Bingo in Rural Brasil

Bingo in Águas da Prata - 6th Game

The Spring game is postponed indefinitely!

Bingo - in Águas da Prata - 5th Game

Bingo Beneficiente

The Bingo provides support to the poor and the elderly at various times during the year.

We came and spent another pleasant afternoon playing Bingo. I have changed the blog name to Bingo in Rural Brasil since once again we played on Saturday. We attended this Charity Bingo on Saturday, July 5, with another change of venue.

This time we met in the Seniors' Club in Águas da Prata. It is much larger than the other venues we have used.

As usual there was a great selection of prizes to be won.

Lucia, the caller, is ready to start the games. Those pies were prizes too.

There was a good crowd of about 100 players.

There was lots of room for everyone with room left over for more!

Lidia and Wanda smiling, having a great time.

The usual snacks were served. They were delicious!

Vera plays as Lucia calls!

Serving snacks.

Maria is serving drinks with a happy smile!

Vera held a Lucky Draw for some prizes.

Here is one Lucky Winner collecting her prize.

Checking to see if he has filled his card correctly.

The happy Grand Prize winner!

We all had a very enjoyable afternoon and look forward to the next one in the Spring.

Photos by Urso Branco

Domingo Bingo - Sunday Bingo - 4th Game

Bingo Beneficiente

The Bingo provides support to the poor, the elderly and at Christmas time they give gifts to the kids.

We came and spent an afternoon both pleasant and festive. Maybe I should not call it Domingo Bingo any more since we often play on Saturdays. *SMILE* Once again we attended the Charity Bingo, on Saturday, December 8, with a change of venue. The farm in São João da Boa Vista was prebooked so we met again in the building in Águas da Prata.

There were many prizes to be won and purchased, created by or supplied by the players.

The prizes mostly carried a Festive Christmas motif.

The prizes to be won or purchased were numerous as well as elegant. They are all donated for the event.

Here are more of this lovely collection.

This is a basket of special prizes won for door prizes or lucky draws.

Wow! A set of dishes for some lucky player.

Now the players with Laura wait in anticipation for the games to start.

Here are Judite and Odila.

Nair!

Maria Aparecida and Maria do Socorro!

Maria, the Caller, with a beautiful smile for the camera.

Judy, Bette and Roberto discuss strategy.

Neide, Virginia and Zila!

The used Bingo Cards are collected by Lourdes for a Lucky Draw.

Vera shows the prize in the next game.

Lourdes and Virgina served coffee during a break in the games.

Bette and Roberto study their card intensly.

Serious playing by serious players Lucia e Rosa!

Judite and other players waiting for the next number from the caller, Lucia.

These games get really intense.

Playing to win!

Two ladies Marisa e Maria Aparecida, play while Joyce has a break.

Now it is snack time. Here Romilda is starting to serve the snacks.

MMMMMMM! These snacks are delightfuly enjoyed by everyone.

Laura has a birthday (just like last year). Here is her birthday cake.

Time for Joelma to light the candles.

There is also a second cake.

Happy Birthday to you, Laura!

This time we won a lovely center piece for the Christmas Table and a Music Box. We also won a mat and a beaded necklace (not shown here).

So a great time was had by all and these Bingos are a great social gathering and a wonderful opportunity to meet many new friends and practice my Portuguese.

Photos by Urso Branco

Domingo Bingo - Sunday Bingo - 3rd Game

Once again we attended the Charity Bingo, on Saturday, July 14, with a change of venue. The farm in São João da Boa Vista was prebooked so we met in this building in Águas da Prata.

As usual the winners prizes were on display.

This table was loaded with prizes.

This package contains a very special prize. The red and white mousy was made by our daughter Lucia.

Here we see Maria Helena studying her card closely.

Maria Helena won the coveted mousy! (a Door stop)

They had lots of snacks set out for us.

Here cakes are being distributed to everyone.

The snacks are very well prepared and everyone enjoys them.

But, alas, once again I won NOTHING! I must practice more.

We will hold another Charity Bingo on December 8 in this locale again. Come back and see what I win. *SMILE*.

Photos by Urso Branco

Domingo Bingo - Sunday Bingo - 2nd Game

We went back to the lovely farm in São João da Boa Vista on Sunday, December 3, 2006, for another Charity Bingo.

Just after we entered the farm a train went by, adding to the interest of this farm. The train track is right at the gate to the farm. It was another lovely day of Domingo Bingo.

The beautiful palm trees are silhouted against the clouds overhead. We didn't see any toucans this time.

The Flamboyant Tree still had blooms.

They had a special patrol in the parking lot looking after the cars.

