First up, for once there was qat and everyone wasn't pressuring me to just try it. Secondly, I'm past the half way mark in Yemen and I figured one chewing wouldn't turn me into a vegetable or an animal. So, I gave in. Initially I was only curious about how it tasted so I started with one leaf. It wasn't nearly as sour or as unpleasant as others had led me to believe but I think this particular qat was quite sweet. Then I looked at our boweb (guard) and he had a golf ball sized lump in his right cheek and I thought I'll have to try and see if I could get one of those too. I guess after 6 months of golf ball cheeks my brain was starting to view them as a fashionable. As I chewed more and more I didn't find it took me long before I felt some effects kicking in.Other people who've told me qat doesn't do much tend to use harder drugs and I think those who use harder drugs aren't as impressed by, or don't experience the same effects. First I felt my vision clear up slightly and my felt as though my eyes were opening slightly more. Then I felt like my mind was becoming a little more clear and similar to alcohol, I felt like speaking a lot - it was effortless and I felt more confident. As I chewed more and my cud grew I felt a little nauseous from the strange taste and contrary to the usual side affect, the small amount of qat juice and water that reached my stomach made me feel really hungry. I also felt really relaxed as I talked to the two people around me and later when I talked to a Yemeni I found speaking Arabic easier than usual. It was like my mind was working harder to find words for me (like woo no hands) but my conscious mind was just taking it easy. It occurred to me that for the fairly mild affects I was experiencing sure took a lot of work. And then as I sat one final effect occurred to me and it was the one I was more concerned about getting from qat.
I consciously knew I'd been sitting for a while and I logically could say I'd been wasting time sitting around but I didn't feel the conscience I'd usually have prodding me to get up and go upstairs because I wanted to do something. The hours melted away, like maybe 5 of them before I lazily got up and went up stairs to help cook dinner.
Up at the mafraj I showed the long-time American qat peddlers that I'd finally succumbed. Two were impressed and the other one said to me, if Jesus were here would he chew qat? I told her I thought probably yes although I knew she was taking a jab at me rather asking a real question. Then I spat the vile concoction out of my mouth and I was done with it for the moment. It was dinner time.
But there was one final side affect to come which I highly doubt many qat loyalists would accept as a true side affect. A few of my student friends were having their penultimate weekend in Sana'a before moving on to Ethiopia, West Africa, Hawaii, Italy and other places and a group of 8 or of us toolabs (students) decided we'd go to the Russian Club. Now at first I said no - the Russia Club is exxy and I didn't want to wake up at 3pm on Friday and be a few hours away from starting the whole 6 day week over again. But then one of the guys said something like he was going to win a bet again yet, because I was pyking, yet again. So, that was it, I decided to come along too. Entry to the Russia Club costs 3000 Y.R. (a 150% hike to $15US since '06) for guys and that's an expensive night, particularly when you spend another 600 Y.R. per drink and pay for the taxi rides. So like any thrifty young man I took the cheaper option and started to intoxicate myself before I left for the Russia Club. I drank 6 glasses of straight vodka / about a quarter of a bottle of vodka and unlike that ghastly qat, I felt affects right away! My theory, and it's a bit of a stretch, was that I felt like a faster rush from alcohol after being in the slow lane for 5 hours with qat. But also there were other contributing factors too such as, competing with other people as I drank the vodka, no previous experience organising my pre-R.C drinks program and really wanting to not have to buy any drinks in the Russia Club.
As it turned out I didn't have to buy a single drink at the Russia Club. From the time I got in the taxi to the Russian Club until the time I woke up on a friend's bedroom floor I didn't remember a single thing. But while I was out of it I've been told I responded to a male-friend holding my hand Yemeni style by picking him up and walking him down the street. Also I was very loud in the taxi, apparently I pole danced at the R.C. before lying down on the dance floor next to the pole and hugging it, I hit my nose on our table, I made a bigger idiot of myself in the toilet. And after 30 minutes my dear friends took me safely back to the school to sleep where I yelled many expletives and woke up most of the people sleeping in their rooms.
So, who was the real villain in all this? The qat? The booze? Or me? I'm gonna be irresponsible and say it was a combination of the 3 - it was a nasty cocktail. I woke up feeling very sick at 8pm on Friday (way worse that 3pm as I originally anticipated) *tut tut tut tut tut tut tut*
