Playin’

Our new strategy to survive the torture chamber flight from Italy to California is to 1) pop $100 extra for the luxury of choosing aisle seats and 2) include a short family visit in New Jersey. Who knew coming from Newark could be advantageous? Well, although all of my relatives have left Newark, they are still in Jersey. My closest sibling, Ray works 5 minutes from Newark airport, so he can pick us up or drop us off on his way to/from work. We spent a leisurely day at his house between flights. Between thunderstorms, we played Mexican Train Dominoes on the patio (blip). I was a fast-learner with beginner’s luck perhaps as I immediately ‘beat’ the self-proclaimed champ several times. Of course, my brother then proclaimed that I won because he taught me the tricks and strategies! Chinese laborers brought the game to Latin America when they came to work the sugar cane fields in the mid 1800’s, then laborers from Latin America brought the game to the US when they came to work the Railroads in the 1860’s. Because the game came from south of the border, Americans called it “Mexican Train Dominoes”. More recently, a US game marketer added the plastic contraption with a button that is pushed every time a new ‘train track’ is started to play a loud and rollicking choo choo train recording. A bit obnoxious but fun.