Kava in Vanuatu

I've been disappointed by how mild (or nonexistant) the effect from Fijian kava has been. Fijians love their kava, and I just don't get it.

The kava in Vanuatu is another story entirely. We were invited to a traditional feast onshore that, of course, involved a kava ceremony. I was struck first by the lack of "ceremony" involved - rather than having everyone sit formally in a circle, the kava was just available to be consumed as people desired. Think beer keg, where a social circle develops, but there's no official event. I was struck (very) shortly thereafter by the powerful effect of the kava.

I felt relaxed and talkative at the same time. Our hosts told us to ask any questions we wanted to about their lives and culture, and sitting with the Vanuatu-ans (?), drinking kava and talking about what it feels like to live in the same village that your family has lived in for 50 generations, watching stars above swaying palms brought me an overwhelming sense of wellbeing.