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UNO Night at the Evensens

Okay, this photo was taken last year at Christmastime, because that's the now Elder Nils with his back to the camera - but it chronicles a weekly activity in my brother's household: playing UNO.

Playing Uno is serious business in our family!

For those of you who may not know, UNO is a card game.  It is a simple game to learn to play, and since it relies solely on numbers and colors, it is universal in its appeal.

Simply put, you can play UNO, even if you can't speak the language.

My dad and stepmom put this to the test.  They went through dozens of decks in their 17 years of living in various European countries.  UNO was always playable, no matter what language barrier existed!  They ended up giving decks away to most of the folks who played UNO with them in their home after dinner.  It was an ice breaker, and a friendship builder.

It was fun.

Because of them, I've played UNO in English, Swedish, French, Flemish and Norwegian.  Not necessarily in that order.  (As Brother Dobieski is wont to say, "your mileage may vary".)

My brother's family is doing their best to keep the UNO mania alive.  Their weekly games are pretty exciting.  Trust me.  Okay, maybe you have to be there to know what I'm talking about.  (Refer to above picture.)

Recently, they decided to send an UNO deck to their son, Nils.  As chronicled in this blog, Nils is currently serving as an LDS missionary in the wilds of Cuernavaca, Mexico.  He has just been assigned to Cuautla.  He has some funny experiences with the game in Spanish.

In case you need a refresher, this is Elder Nils surrounded by his crazy, UNO playing family

Nils writes from Cuautla:

The other day I saw someone in our ward with UNO cards.  I didn't realize how weird that was until I tried to explain it to a Mexican Elder.  I guess the conversation would translate something like this:

'Do you play one?'

'Uh, what?'

'You know, ONE.'

'Ummm...no, I play a lot more games than just one.'

Now that Elder Nils has his own deck, he'll have to spread the Word... no, he's already spreading THAT word, I mean he'll have to teach people about UNO.

I think the Mexican people can handle it.