Wednesday, June 23, 2010

On Guinness

Yesterday afternoon I went to observe a refresher course for sex workers involved in our peer education program.  Several of their clients were listening in on the training, one of whom had a bottle of Guinness in his hand.  I asked one of my co-workers what Haitians drink (rum) and mentioned the beer.  There was a pause.  “Guinness isn’t really beer,” he said. This was news to me.  “It’s an energy drink.  You drink it when you’re tired, before sport or sex, to give you a boost.”  I confirmed that he and I were talking about the same Guinness - alcoholic black Guinness?  “Yes,” he said, “It's brewed locally, but it’s not really alcoholic.”  He confessed he’s only tried it once a long time ago.  I decided to dismiss his comments as those of an unenlightened rum-drinker.

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