i am a professional bingo caller-outer

So we all have moments in our life where we sit back and say "is this for real?"

Sometimes they happen more frequently, at other times, less.

One of the most unreal aspects of my job which is a constant source of this innervation is our Thursday night Bingo at the old men's home called El Hospital de la Caridad.

On these nights I come bearing a Bingo number-device, game card, and cheap prizes I bought at a Spanish version of a dollar store (referred to as a chino because Chinese people typically own them)... such as Spain themed key-chains, pencils, and mini local landmarks.

We play various rounds which are all taken very seriously first attempting to make a linea or a fila (a line or a row) and then going for the carta entera (the whole card) for the grander prizes. I have been corrected by old men, have been hit on by them, and have become privy to their inside jokes about certain number (15 - la niña bonita, "the pretty girl" and 90 - el abuelo, "the grandfather). They walk in and out of the game as they please... so there will be anywhere from two to ten of them at a time. But, mainly they get bored by the end.

Photos are required for actual proof or you may not believe me.

Yesterday, Domingo won four different times.

And the coveted prize was a little plate with the Simpsons on it.

Bip.