It started with pork. It alwaaaaaaaays starts with pork. Well, at least this time…it started with pork. I was eating with friends at my co-worker’s new fried pork joint, enjoying my half-kilo of heart-attack-in-a-pan on the house due to my donation of a name to the business…Pork Paradise. (Surprisingly, Swine All the Time got a veto). Upon yawning dramatically and excusing myself to go home, they told me to get in the car.
Let me tell you. If 4 men tell you to get in the car at night in rural Uganda, DO IT. Okay, maybe only if they’re your friends….
I was kidnapped on a Wednesday evening and it will go down as one of the most fun experiences in Peace Corps. Four of my best friends took me to a new “village club” or, as I like to call it, the “only village club” in the neighboring trading center Ndekye. Called Zebra Point, the place was actually quite clean and lively with a great bar and restaurant. Giant, brightly colored murals covered every wall and, what they lacked in quality artistry they made up for in quirky…quirkiness. Ohhhh there were zebras. There were oversized squirrels in trees eating kebabs. There were elephants boozing over a game of dice. There was a boy running across a map of Uganda with a speech bubble yelling “the truth has not yet arrived!!!” A woman resembling Jar Jar Binks was pointing helpfully at the light switch. I would describe the décor as…miscellaneous.
To make a long story short, like most other times in Uganda, the weirdest times become the best of times. We had a ball. I think we danced until 2am, despite all being in our field clothes from earlier in the day and making an agreement to have one drink and call it a night (does that ever work?) I’ve now seen 4 co-workers moonwalk. And I finally discovered that the way to have fun at Ugandan night clubs is to go in the company of four married men. Like fighting fire with fire, I fought men with…other men. I had a man shield. It was a good night.
(As most nights are, when they start with pork.)
