I’ve rescued an old habit which has great potential to become a worthy occupation on a Saturday night. I’m weary of feeling angry, hopeless and blue because of this enduring lockdown. Instead I’ve made a decision, mainly to preserve the healthy sanity I still consider to have left in me.

We have all been trying, one way or the other, to fill the gaps left by what used to be a normal, social life. To me, finding a substitute for a deserved night out with friends, after a long work-week, remains a tangled task riddled with complete frustration and failure. After all, how many Friday or Saturday nights have gone since the world started going mad? I bet several of them were strange, depressed or miserable in your house: just pick the definition that suits you the most.

After almost a year of resetting and shifting our daily routines, we are still far from the end of what it seems to be an exhaustive long-distance competition. So between the trots and sprints, I took a pause and played cards with my husband. Yes, just like grandmas do to past their time.

In my home country Brazil there’s a card game called “Buraco” (it translates to “Hole” but don’t dare to ask me why as I have no clue) and that seemed just the right one to entertain ourselves with on a cold, winter’s night. “Buraco” doesn’t require much skill and will not speed up your heart or play tricks with your intelligence. It has a smooth pace and provides players with the perfect dose of enthusiasm and contentment.

If you are a novice and wonder if Buraco is the ideal choice for your lock-in weekend, let me put it this way: with the right game’s partner opponent accompanied by the most delicious olives from Italy to nibble in and your favorite refreshment, you might realize that your home is the only place you would rather be.