An undebatable authentic Brazilian experience....

stoned?: check it out, man.

My drive to go to Brazil was jumpstarted by the native music, which sparked some sort of happy feeling inside of me, unexplainable. Perhaps it was my state of mind at the time, or maybe it is currently trendy to find oneself in Brazil. Whatever my subconscious motives might be, “finding myself” has often occurred either before or after taking some sort of drugs. Earlier in the semester, Professore Hutkins made a comment about negative experiences jarring the traveler out of his tourist lull; he said it was a similar to being on drugs! So what kinds of drugs do they offer in Brazil?
One article says that children from the ages of 5-18 are commonly found with inhalants, marijuana, cocaine, valium, coca paste, and Rohypnol (a sedative, often used as a date rape drug in some places, but used recreationally as well). However, I’m older than that, and want to experience some really long term soul searching. I want AYAHUASCA!
Ayahuasca is a psychadelic tea made out of the vine of a South American plant (Banisteriopsis caapi), often times mixed with DMT (a naturally occurring psychadelic drug, which has been synthetically recreated. According to one website, the drug has been used by native tribes of the Western Amazon “since time immemorial.” The Brazilian government banned ayahuasca in 1986, because middle class kids in the cities were tripping. After establishing a group to study the drug, the group decided that the ban should be repealed. Dr. Edward Macrae writes, “Among other arguments they pointed out that no damage to health had been proven to be caused by the use of the brew and that the members of the different religious groups had been found to be orderly and to lead their lives according to the accepted social values.” So will I be spiritually awakened by the ayahuasca? It was originally “conceived of as a means of opening the human perception of the spiritual world.”(Macrae) It is also sometimes called “the purge.” This is because first the user pukes intensely. Then, the user hallucinates for 2-6 hours. In the 1920s, certain Christian churches began to replace the communion of bread and wine with ayahuasca. Every member of the church drinks small cups of tea made from the vine, and they trip together, often with the celebration lasting all night. According to an article on erowid.com, a database of drug-related information, The Uniao do Vegetal (psychadelic Christian community) claims the tea they call cha hoasca is an "instrument of mental concentration…the effect of the tea might be compared to religious ecstasy." (Ott 1995) That sounds pretty nice.
Unfortunately, it seems that there is such a thing as Ayahuasca Tourism. Damnit. My spirit is too tuned to everyone else’s station.