Yesterday I went to Shoprite ( our equivalent to Kroger) and there are things about the place that are similar to Kroger, but also very different.. For example, you can't take a bag into the grocery store.. There is a place to check your bag/ backpack, etc.. they give you a cardboard number and you pick up your items when leaving the store.. Usually this is the same place you turn in your bottles for a deposit.. There's also a security guard at the entrance/ exit of each store that checks your receipt and the items in your cart, then stamps it once he has approved your purchases..
Yesterday as I was leaving the shop,and getting my receipt stamper, there were two gentlemen walking into the store.. Each of them were sporting giant bottles of Malawian gin that were open and they were sipping on as they walked through the doors.. The security guard whistled at them, told them to stop and directed them to the window check area... The gentlemen asked the guard in Chichewa to get a marker... Once the guard retrieved a marker, they each took turns using the marker to make lines on the bottles to mark the levels of alcohol in the bottles in case someone wanted to steal a drink or two from the bottles while they were shopping.. In the meantime, their other friend decided to stand outside and finish his beer...
Gotta love it.. There's no open bottle law here(i'm not sure there are any laws here), so people carry drinks around with them all the time. I couldn't imagine not being able to shop for groceries without my fifth of whiskey. As a matter of fact, one of the top drinking spots in all of town is our local Puma gas station.. With it being friday night, they'll be swarms of locals filling up on gas, sipping on a few beers in the parking lot before taking off for home.. Unsafe?? probably ... Totally acceptable here??? Without a doubt. A good bribe to police here is a cold Carlsberg.
Friday brings a weekend of nothing... It's still warm so I'm sure we'll end up at the pool. I don't know if I posted these images in the slideshow, so I'll take a chance and repost a few.. Below are some local children from Likubula, a giant millipede that you see all over the place here.. Then a rarity... a crate of Coke LITES!!! (diet coke).. This is referred to in Malawi as the "Mzungu" drink.. Only white people drink it, and to be more specific... only American white people drink it.. Everyone else despises it.. You rarely find coke Lites around town, and when you do, you should grab them as word travels fast.. The Americans will find it, conquer it and wipe them out!.... Other photos are the family at Casa Rossa restaurant, and Kate and Maura taking over our bathroom before school. These two have really come to rely on each other during this past year.. It's been good.
I wish I could bowl this weekend.
Hope all is well back home.
