So welcome to the Cuchubal, a monthly event held to bring the family together… and take their money.
The Cuchubal is a very common game played in Guatemala. It`s a sort of round-robin event held with a group of usually around 10+ people (Otto`s family plays with about 30). Everybody throws down Q200 (about $26) and hopes that they win the pot.
So here are the most important rules of Cuchubal (and people make sure that they`re followed to the T):
- Come to the Cuchubal
- Put down your Q200 (If you don`t come this rule still applies)
- If you don`t pay the Q200 during the day of Cuchubal you need to pay a penalty to the last person who won Cuchubal
- If you win, you need to wait for everybody else to win before you are able to win again
- If you win, you need to hold the next Cuchubal
Reviewing the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here... if you wanna start something, the rulebook`s right here...)
Olga passing out the numbers for the cash money
Passing out the numbers for the bottle of gin
Suspense while everybody waits for the niña to hold up the sign with the magic winning number
12!
So what`s the point of Cuchubal? Good question, I wasn´t completely sure myself. You aren`t actually “winning” or “losing” the money. From what I could tell, there is really no difference between playing Cuchubal and opening a bank account and putting in Q200 a month (because no matter what you have to pay by the month and at some point you`re garunteed to win the Cuchubal). So what`s it about, winning a bunch of money at once so you can then impulsively spend it?
I asked my Spanish teacher Aura about this game. She used to play with all of the other maestras at school. She explained that this is actually a good way to save money. Since you have a responsibility to put down money (cuz if you don`t you`re gonna have to pay), you actually end up putting aside Q200 a month no matter what. It is also a way to watch out for your friends and family. For example, in select cases, if somebody`s child is sick and they need money for an operation or expensive medicine, the Cuchubal is shifted to them and they automatically win for that month.
Otto`s cousin (Olga`s son) ended up winning this one. The pot was Q6,800 ($858).
This guatemalan banking math makes no sense to me. Everyone month my bank automatically transfers $25 from my checking account into my savings account. In exchange for this I a)don’t pay any banking fees at all and b)gain interest on my money and c)I happen to have a high interest savings account. So not only am I not “losing money,” I actually am winning. How is this a good way to save money?
Ya, I`m still not totally clear about the advantage of playing this mysterious game. Maybe its just for fun, I don`t know. Maybe Otto can shed some light on this…
its for fun and good times and to bring the family together, and again, emergency money as noted above is good. Its nice to randomly have $858 that you wouldnt normaly get in a bank condition… unless the banks play cuchubal, then thad be awesome right… think of it this way:
instead of saving 25 dollars a month, im losing 25 dollars a month, big deal, i would drink that money in an instant… but, then one day, after losing 25 dollars a month for a year (which im not losing, im actually eating and drinking at the hosts house), all of a sudden, SLAM, big moneys! and i had a good time, good food, and most importantly got time to spend with friends/family which is worth the 25 dollars “lost”. get it?
and in guatemala, where banks fail all the time, you dont want your money in there savings account, cuz there isnt anything like a federal reserve to backup your cash money, when a bank closes, your money goes with them.
Except that with the bank I don’t randomly have an extra $858, I always have an extra $858 (or whatever happens to be the balance of my accounts). The point is, in 2009 where the economy is globalized, it’s absurd for someone to say, with complete seriousness, that a pseudo-gambling ritual is a good way to save money and that these things shouldn’t be so overly romanticized that we forget to call a spade, a spade.
And two words regarding the instability of banks in Guatemala. Offshore banking.
um……..I want to win $858. Maybe I could start one at viaARCH?
AMERICANS…pff
we have a similar system in korea called “gyae”. the whole point is getting a person big sums of money in turns….its kinda ancient banking, lottory system….some people in korea still does this…and they do big one like every month they deposit 100,000 and end of the year one person get 1 mil. but in some cases this whole thing goes into a shithole when the one in charge of this event runs away wit the money….
Being a poor American student who doesn’t know the custom and doesn’t understand this ritual, seems a good excuse to keep what little money you have in your pocket. You may not be there long enough to win!