Mouse Hunter - Karim2k Blog

Photo: Taken on my desk two weeks ago

The actual note has been lying as a draft since a year (06/26/2006)

You've certainly noticed that Tunis -as California- is the city where you can't find an empty bar, where there are a permanent queue in front of all liquor shops and where the black market is the most exciting night trade ever and thus all along the year, so what's up with those Tunisians? how it come they are more thirsty than Vikings ?

Before getting to any explanation, remember that Tunis is an Arabic Muslim country with some 3000 years that goes from Carthage to Islamic quests, Turkish empire invasion, French colonization , .. The country is located in the heart of the world, yes the heart of the world just in the right middle of the Mediterranean basin, so it has been always a multi-cultured crossroads.

First of all Tunisian drink because they used to for thousands of years, the sunny weather did the best grapes on the world, Romans invaded north Africa to distill the best wine ever, yes they do hundreds years of wars for wine, ... yeah for some cereals too but that it's not a worthy reason to do wars :)

The Muslims quest where alleged to prevent people from drinking wine and start praying for god, but that was brief once settled, they started tasting the real joy of wine in the jar ... so far from the Headquarters, the new comers were rapidly melted with the red liquid culture, the Turkish and French colonizations did a solid statement about alcohol as the proud of the nation, indeed the oil was excellent, but the wine was devilish to resist.

And so that our blood was extracted directly from thousands of years of struggle, warmed by the independence, we kept on the happy habits from the far past rolling on.

Tunisian drink simply for two reasons: to get drunk as everybody does in all over the world and sometimes to feel special as belonging to the mad drink community, but I simply that drinking is more a local habit than a way to show off, a nation with thousands of years of Berber and Roman history can't let down habits that easy, in fact the French colonization have even stamped the industry quite deep in our economy.

If you go to any bar around Tunis downtown in local popular bar as Schilling, you'll notice all class people drinking and eating dozens of beers for continuous hours like pirates or vikings -I do the often experience myself- enjoying a friendly talk or watching a soccer game. You could get surprised but this is how beer business works around here since ever.