Yu haerem kava?

Today, we shall discuss a very important topic on many of the islands of the South Pacific, but particularly on those islands of the nation of Vanuatu. That topic is kava.

Kava is a drink derived from the root of the plant Piper methysticm. Kava is a sedative which basically makes you very mellow while still being quite aware of what's going on around you. It also makes your lips and tongue a little numb, as well as your fingers and toes, if you drink enough of it. The root of the kava plant is made into a drink by grinding the root and filtering water through those grounds, then drinking the filtered liquid. Traditionally, the grounds are created by chewing the roots then fitering water through a pile of what is basically cud. No one seems to mind sharing spit in this manner, however, which could be due to the fact that within about 15 minutes you could not care less.

Now, kava has some great effects, but don't let anyone fool you--it's disgusting. You cannot sip on the drink, you need to chug it. If it doesn't make it down all in one shot, you will start gagging. It kills your appetite and makes you really sleepy. It can make you feel really slow and give you a rubbish walk (which looks a little bit like a sailor on a ship the first day of sail...or maybe a sailor back on land at the end of a long voyage). It also makes you spit a lot. Often, it makes people puke.

Yet it is still consumed nearly nightly by many islanders. And much of our group.

There are some benefits to drinking kava so often. It soothes your aches and pains after a day of hiking. It helps you sleep when their are rats and spiders running across your bed on the floor. It also makes for some interesting stories, usually for the people who are not drinking the kava (or at least not as affected by it).

I personally find kava disgusting and the only effect I get from it is increased tiredness. Lame. (Although, when Chim and I helped make our own kakae [chewed] kava, I felt pretty slow the next morning.) Katie has pretty much the same experience. So we watch other people get silly off kava. We spent about 3 minutes poking Cheng's weak spot before he realized what we were doing. We tease Chim when he goes into a daze after his one shell. We are amazed when Harold stops talking. We watch all of them bump into walls as they get tugboated or taxied back (a tugboat or a taxi is just when someone walks you home because you aren't steady enough on your own). I'm still waiting to see Koji's kava walk--I hear it's great.


P.S.: The title of this post is a common Bislama phrase you will hear at the nakamal (kava drinking place). "Yu haerem kava?" means "Do you feel the kava?" Following this question is often the question "Howmas shell yu gat?", asking how many shells, or cups, or kava you've had that are making you feel the way you do.