22 May 2007 - 12:41
This is a post I wrote about two years ago, hoping to learn about more games to add to the list, which I never did...the original list turned out to be just about all the games I have learned about in my entire service...so, without further ado...
Dom – Like checkers, but with twice as many pieces on a bigger board, and slightly different rules – once “king-ed,” a piece can move diagonally any number of spaces he chooses in order to capture his opponent’s pieces.
Lommit – A sand playing surface with 81 holes (nine holes by nine holes square) is filled with 40 sticks on one side and 40 pieces of donkey dung on the other side, with one hole left in the middle of the field. Pieces can be moved forward straight or diagonally, one space at a time, and you are required to jump (thereby capturing) your opponent’s pieces when able to do so, or you forfeit your own piece that failed to make the required capture. When pieces reach the opposite side, they are “king-ed,” enabling them to move any direction, any number of spaces they choose, to capture their opponent’s pieces. This appears to be one of the few authentically Mauritanian games played here, and I am currently working on a marketable version for the US (sand isn’t very conducive to portability, and I don’t know how long the shelf life of donkey dung is, so I need to do some more research).
Rocks – Originally called “boules” (French for “marbles”), it was imported from (guess where?) France and played with (guess what?) marbles, but is usually played with rocks in Mauritania, due to a lack of marbles. There are several different games that can be played, but all end with the winner thumping the loser(s) on the head a number of times.
Bullet (aka Marias) – A French card game and national obsession. It actually has more rules than the number of cards used (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, & 7 of each suit), since there are three different games that can be played with each hand, depending on the bids. Rule #1 is that cards can’t be laid down – they must be snapped and thrown forcefully at the playing surface in order to make as much commotion as possible while playing.
Convert the Nasrani* - The title is self-explanatory. They know they’re not going to win at this game, but they’re bored, and it’s something to do.
Marry the Nasrani* - Similar to “Convert the Nasrani” and sometimes played simultaneously, usually with similar results.
* I am currently working on the board game versions of these two games for production in the US.
“Narav jaat, walla maa jaat?” – A dialogue-based memory game played in the dark between two people, usually with a diagram drawn in the sand and completed with small stones. The answers never change, and after playing a dozen games (and winning each time), I still don’t know the point of it, or how it is a challenge at all. The first four lines always remain the same, with only Player 1’s answers to Player 2’s repeated “Here?” queries changing subsequent round:
Player 1: “Did the rabbit come or not?”
Player 2: “No.”
Player 1: “Then give me one of your children.”
Player 2: “Here?
Player 1: “No…” (et ceterra)
Fortune-telling – Done with 13 seashells and a coin, or figures drawn in the sand. Fortunes predicted for white people invariably include some variation of “you will marry someone in your village very soon” or “you will give your friend a lot of money.”
Trash-car Derby (aka Tetanus Express) – Children build model cars out of the trash in the street (usually from bits of wire, cans, and cut-up flip-flops) to race with other children.
Ring Racing – Barefoot children race metal hoops down the street, keeping them erect with another piece of wire. Stylistic bonuses are awarded for not getting tetanus or for running into white people.
Beat the Donkey – I’ve included this because I think Mauritanians actually do this for fun sometimes.
