Los Juegos del Campo - The Games of the Country

I enjoy a good game (un juego), whether it participating in competition in a sport such as golf, basketball or skateboarding. I certainly also (también) enjoy watching games as well, as I am fond of attending college football and basketball fames, watching (mirando) the World Series, College bowl games and the Super bowl on TV. I also enjoy playing games that can be done at home, such as the card games Uno or Gin Rummy. Even when I go to the Fair, I will participate (participé) in games on the midway, such as the basketball shoot, the ring toss or the beloved Wack-A-Mole to try and gain some prize (un premio).

Yet, I have never had the chance (una oportunidad) to play a traditional game in the country of Chile until one afternoon (una tarde) at the home of our friends, Jaime and Gladys. After a wonderful lunch, we set out to play a game that was a favorite of Gladys’s dad, who grew up in the country (el campo) and enjoyed playing a game called Frog (Rana). This is a table game that can be quite competitive, and from all accounts by Gladys, her father (su padre) was and still is quite a fierce competitor when it comes to this game. It is a game that harkens back to the past, to a simpler time (un tiempo más simple) in the country, to childhood aspirations reaching to adult challenges. In other words, it is a connection to the past (al pasado), to a part of Chile that is not always readily achieved in the bustling metropolis of Santiago.

In the table game, the object (el objetivo) is to throw a brass coin from a distance of about 15 feet onto a table with holes drilled in it. Each of the coins is about the size (la talla) of a US quarter, with more width and about 10 times the mass and you get 8 coins to throw on a given turn. Also on the table, there area couple of wooden doors (unas puertas de madera) that are hinged and cover slots in the wood, there is a pinwheel of brass blocking another slot, and in the center (en el centro) of it all sits a brass frog with a small opening in its mouth. The goal is to try and throw the heavy coins onto the table and have as many as you can fall through the holes (los agujeros), the slots or in the mouth of the frog. Each different area has a corresponding point value ranging from 200 points for a middle level hole, to 2000 points for sending it down the gullet of the frog on the fly.

Each person on the team (el equipo) gets a turn to throw the 8 coins on the table and see how many disappear into the scoring area below. After each turn, the entire group (el grupo completo) heads up to the table, to lift the heavy (pesada) and hinged top and to look into the maze of slots marked with the appropriate point values. Once the agreed upon total is reached, such as 10,000 or 20,000 points for the game, one team emerges as the victor (el ganador) and the other team is left in defeat.

My experience with this game was quite amusing, and I utilized a Frisbee influenced tossing method (método), much to the amusement of my Chilean hosts. As a team, Sarah and I split games with Jaime and Gladys, each winning a match (un partido) and leaving it at that, for all intents and purposes, a veritable tie. Yet, my greatest accomplishment (mi logro más bueno) was getting the coin into the frog’s mouth (la boca de la rana), not once, not twice, but 3 times, and thereby securing my connection to the champions of days past.