Here is a poem that my host mama taught me. Remember, Mami
Esther doesn’t drink kava … and I do. Awo.
Kava kava kava
I spoelem hed blong papa
Taem we san i ko daon
Papa i ting abaot kava
Hemi no ting abaot edukesen blong mi
Kava kava kava
(Kava, kava, kava … It
messes up Dad’s head. When the sun goes down, Dad thinks about kava. He doesn’t
think about my education. Kava, kava, kava.)
Like I said … awo. True. Most volunteers in Vanuatu drink a
lot of kava. Me too! Kava makes you feel great and the 5-7 p.m. drinking time
is social, cheap, and a really enjoyable part of my day. But kava is a social issue, too. You’ll hear
about men who go out drinking kava until 10 or 11 p.m. at night, and they make
their wives stay up waiting for them without eating their dinner. Or you hear
about yangfala who spend all of their money on kava when there are other things
they should save up for (like a ticket out of Vila.)
I thought it was clever.
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