“Do you take spirits Kim?”
This was a question I received from one of my Ugandan colleagues when I
had been in East Africa for just a week or two.
My response: “Why yes, I do.” At
the time, I didn’t realize that put me into another minority group here (in
addition to the already more obvious one): that of female drinkers. The handful
of times that I’ve gone out to bars with some of my coworkers, often with
another mzungu from the US, I can’t help but notice we are often the only
women out, with the exception of those who are waitressing. I had read in my
Uganda tour book before coming that public intoxication is frowned upon here,
but I thought, well really, isn’t everywhere?
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| Enjoying a Nile Special while looking out over the Nile in Jinja when I visited Uganda in January |
Now let me clarify up front, I am not doing a whole heck
of a lot of boozing here in Africa (don't let the pictures fool you). In
fact, I drink less here than I have at any point in my life since I went away
to college (even though the living conditions often really make me want to
drink!). But I think that’s what makes
it stand out to me even more. The fact
that I am drinking so much less here, yet I feel like the local booze hound. I
think only 10-20% of my East African colleagues take the drink. And since I
live in the office, and office groceries share space in the fridge, pretty much
everyone knows that I do.
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| Tusker, my favorite Kenyan beer, also available in Uganda |
There is a small supermarket I go to, actually named “My
Supermarket,” that is where I typically buy my beer. Club is my favorite, as you may have noticed, since it has been featured in some previous meal-time blog posts. And beer is usually the
only alcoholic beverage I buy because wine is really expensive here, and hard
liquor just isn’t really my preference. So once or twice a week I may buy beer,
and when I say buy beer, it literally means buying one or two 500 ml bottles of
beer (the equivalent of 1.3 12 ounce beers). I will also typically return prior
bottles because you get a healthy 1000 shillings back for each bottle you
return (or about 30 cents). However, to
this day (3.5 months in) I don’t believe I have EVER seen another woman,
besides a mzungu, who may be at the store with me, buying alcohol (or returning
bottles). It makes me feel even more self-conscious than I usually do when I notice the looks I get at the counter (and I don’t think it’s
just in my head) when I do buy beer or return my bottles. So I have at times actually taken to dropping
off the bottles and buying new ones during different visits to try to feel a little
less conspicuous. In reality, it also makes sense to do it in separate trips
because usually when I run to town on the weekends, I am also doing grocery shopping and a lot of walking around so it makes sense, in my pragmatic mind, to
drop off the bottles, do whatever walking around I need to, and then if I choose to have a couple beers that
weekend, pick up some bottles on the way back home.
Now, don’t get me wrong, everyone here is not a teetotaler. In
fact one of the Peace Corps volunteers told me there’s a high rate of
alcoholism in Uganda, which I believe is also tied to unemployment and poverty.
I’ve seen some of that in the villages as well where people are drinking or
seen staggering around drunk in the middle of the day (though again, mostly
men, no women). There’s also home brew that is often made in the villages, such
as ajano, or millet beer, which you drink from a communal pot or bucket with
straws, but I haven’t tried that (yet). I have also heard there’s banana beer, which sounds
good, but there are always the dangers of how such home brews are made (think
moonshine) and of course, consider the water it is likely made with...
It seems there’s just not a large demographic in the middle--it’s
either alcoholism or abstinence. I think some of it has to do with religion, as
there is a large Evangelical influence here (as evidenced by the ALL NIGHT
church revival that was going on right outside my bedroom window from 9:30 p.m.
on Friday to 6:30 a.m. on Saturday--again, living conditions here that might
lead one to drink--But I digress…).
There is also a substantial Muslim population here, which also typically
abstain, but I think that’s still only around 10-15% of the population at most.
In fact both of the wedding receptions I’ve been to here so far, both Muslim
and Christian, were dry.
But regardless of my insecurities, I figure I work hard,
life is not always easy here, and if I occasionally want to enjoy a beer, well
darnit I will have one (or two). But I definitely look forward to enjoying some holiday cheer
back home where I won't feel as self-conscious.
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| My first Club in the Entebbe airport waiting to head home in January |
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