Bingo Bailable

This past weekend we had the honor of attending a fundraising event held by some former Cruz Roja friends of ours who are starting their own health foundation. The event was held right around the corner from the Manna House in a restaurant, which until a few days ago was nothing but an abandoned cement foundation. We weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into since we’ve learned from experience that nothing here goes quite how we expect it to. The event however was exactly what the name suggests; danceable bingo. We played rounds of bingo with various kitchen appliances available as prizes, and in between rounds of bingo we danced. One thing (out of many) that I love about Latino culture is that they love to dance. Everyone at one time or another took to the dance floor, and some people never left it. I can’t imagine an event like this taking place in the US, never mind being such a success and such a fantastic time. We planned on stopping by for a little while just to show our support, but we ended up being among the last to leave. As the vecinos and the token gringos of our neighborhood, we were welcomed with open arms as our neighbors cheered us on and laughed kindly at our dance moves. The event left us tired and happy, wondering if we can somehow change the idea for our own Manna benefit coming in a few weeks.

The vecinas get taken to the dance floor

The brains of the operation