One day, after school, a friend of mine offered to give me some Betel Nut. I'm from an island wherein chewing betel nut is a daily occurrence, and I was wondering why it was so popular, so I figured I'd try it.
He prepared the nut by cracking it open, scooping out the red mush that was inside it, adding lime and tobacco to it, and then wrapping it in a peppery leaf.
I chewed it. Within 10 minutes, my head felt incredibly light. I got up, and walked around feeling like I was very, very light. I spit the nut out soon after I began feeling these effects. What followed, then, was an intense feeling of vertigo. I got very hot and began to sweat. I lay down on a bench in an effort to suppress an urge to vomit. I lay down for about half an hour, feeling very ill. Then, I got up to walk home, and immediately puked up lunch.
I took a nap afterwards, and felt fine. The taste of the leaf stayed with me for a couple of days, sometimes resulting in a fresh wave of nausea.
A few friends of mine have had similar, nauseating first time experiences.
