearly and both Christine and I felt awesome understanding his Spanish. He explained that a lot of the decorations came from Perú and that the Romans were replaced by Spaniards in the paintings, etc. The Estancia is actually private and we weren't able to visit. On the way back, we changed course to be dropped off at Colonia Caroya, another Estancia very close to Jesús María.
Estancias were established by Jesuits (Catholic effort against Protestants) to support themselves when the home office of the Spanish royalty expelled them. In their ‘hay days,' they had huge establishments with schools and various production lines. Colonia Caroya was smaller scale but well maintained.
When we got to Córdoba, it was just in time for the Feria (arts & crafts show), which takes place every Saturday and Sunday evening. After that, we stopped by Alfonsina and I had my first non-teabag maté. As much as everybody drinks it all the time, it's rare to find it served at a cafe or a restaurant.
An order of maté came with ‘maté with bombilla', a pot full of hierba mate and a thermos full of hot water… First reaction: what am I supposed to do with them?!?! But, I mean, there can't be much to it – steep the hierba, right? It turns out, I didn't do it quite right :p