Traditional Lombok Coffee, Smoking and Teeth Whitener

by Melissa Buciuman (Australia)

Making a local connection Indonesia

It all began one day in Indonesia, when my friend Carlo and I decided to travel to Central Lombok to see the Blue Lake that some of the local children had told us about. As we travelled along, the weather was changing rapidly and the scorching sun was covered by clouds. The rain became so strong that we had to turn around. When it became too dangerous to ride any longer, we pulled on the side and decided to wait for the storm to pass. A local boy, with a smile on his face came to greet us. In keeping with their generous hospitality, he brought us their Traditional Lombok coffee and kept us company with his brother while we waited. After a lot of smoking, they began explaining how the tobacco can affect your teeth and that they have a natural cleaning product. I didn’t smoke but I jumped at the opportunity to have clean, white, teeth naturally! Who wouldn’t? After a little while we discovered that these two brothers were in fact tourist guides and they asked if we wanted to see their traditional village. It was late, dark, raining, with no one around. So of course, Carlo and I said, “Yes”. Fear having no precedence over the excitement of exploring the local way of living. These two brothers were encyclopedias of local knowledge, old and new. They showed us their traditionally hand-crafted huts, which were made of cow dung and straw instead of clay or mud. It was an amazing experience, which continued to give! After they had walked us around the village, we sat down out the front of one of the main local huts, which was their grandmothers. Their mother also joined us, and we all sat down together, talking on this floor made of cow dung. They proceeded to smoke and at one point they said that they have the leaf which whitens teeth. Needless to say, I was excited! Their mother, not knowing English, motioned to me to copy her through the steps to whiten my teeth. First, we took the leaf, then we took some white paste, made of ground-up coral, which we wrapped around the shell of a nut, and chewed it all together. Like one big happy family we were laughing, talking, and “cleaning” our teeth together. Grandma, Mother, Brothers, Carlo and I. The chewing was hard, the nut shell was dry, but I was wanting those white teeth. At one point, a few minutes later, I turned to Carlo and asked, “Do you feel weird?” “I feel weird...”. “I think I’m high!” “Carlo! I think they drugged us!” Carlo was just smiling, “Yeah, I feel a little bit weird too”. One of the brothers overheard us, and explained, “The first time you try it, you will get a little bit high because you’re not used to it, but it will pass quickly”. I was shocked, but there was nothing I could do, the teeth whiting solution was consumed, now I just had to enjoy the ride. High, I looked to Carlo and asked, “Well, are my teeth at least clean now?” and grinned widely. He looked at me and started to laugh. He said, “Your teeth are all red!” “What!”, I exclaimed. Everyone was laughing at me at this point. Their mother gave me another part of the nut and told me to rub my teeth and gums with it, to supposedly get the desired cleaning effect. I honestly didn’t want to go any further with the teeth whitening at this point, but I had gone so far, it seemed it was the only solution. I couldn’t really believe my teeth would turn white, but what else could I do? There were no mirrors either way, it's not like I could check. So, for the next 20 minutes I just rubbed my teeth hopelessly with beetle-nut. I think they liked us. A lot of smiling from the non-English speakers, a lot of laughing, a lot of storytelling about their customs, traditions and beliefs. A few hours later, we were invited by their mother to stay the night. This experience, crazier than the first. But that’s another story.