Do you want to play Dingo?

When I first heard about Dingo it sounded like a very boring and old people thing. Well, I won't say it is not old people thing, I found out later that mostly older than me people are the ones that go play it, but it is actually quite fun. Most important, there almost no hearing people there.

This time I went late and as people were already sat down I was put into a group of all Deaf with only 1 person from a group next time mine that was HOH and could talk and she helped me interpreting a little when people from my group signed something and I couldn't understand. My first game and I made it to the 1st person to be on the finals. Although I didn't win any game, it was pretty exciting to see all those people in my group rooting for me. The most amazing feeling was that even though I had very little ASL knowledge and could barely communicate with them, I was one of the few hearing there, I could feel that all those Deaf people in my group were excited that me (an stranger, out of their community, out of their world and language) After one of the first experience where I was "shut down" from the group site where ONLY Deaf people can be in and/or are welcomed, there I was not just welcomed but also an equal and someone thy would be proud of just for running for the winning place.

The thing with Dingo is mostly, we don't really talk a lot with each other, or maybe because I was new and not good at signing, but during the game the focus is on the cards and not on each other's hands. Other than that, it was a great experience to practice seeing signing from the "host" while announcing things about the game and other events they were planning.

One thing I definitely learned was that, this community IS diversified and HUGE. At least just a few of them (in comparison with the amount of Deaf people around the country) are the ones against hearing people. Granted, they are not all arms wide opened, but most respect us hearings as people just like them and if we do the same, the mutual respect goes far as a great conversation, into something that can be even more.