Ordering a Terere Thermos

After consulting with several teachers at school and then asking some others for directions I, along with a friend, ventured out on a mission to order my own custom made terere thermos. What is that, you may wonder? It’s the one thing you will always see any group of Paraguayans carrying. In reality it consists of a thermos of cold water, a cup with terere leaves and other herbs in it and a bombillo – half straw half strainer – that you drink through. Terere has to be the national drink of Paraguay.

Back to the adventure…we walk into the store and notice shelves covered with different types and patterns of leather and wander around for a while. I never dreamed there would be so many choices, or that I’d have so many different decisions to make. On a low table was a collection of leather swatches and flipping through it became we’d need to decide on a color (dark brown) and a finish (suede, smooth leather or bumpy like alligator skin – I went with smooth in the hopes of it staying a bit cleaner). Then there was a question of sewing pattern. Crisscross? Diamonds? Smooth cover? I decided I might need to think of accents before I made a choice about that. So I started paging through giant books of embroidery designs, flipping quickly until I came to several pages of butterflies I found a simple design that would please me. Of course she then had to ask one or two? (two) What color? Out came a tri-fold of stitched thread, but beware – we actually can only use the ones with a highlighted number (okay with me, that means a few less choices). I finally settle on a turquoise and a purple. In the meantime the woman who owns the shop has begun to sketch out my requests on a simple form she has. Stitching on the jug and handle? Oh, sure, make that a mix of the two colors. What about the cup? Do you want a design on it? What color? What about the stitching? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by this point but know that there can’t be too many other decisions to make. I no longer think I’m going to end up with as simple of a thermos as I originally anticipated but it will definitely be uniquely mine. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!