Lights Out, Royal Flush

On Saturday night, the power/electricity went out at our house. Power outages are not unfamiliar territory for me. Visiting India, you become accustomed to regular power outages which can often last for quite some time. On Saturday, I was in the midst of cleaning/doing some laundry when the power went out. I noticed that two of the youngest children at my landlord’s place were home alone. I invited them to sit with me on the front patio of the house where there were candles/lanterns and play cards. The youngest son, Baumlik, taught me how to play the card game called Injera and Wot (Ethiopian Bread and Stew) which is essentially the Ethiopian version of Go Fish. You fan out all of the cards face down in a large circle to form the injera (bread) and in the middle, you put four cards face up to form the Wot (stew). You then each take turns picking up one card from the injera ring and if the card you pick up matches one of the cards in the middle – you pick it up and get to keep the pair. This is what I understood anyways. I am pretty convinced that Baumlik was letting me win, especially since the rules would often unexpectedly change in my favour. Abel, the second youngest son, then taught me how to play a few other card games that are popular in Ethiopia. Our card games reminded me of playing cards with my cousins in India when the power went out. Good times.