Kava? But I barely know you!

Midterms have passed with hilariously little circumstance. One day I was basking in the sun on Koh Chang, the next day I sat down, wrote some essays, ate some pad thai and called it a day. No studying necessary. This is the best school (if that's even its real name) ever. Since all of the teachers are foreign and most speak less than perfect English I just used extremely flowery and complicated language to get my potentially-but-probably-not-correct points across.

A couple of nights ago I participated in this cooky island ceremony in which you drink this tea called kava. By tea, I mean dirt in water mixed around and served to you with a ladel and a coconut shell. Brian, that keeno who speaks Thai has it shipped to him from Fiji because it helps him run- or so he claims. He spent about half an hour before explaining to us the origins of kava which if I remember correctly grew from the remains of a sacrificed young leperous princess or accidentally vaginally penetrated two women as they bent by the stream to wash yams. Either story ends in the islanders rejoicing, drinking mad kava, getting mildly stoned and meditating. Now the ritual has become so prevelent that they even have a strain of kava called "business kava"... people sit around business meetings and drink kava together. Sort of like the "business weed" we smoke in America.

After the kava is mixed, the maker (Brian) ladels out kava and passes the bowl the the person on his left. Jeff, in this case would say "Bula," clap once and chug the kava (chugging is imperative). Afterwards he hands the shell back to Brian, says "Matha" and everyone else in the circle claps twice. This process is repeated until the maker drinks the remaining kava in the bowl last. It was amazing- Brian is the best liquid volume estimator on the face of the planet-- he perfectly measured out enough into each shell so that at the end, he had the right amount left for himself. Bizzare.

Throughout this process you are meant to be communing with the kava gods and appreciating everything in your life. As opposed to alcohol, the more kava you drink, the more sensitive you become to it. When I drank 2 shells, my mouth got numb, my tummy rumbled and I went to go eat. When Jeff and Brian drank it they looked like they might just step right out of their bodies and float away. I just don't know how much muddy water I can drink to make it worth it. Anyway that was an interesting experience...

Tonight I'm going to Cambodia for some days with my friend Lacey. It's going to be interesting being a tourist there... in places like Sihanoukville, the locals go out of there way to create a beach paradise for locals, which does boost their incomes and whatnot. I just think I'd feel so uncomfortable being a backpacking bum in a country like Cambodia. Going to the beach one day and the Killing Fields the next? I don't know, that could just be the nature of things. I'll write about that trip when I get back...

Love you...