The Football Match
Football (soccer) is a huge sport in most of the world and Uganda is no exception. I have aspirations to join the St. Joseph's football team but until then I am merely a spectator. The English Premier League (EPL) has a massive following here in Uganda with the most popular teams being Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City (pretty typical worldwide). There is bar I like to frequent for a number of reasons: they play football, they have a pool table, they have two dartboards (and apparently a dart league?), and they have chess boards. Pretty cool and certainly unexpected for the less-than-thriving metropolis of Kitgum.
There was a pretty big match on Sunday, Manchester City vs. Chelsea, so I invited some friends to join for an afternoon viewing. Even though I don't follow either team, I thought it would be nice to soak in the vibe and to be honest, with the lack of entertainment options in Kitgum, any form of entertainment is welcome. The bar has two rooms, one being more of a restaurant, both with one small TV (by American standards). I've never seen more than four or five people in the bar so you can see it was well above its usual capacity (see photo below).
The game was pretty boring in the first half but the obviously pro-Chelsea crowd was quite rowdy and I enjoyed the howls after near misses and questionable penalties. I loved the lax policies of the bar; no one once came and asked if we wanted anything to drink (buying drinks was not compulsory), probably 3/4 of the people didn't purchase anything, my friends brought their own drinks and at some point there was a live chicken transaction between a market seller and what I presume to be the cook. This chicken later escaped from the back room and hopped and fluttered around (its legs were tied) before being re-captured. Naturally, no one paid any attention to the chicken when it was hopping/fluttering around.
Just as the came got interesting, BOOM, the power goes out. No one even bats an eyelash, yells out with frustration or jumps up in disbelief. Absolutely no reaction, like it happens all the time. Now, the electricity in Kitgum is pretty reliable, I'd say we have power about 80% of the time. And it usually is on or off for prolonged periods rather than patchy on/off cycles. AND, we had just had a good couple of days with constant power. I thought it was over. We wondered if they had a generator and since they didn't turn one on in the first five minutes, I assumed they didn't have one. Since my friends and I weren't in any hurry, we stayed and chatted among ourselves though I was amazed that probably 90% of the people stayed and simply stared at the blank TV. Literally just stared at the TV, not one conversation was started.
I went to take the above picture, thinking of this very blog entry, and I passed a gentleman with what appeared to be a car battery. I asked him if they had a generator and he said "No, but we are trying to figure something out." Sure enough, within five more minutes the game was back on, just in time for the last five minutes. And in case you're wondering, Manchester City won 2-0, much to the disappointment of the majority of the crowd.
There was a pretty big match on Sunday, Manchester City vs. Chelsea, so I invited some friends to join for an afternoon viewing. Even though I don't follow either team, I thought it would be nice to soak in the vibe and to be honest, with the lack of entertainment options in Kitgum, any form of entertainment is welcome. The bar has two rooms, one being more of a restaurant, both with one small TV (by American standards). I've never seen more than four or five people in the bar so you can see it was well above its usual capacity (see photo below).
The main bar room, packed with spectators
Watching the blank TV in the restaurant
Just as the came got interesting, BOOM, the power goes out. No one even bats an eyelash, yells out with frustration or jumps up in disbelief. Absolutely no reaction, like it happens all the time. Now, the electricity in Kitgum is pretty reliable, I'd say we have power about 80% of the time. And it usually is on or off for prolonged periods rather than patchy on/off cycles. AND, we had just had a good couple of days with constant power. I thought it was over. We wondered if they had a generator and since they didn't turn one on in the first five minutes, I assumed they didn't have one. Since my friends and I weren't in any hurry, we stayed and chatted among ourselves though I was amazed that probably 90% of the people stayed and simply stared at the blank TV. Literally just stared at the TV, not one conversation was started.
Staring at the blank TV in the main bar
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