Le Loto

Irie's school had the French version of the bake sale to raise money for extracurricular activities. We wrote about the Christmas Loto we went to in a previous post. We got to the door a few minutes late and were told there were no places left. Wow, rockin' start to a 3 day weekend! We went in anyway to say hi to friends and Kurt and Steph figured out how to squeeze us into their table. The acoustics were terrible so hearing the announcements and the numbers called was a strain, especially since we were socializing too. We've also learned that when the numbers (1-90) are called they are often prefaced by the associated département. (The Var, where we live, is 83, Paris is 75). At some point in school one must memorize all the departments and their numbers, as we do the state capitals. So amidst all the commentary en français we were straining to hear the numbers. But all our table mates were cheerful and helpful and we all provided each other auxiliary ears. Loto is like Bingo, only you call out " Quine! " (pronounced KEEN) and have to stand up and flail your arms. The teachers and principle of the school were the volunteer verifiers of the Quine callers. I won the first game! As the night wore on people left and so we took over their cards, but alas, though we had some close calls we didn't win anything else. My prize, "Tea Time" was a basket stuffed with glasses, coffee cups, a tea pot and cup, coffee, teas and other little hoo-ha. And a plant. Quite dramatic carrying that stuff out of there.