So, Irina and I walk into a bar in Nicaragua...

"We are not going to come in last place this time," I said authoritatively. "Tonight there's no way that they can ask any questions about Romanian celebrities and pop music of the '80s."

It was our second time attending a pub quiz together. As with our first time half a year ago, Irina and I were in a country where neither of us were fluent in the local language. As with our first time, we were a team of two up against tables in other parts of the pub with 8 to 10 players seated around them.

The entry fee was 10 cordobas per player. We signed up under the same team name that we had improvised that initial time playing a pub quiz, Peshawar Cantonment. I was a bit disappointed when the quizmaster announced that there were to be only five rounds of five questions each. The theme was "Christmas and Winter Holidays" which also sounded lame--but perhaps an area we might both know something about as westerners.

Irina Reads By Kindlelight at Pub

We didn't win. But we did respectably well, landing comfortably in the upper half of teams.

"You know, we really ought to have at least placed, tonight," I said. "That question they asked about which country Christmas Island is a part of. We got that right, but they threw it out because their projector with the map showing where it was wasn't working.

"We also should have gotten right that question about how old Mao Tse-Tung was when he died. I knew that the years he was alive were between 1893 and 1976: that's printed on every banknote in China. But, I hadn't known that he'd been born on Christmas Day--so he was technically 82 and not 83 when he died. Whatever. In China they would have said he was 83."

"Yeah, that was a lot better," Irina said. "The questions were so much easier. I hadn't realized when we went to the pub quiz in Romania how hard the questions were and how competitive all the other teams were. Playing there all the other teams were serious regulars. Playing here it was all the other teams were bunches of backpackers," Irina said.

Shave and a Haircut

"Well, we'll just have to find another place down the road to finally take first place," I said. "I'll bet there must be a quiz on somewhere in Mexico City... "

• Name the three gifts of the magi.
• What color is associated with Advent?
• In what country did the Christmas tree originate?