Since I was little I can recall playing Lotería around our dinning table after supper. This was truly my favorite time of the day, as friends and family came together creating a small stack of pesos in the middle of the table. Everyone gather, my tíos and tías, cousins, our abuelitos and all the small children in the neighborhood. As long as you had a peso to start with, everybody was welcomed to play. Lotería was an important part of the day, where the women cached up on gossip, men created rivalry, and children lost their yearly savings.

Lotería was first brought to Mexico from Spain in the early 18th century. It was originally played by the wealthy and upper classes but as time progress Lotería evolved into a game played at the traditional fairs and by the upper classes. Loteria is not only a traditional game but a part our culture.

La lotería not only consists of pictures depicting our culture, but it also embraces the dichos and refranes which help us understand how we think and behave within our culture. “Calaquita, sé lo mucho que te gusta bailar, escúchame atenta, un secreto te voy a dar” is the dicho on the number 7 card of the Lotería, which is the one I’ve been playing with since I was 7 years old. This dicho along with the ones embedded on the back of each image and card can be a very valuable source of advice for both young and old. They often reflect the values of a society and record cultural history.