Intellectual Games and Mental Challenges

Sometime this summer, my good friend, tutor, work counterpart and guardian angel, Narine told me that she participated in a group that played intellectual games at the library.  She said she would invite me sometime if I would like.  Now, as someone whose brain is clogged with an infinite amount of trivial information and a lover of the American game, Trivial pursuit, I wanted to see what this was like.

Weeks went by and the game was not mentioned again.  I do not know if Narine forgot she had mentioned it, worried that my terrible skills would make it too much of a burden on her to translate, or that I would not like it because of the language problems. It really does not matter why but we did not talk about the idea for some time.

A couple of weeks ago, Narine showed me the game being played in Russia on YouTube.  She had to translate for me, of course.  This young woman is quite gifted with languages, speaking, Armenian, Russian, French, and English. Me, I can barely speak English and I am trying to learn Armenian.  Anyway, the game was truly fascinating.  It differs from Trivial Pursuit in that the question is not direct with an answer but has a twist that makes the players have to decipher the question to get to the answer.  It took me a while to figure out the routine, but I eventually did and got a couple of questions correct.

Poor Narine.  She had already spent a little over an hour trying to tutor me in Armenian and now I was filling up her living room and time with my desire to understand the game.  I kept asking if I could watch one more round of the quiz show. She accommodated because she loves the show. I felt I was taking the fun out of it for her because of the need to have her translate the questions.  I suddenly realized I had invaded her family’s home for almost three hours on a work night.  Narine, of course said that I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted but if I had stayed as long as I wanted, I would have been having morning coffee watching the game show.  I escaped to my little apartment but began trying to write questions in the style of the game.

Again, we got busy with work and did not talk about the game night for a while. It crossed my mind but did not want to bother Narine with her busy job.  I don’t do very much at work but wait for someone to ask me about an American phrase or word, so I have too much time to think.  But Thursday, I taught my adult class about Louisiana food and we compared the Armenian and English words for vegetables and spices. A friend of Narine’s named Mariam whom I had previously met attended.  I had helped her with some research on a paper she had written and presented on the inequity of women’s pay and job opportunities.  After the class, she asked Narine if I would come with them to the intellectual game on Friday night.  Narine asked if I had time.  Now, I recently taught Narine an expression from America.  I had told her that at formal dances years ago, boys would put their names on a girl’s dance card to earn the right to dance one dance.  There were always those girls whose dance cards remained empty because they were not as pretty or as good a dancer.  Ii is a sad tale to say that your dance card is empty.  My reply to her on whether I wanted to go was simply that my dance card was empty.  So, it was decided that Narine and her friend would pick me up at 8:00 on Friday evening.  I was more excited than they will ever know, unless they read this story.

Friday morning, Narine was battling a cold.  I will say I was worried about going to the game night, but I was even more worried about her.  She continually said she was feeling better. She is not a very good liar.  It was evident how badly she felt.  As our workday ended, she told me she would either text me that she was coming to pick me up or that her friend would take me if that was okay.  I assured her that I would be just as confused with her friend trying to translate and that I wanted her to get well.  About twenty minutes before 8:00, Narine texted me and said she would pick me up in ten minutes.

She called me when she and her father were out front.  I went down and saw that Narine was in the backseat insisting I sit in the front, as usual.  Her father, my friend Varuzhan, and I talked about how cold it was as Narine ran in to the little store to, I found out later, buy some miniature Snickers for the team to enjoy during the game.  Varuzhan was dressed better for the weather than I, sporting a nice ski cap.  I had switched from Cowboy hat to Basque Beret which is warm but not as much as my ski cap.  He understands me a little better every time we try to talk, and I am getting better at understanding him.  The tension that was once in the air when we are alone together is not so great.

 We got to the library which was very close to my apartment quickly.  The parking lot was dark and muddy.  Narine worried about me falling in the dark muddy parking lot. I told her to go that I was fine and would follow because I had no idea which place was the library.  We got to the stairs leading up to the building and her friend was at the top waiting for us.  The stairs were in disrepair as so many buildings are, and I know Narine slowed he ascent worrying about me.  She and her friend, Mariam, hugged, and we went inside.

They began talking animatedly as young women will with me trailing.  I was struggling to keep up because I was so distracted by everything I was seeing in the building.  Although I could not read the Armenian, well maybe a few words, it had the look and feel of a library.  I wanted to schedule a time to come back and explore the library itself.  Narine sensed this and said we could look at the library another time, but we needed to hurry upstairs to the room where the game would be held. The two young ladies beat me up the stairs handily even though I finally quit stopping to look at things.

We entered the large room and I saw about eight tables with groups of four or five people around them. I assumed each was a team.  We hurried to the front table where two young men who were part of Narine’s team were waiting for her and her friend.  One young man moved to the other side of the table to allow me to sit between Narine and Mariam for translation purposes.  The deputy mayor, Armen, was the emcee of the game.  He recognized me and came over and shook my hand welcoming me.  He asked Narine if he should read the questions in Armenian rather than Russian.  I think, more politely than I am writing, Narine said to stay in Russian because I am not good enough at Armenian to get the questions anyway.  She, being a million times smarter than me, could translate Russian as easily as Armenian.

