Great weekend... bad Monday!

Well, this weekend was pretty exciting. My friend from Mexico that lives in DC (Daniel Vazquez) came down to Guatemala due to work, and it was his first time here. We met up with him on Friday night and we had some food and drinks, here's the evidence from Friday night...

Mariana, Estuardo, Carlos, Daniel...

Unfortunately for me, while I was at the gym Friday afternoon, I was called 10 times... all of the missed calls were from work (by the way, my voicemail doesn't work, so people can't leave messages on my cellphone). I called back and found out we had a project that needed to be completed on Saturday, so I had to come in for about 4 hours on Saturday morning. After that, I went to pick up Daniel, who was staying at a hotel, but he was moving out and staying at my place until Monday. We headed down to Antigua Guatemala (about 45 minutes from Guatemala City), which used to be the capital city of Guatemala, and has a lot of Spanish-colonial architecture, with cobblestone streets and an international community. Antigua Guatemala is one of our most popular tourist spots... really awesome place to come down and visit.

In front of Iglesia de la Merced...

Daniel and a partial view of Antigua...

Enjoying a bite to eat...

After lunch and walking around town, we headed to this bar called "Monoloco" (crazymonkey) in Antigua, that's owned by some Bostonians. The bar is covered, wall to wall, with Red Sox memorabilia, and the best part is that they transmit all the Bosox games there. Anyways, we had some beers there, stopped at another bar, and then came back to the city around 2:30 AM. Daniel was headed to Peten (where Tikal is) that morning, so I had to drive him to the airport at 5:30 AM... I was soooo tired... The good thing is, I came back home and went to sleep, Daniel was gonna go hiking in Tikal for the day... sorry dude!

My dad was in town because of work (and is spending some extra days on vacation) and it was decided that he wanted (along with my aunt & uncle) to celebrate 100 years of my grandfather's birthdate (he's not alive anymore, but sitll, another excuse to celebrate his life). So we had a lunch with a bunch of family members in Casa Santa Domingo (http://www.casasantodomingo.com.gt/ voted the best hotel and resort in Mexico - Central America) which is also located in Antigua Guatemala. A whole bunch of family members I hadn't seen in a long time were there to remember Papa Chepe...

All of grandpa's nephews...

All the people who attended the event... I guess all these people are related to me!

Now, the bad news... On Monday, I went to work like any other day, then I found out that we had a basketball game later on (yes, I've joined a basketball team). Anyways, headed to the game, the game was pretty close, I go up to block a shot and FUDGE! I sprained my ankle really bad... the pain was unbearable. I went out of the game immediately, and I could feel my ankle starting to swell. When the game was over (which we lost), I could barely drive myself home (it was my right leg... yes, that's the same leg I tore my ACL on). Once I got home, removed my shoes, and my ankle was really swollen up... it was the size of Peter's ankle (from Familly Guy). Applied some ice to it, took some Tylenol and tried to get some sleep, which was really bad because of the pain and I could not get comfortable. Next day, the ankle was just as bad, so I had to go to the doctor... after an MRI and the hospital hoopla, I have an extremely bad sprain (or really good sprain, however you want to look at it), the doctor gave me a immobilizer for my ankle that I have to wear for three weeks, some pills to help with the swelling, and I can't do any activities that put too much pressure on my ankle for about a month. Went to work on Wednesday, and it's almost like when I tore my ACL back in the States, have to keep my leg up and I walk around the office about 5 mph.... The conclusion I've reached: it's healthier to watch sports than to play them!!! So basically, I'm out of any type of action for at least three weeks.... at least we have MONDAY off!

Un fuerte abrazo and take care,

CRCP

P.S. Two friends have already come down to Guatemala... who's next?!?!

Easter...

Easter has come and gone, and it has been quite an eventful holiday. First of all, Brenda came down to Guatemala due to some unforeseen and sad circumstances. We are all here for you Brenda, you can lean on us.

Brenda did come out to dinner with us on Wednesday the 12th, and here are the pics from that dinner:

Lucky, Carlos, Brenda and Margit (all high school friends)

Brenda, Carlos and Manuel

Lucky, Carlos and Manuel... no words needed.

For Easter (or Holy Week, which is how it's known down here), we have Easter Thursday and Friday off, along with getting out early on Wednesday, sorta like Thanksgiving in the US (which we don't have down here). As you know, we have a big Catholic contingency, so that's why we have those days off. So I left early on Wednesday, we rented the movie "Derailed" which was awesome, and then went out to dinner with high school friends to a Spanish restaurant.

On Thursday, we had the huge summer bash that the company throws at the beach (about an hour away). The entrance is with invitation only (free invitations that we distribute) and it's all the rum and liquor you can drink... of course, only the company's products are served. So as you can imagine, it's quite a hot ticket... though the target age is 18 - 29, so I was right at the edge, but it was mostly kids in their early 20s. A couple of my friends who work in the marketing department at the liquor company had to work at the party and the next day, which sucked... I was quite "happy" for the entire event. The best part, my friend's beach house was only a couple of blocks away from the party, so there was no drinking and driving, which I never do anyway... hehe. The party itself was amazing, with fireworks, dancers, and other entertaining things happening... which is why I left the party around 4:15 AM. I must say, I slept really well that night... err, morning.

We ended up staying at my friend's beach house till Saturday, after having some great "ceviche" before heading back. It was so much fun, plenty of alcohol, good friends, great conversation, and I even went jogging... though it wasn't as soft as some other beaches were I've ran.

Here are some of the pics from the weekend...

Beautiful beach...

Rancho relaxo... Margit, Carlos, Lucky and Carlos (another Carlos, not me)

Up, up and away...

What comes up, must come down...

This weekend has just reminded me that all I need to be happy is the beach, a hammock, some friends, and something to drink...

On Sunday, my brother came back from visiting my dad in DC, and then we went to church for Easter Sunday... after that, the weekend was over and it was back to the routine.

How was everybody's Easter? Any interesting events?

Take care...

CRCP

My workplace...

I've decided to give a little bit more info of my workplace. As you know, I work at "Licorera Nacional", which produces some of the finest rums in the world, for a world that enjoys excellence (the slogan is something like that). So here's a list of some of our more popular brands, keep an eye out for them, as we're expanding their availability...


SUPERPREMIUM

RON ZACAPA CENTARIO XO: The company's finest rum, aged 25 years (dark rum)

RON ZACAPA CENTARIO: In the RUM Hall of Fame, aged 23 years (considered almost a Cognac) and my personal favorite (dark rum)

PREMIUM

RON BOTRAN SOLERA: Aged 18 years (dark rum)

RON BOTRAN XL: White rum aged 2 years

So there you have it, our more popular brands... you should be able to find them at your local liquor store or other fine establishments (in the Metro areas, not sure about its availability in more rural areas.) Let me know when you get a chance to try some... I recommend Ron Zacapa Centario, either on the rocks or with soda (XO is the most expensive, so try that one on a special occasion). Actually, if you go to the restaurant Ceiba (in Wash, DC), you can try it there with your meal without having to buy an entire bottle...

Drop me a comment and let me know how you're doing...

Salud,
CRCP