Paulina Weiler

Dr Duane Roen
Eng 101English Composition
03/28/2016
Autoethnography- My Tea Cup
It was 1973, a very cold morning was rising, it was Wednesday and my grandmother have
been sitting at the dinner table for at least 1 hour with a cup of tea, a paraffin heater is at her side
with a kettle of boiling water. She is smoking her morning cigarette, I said, good morning, she
look at me and smile saying good morning, you want a cup of tea?. I think this ritual happen
for many years until her death in 1980.

I drink a cup of tea since my young ages, is part of my morning routine, my cozy
afternoons, and when my family is sick or simply many times of my family life. A cup of tea is

warm, transparent, sweet and is served in a nice cup. My friends came to my house for a cup of
tea, we sit around my kitchen table and talk about our life and families, believe me, is better than
a good psychiatrist session!. A cup of tea is important to me, make me feel that I have control of
my life, I drink tea when I am thinking, working and resting. Is a companion, help me to relax. A
cup of tea is like a warm hug or a moment of vacation...jijiji may sound funny but is true. As a
small child,I think 4 years old, I remember to play with a beautiful tea set that an aunt of my
grandmother gave me, I used to call my mom and everybody in the house to came to the back
yard to drink tea.

When I went to college in Brazil, I used to live by myself, I remember to drink a cup of
tea thinking about my country , my friends and family and sometimes I cry completely lonely,
but the cup of tea bring me warmth and comfort, many friends came to my apartment to drink
tea and to talk about their problems, tea is a symbol of hospitality. I remember to listen to a
music from Cat Stevens tea for the Tillermanand think, what make an author to compose a
song related to tea?. In the mornings, I used to tea with milk as a breakfast before to go to
classes. This is different for Brazilian because they drink coffee all the time.

I moved to the United States, and I realized that people think that tea is for special
occasions and for British or Irishes,it is the first time in my life that I see a tea store, I do not
even know that this kind of store even exists, this stores sell all kind of teas, cups and kettles. In
this stores, I learned that we can use fruits to make tea like strawberries, blueberries, oranges and
lemons, also roots like ginger and garlic.

I know, I am not alone many people from differents cultures like tea and live around a tea
cup, it is already an expression my cup of tea that means, someone or something delightful,
this phrase appears to be from 1908 in the novel Somehow Good William Morgan, and in 1932
Nancy Mitford at her Nobel Christmas Pudding she mentions this phrase:Im not at all sure I
wouldnt rather marry Aunt Loudie. Shes, even more, my cup of tea in many ways. Or songs
like cup of tea by Kasey Musgraves.The movie cup of tea by Alessio Cianciana is an
example of how people from England lives around a cup of tea .Some people write poems like
Brenda Newton:

On Christmas Day
At half past three
Brew yourself a cup of tea
And Ill think of you
While you think of me
Sitting beside the Christmas tree.

My daughters also like tea, is good when I sit with them and talk over a cup of tea, help
us to relax and have a good talk. They drink all kinds of teas, and usually, they said that I have a

tea for everything. But they have a special love for the ones from my garden lavender, lemon
balm ,lemon grass and about 5 kinds of different mints. Sometimes I offer them tea of Parsley
and Rosemary as a diuretic, or a lemon grass tea for sleep. When they born I used chamomile
and anise tea for their stomach cramp.

My husband likes tea in the afternoons, helps him to relax, on Saturdays and Sundays we
drink tea while we talk, frequently he takes a cup of tea to our room at night and sip when is
reading his book.

Tea comes from China apparently from Southwest, in the Shang Dynasty, but the story is
long and complex, data for many centuries and many cultures, in Portugal is believe to be
introduced in the 16th century and in England the 17th century, today days they drink 165
million cups per day. It is about 1500 blends of tea. Tea is the national drink of Iran and
Afghanistan, green tea when is thirsty and black tea as a warming beverage. In Morocco is a
mans job pour the tea. The United States invented the tea bags and the ice tea in 1904. In many
countries drink tea is a ritual with beautiful cups, tables and spread and with the company of
cookies, or the most refined pastries.

A cup of tea can be used as a medicine, some blends can be used as an antiinflammatories, antibacterial,potent antioxidant or for weight loss. Herbal teas like chamomile
are good for digestion, relaxation, fevers, cold and menstrual cramps. Green tea is energetic ,
helps with a weight loss and brain function. Look like is an herbal tea for anything! And have
been used for centuries by people to cure diseases or just for comforting. My Grandmother used
tea to clean the cats and dogs eyes when infected and did help a lot.

Tea has some problems one of them is the stain on the person's teeth, another is the
caffeine and the interactions of black tea and blood thinners. Drink too much tea can be harmful,
too much caffeine can cause gastritis , and too many fluids can cause electrolyte imbalance.

My grandmother use to make tea from leaves or flowers or even bark, in a small kettle ,
and this kettle use to have a very strong tea ready the whole day, she will mix with water that
used to boil the whole day in the paraffin heater, today days we take an electrical boiler that boil
in a couple of minutes and a small bag of tea and the tea is ready!. In general, I make my tea with
tea bags, but I prefer the one that the leaves are loose. Has a better flavor!.

The smell of the tea is something that is very important to me, different aromas help me
to feel better when I am in distress, is already proved by many researchers that aromatherapy is
real, balance, harmonize and promote health of the mind, body and spirit, an example is the
aroma of lavender relaxes, and peppermint smell help with nausea.

After all, I think tea has been with myself and my familys life since the beginning, and is
nice to see my daughters sharing this great habit, that was like a ritual of my Grandmother. I am
sure that I will continue enjoying tea until I go to heaven.