Mariam smiled at me and showed me there were pens and pieces of paper on the table to help us with taking notes and figuring out the answers.  There were small pieces of paper that were to be our answer sheets.  I think the combination of our tardiness, the excitement of the game to be played, and the fact that her cold was worse, Narine never did introduce me to the two young men on her team.  They were very nice to me. They laughed once when Narine translated a question and I answered in Armenian that I did not know.  It was a polite laugh of shock that I spoke Armenian at all.

The room was heated by a wood fed stove between our table and the table where Armen, the emcee read the questions.  There was a lot of chatter in the room which I did not understand but when Armen read the first question, there was silence.

The rules of the game as I understood them, are that a question is read.  Each team has sixty seconds to discuss the question and then write their answer with their team name on the slip.  Armen walks around and collects the slips.  He would read some of the answers that were wrong, but I assumed he saw as a little funny. He gave the correct answer.  A score sheet had all the teams on it.  The sixty second rule made it for me to receive a translation with every question.  I listened for words I might recognize or dates.  Mariam would sometimes write her notes in English to try to help me.  Narine, whose brain was not 100 percent because of her cold, tried to translate but sometimes the translations were off a bit or she did not try because of the quickness.  She did a great job especially considering how badly she felt. 

The first question I understood, I suggested a wrong answer.  The next question I understood, I gave them the correct answer but with not much confidence, so it was not used by the team.  My answer was correct.  We showed Armen that I had written it in English to try to get the point but to no avail.  At this point, in the between questions audience banter, Narine told one of our workmates, Ruzan, that I had answered the question correctly. I was so focused following Narine and Mariam to our table when we arrived that I had not noticed Ruzan.  She told me I could join her team, but I stayed put.

I got another question correct but the team did not use my answer.  The guys were not sure about me yet.  The next question, I answered correctly, I wrote the slip in English and Armen looked at the answer unassuredly.  Mariam told him I had written Long John Silver.   I was proud of that and now had the trust of the two young men.  We were not doing very well.  We only had a score of two out of ten.  Of course, if we added the two answers, I had suggested that went unused, we would have had at least four points.

We reached the midpoint time of the game.  Most of the men went outside to smoke.  Narine asked if I wanted to go have a cigarette.  We laughed about that. Another gamer was Roman, a young man who attends my class and I have gotten to know in town. I had not seen him earlier either.  Roman had some sliced potatoes in a container next to Narine.  She handed it to him and explained to me that they were going to cook the slices with a little salt on the stove being used for heat.  I watched Roman place the slices all over the top of the stove and then sprinkle them with salt. 

We sat there and Narine got out her Snickers.  Mariam put an assortment of chocolates out as well.  Not being a big candy person, I would have completely passed but Mariam handed one to me.  I could not say no to someone offering me something like this, so I took the chocolate.  I am so glad I did because it was excellent.  The second one like the one she gave me, I handed to Narine.  I don’t know if she ever ate it now that I am thinking back on the evening.  Nothing tastes good when you have a cold.

Roman came to our table with a plate full of the potato slices.  I was rather honored that he offered me the first ones from the stove.  Mariam, Narine, and I all took one.  I thanked Roman and watched as he shared with everyone.  This culture never ceases to amaze me with their generosity.  Someone may not have much, but it is shared with everyone.  What a beautiful way to live.  Just then, a man came up and I found out he was Mariam’s father who owned the bakery.  I jokingly told him with Narine’s help that his daughter was not a good business woman because I had stopped by the bakery to buy something and she would not let me pay for my item.  He said she got her generosity from him and laughed at my story.

Halftime ended.  There were no marching bands or dance troupes.  The men came back in from smoking.  Everyone settled in and Armen began reading the questions again.  I got a couple of questions correct but I think translating was getting harder for my team and there was such a short time for each question.  Even when I did not know what was being talked about, I was loving the energy and passion for knowledge that was bubbling up around the room, especially at our table.  The competition was incredible. My back was to the room for most of the game but our table was like being at a table of scientists solving life’s riddles.  I was energized so much by the game. 

I know we did not win but I don’t know who did.  Everyone was so focused. It was inspiring to see about thirty people challenging each other intellectually.  I have played Trivial Pursuit in bars in America, but this was more the mental exercise.  There were no prizes of which I was aware, and I saw no alcohol being consumed.  Armen came over and shook my hand at the end again making me know I was welcome to be there.

Narine was about to call her father to come give us a ride when Ruzan offered to give us a ride.  I crowded in to the back seat with Ruzan and Narine.  As we rode along, Ruzan said I should join her team next time. Narine told her that would not be allowed.  I was so excited to know they wanted me to come again that I felt like a little kid.  I hope they really do bring me again. I have another experience where I am learning more from my Armenian friends about how to enjoy life than I am giving them. I hope to go back and visit the library just to be in a library, one of my safe havens in America.  And, I really hope that little Narine is feeling better.