There was quite a reserve force of guards nearby! *SMILE*

It was lunch time for them.

The table was set with the prizes as before.

These lovely towels were among the prizes to be won. They are all made by members of the group for this occasion.

The players, as usual. were mostly women. Notice the children in the background on the swings.

There were a small number of us men playing too.

Vera discusses player card sales with her daughter Margaret.

Here is Vera displaying the next Prizes.

And here is the "Winner" holding up her great prize!

The "Caller" holds up "Meia-Meia" for you to see.

After the games it is snack time!

Soft drinks were served and coffee was also available for those who wanted it.

One of the ladies had a birthday and was presented with a birthday cake by family and friends.

As usual a great time was had by all. But unfortunately, I didn't win anything this time. Maybe next time!

Photos by Urso Branco

Domingo Bingo - Sunday Bingo - 1st Game

Judy and I were invited to play Bingo on a farm in São João da Boa Vista on Sunday Sept 17. It was for charity but I had my doubts because I just don't play Bingo. It was something new and different for me to experience so I went along with it.

It turned out to be a spectacular event. It was great from my point of view for three reasons:

1 - Language

2 - Prizes

3 - Location

LANGUAGE

In order to play Bingo you must be able to understand the "caller's" words. That is where Language came into play. I now speak some Portuguese and was delighted to put it to use. None of the game was in English of course.

Meia-Meia

Let me give you an example of what I learned. In Portuguese the word for sixty is Sessenta. The word for seventy is Setenta. They are both used a lot in Bingo and sometimes it is difficult to tell them apart. The "caller" used Meia. Meia y Tres - 63, Meia Cinco - 65, etc. The strange one was Meia Meia. I asked Judy what that word was. She explained it was 66. But I had no idea what Meia meant. She explained it is "half". I asked, "Half of what?" Her answer was both surprising and very logical. Meia is half as in half a dozen. Go Figure eh! So that makes my age Meia Nove (or sessenta nove)!

So now I am getting to be able to understand numbers much better. Hooray for Bingo.

PRIZES

Judy won a prize. But I WON THREE!!!!!! Amazing eh? The prizes were things like towels, potholders, aprons and other assorted household crocheted or decorated items. They were all made by hand by the members of the group. They buy a plain towel and decorate it. My prizes were towels, an apron and a lovely scarf. I gave the scarf to the third member of our party because she didn't win anything.

There were about 80 ladies and 2 men in attendance.

After the Bingo we had cakes and sandwiches produced by the members. All proceedes went to the charity they all belong to.
But next is the BIG feature from my point of view.

LOCATION

The farm is right on the edge of the town of São João da Boa Vista, a few kilometers from our house. Here are some pics of what this farm looks like. Keep in mind we didn't go around the farm but stayed right in the vicinity of the "party" house.
More about the fabulous "party" house later.

We crossed over the railroad tracks to enter the farm. Here is the entrance looking back out over the tracks.

Here is a very interesting feature of the farm. It has its own fishing pond. Here is the elderly owner fishing in his pond. What a life eh?

The farm has lots of banana trees, many other fruits, chickens and crops and forests. We saw many toucans flying around the farm.

Here is the farmhouse. See the ham radio antenna in the background. The swimming pool looks very inviting doesn't it?

The "Party" House. This fabulous house is an open air summer party place. It has dois banheiros, (masculino y femenino) - 2 washrooms and change rooms, for the pool. It has a complete kitchen and an additional BBQ/Baking area. It seats from 80 to 100 people (there were about 80 of us there that day). The construction is brick with tile floor, wood beams and tile roof. The workmanship on this building is the best. All the furniture was plastic. So nothing here gets effected by weather.

The same building seen from the pool. The banheiros are to the left and right of the entrance way.

The outdoor baking oven is great. We didn't use it or the BBQ that day.

Here is the BBQ area next to the Baking Oven. Everything is 1st class all the way.

The ladies chat before the games start. Judy is in the back right corner with the blue top. The lady with her is Lucia, a friend who is teaching Judy to speak French. Parlez-vous français?

The kitchen and BBQ area can be seen in the background.

The sun was setting as we saw many toucans fly by but alas no pics of them. This would be a spectacular pic if I had caught the toucans flying amongst the palm trees.

When we got home I modeled my winnings. See my lovely apron and my frilly serving towel. Aren't I just too lovely for words? Hahahahahaha!

That is how Brasilians like to live. How many of you have a large house big enough for 80 to 100 guests, used only for parties.

The farm owner donated the use of the house so the charity had no expenses at all. They made quite a bit of money for helping the poor. A worthy cause and lots of fun.

Photos by Urso Branco