Tremors and Rumblings...

So last week we had a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Guatemala, which caused widespread panic but no substantial damage. It was not in Guatemala City, but about 70 miles southwest of it. Still, the earth shook for about 20 seconds in the area... As we’re used to tremors here in Guate, it wasn’t really that bad, the thing that did get my heart beating a bit faster was how long it lasted. Last quake in Guatemala was about 30 years ago, when about 23,000 people died… hopefully we won’t see one soon.

On more interesting news, my mom came back yesterday from London… she was so happy to have spent time with Marnix and Noah and the rest of the family, She came back with many stories to tell and enjoys telling everybody how big, smart, and energetic they both are. My sister was nice enough to send me some early (very early, as my bday isn't till Sept) birthday presents, 3 amazing music CDs… The UK has the best compilation CDs by far, too bad that they’re so freaking expensive (plus the pound vs US dollar exchange rate doesn't help either).

This past week sure quite chaotic with different social activities and events: Monday I had a basketball game (won), Tuesday night Guatemala was playing in the Gold Cup so we watched the match (tied, but almost lost) & talked about Capitalism, Wednesday was a day to get the batteries recharged, Thursday I was invited to this Ron Botran Añejo 12 party at Villa Los Añejos (free rum!) and stayed longer than expected, Friday night we had a blast at Ricky’s and Monoloco, and Saturday we had a belated bday celebration for Bob & Jud and then headed to Monoloco for some additional socializing… phew!

Dr. Karyn, Carlos and Bob (Karyn and Bob apparently are Scrabble aficionados...)

Good times and good friends on Friday night at Monoloco, starting from the left: Bob, Alejandra, Carlos, Emka, Britt, Karyn, William...

You the man Manny! Country Roads, take me home...

Afters hours at the barcounter at Monoloco... Zac, Kevin (Johnnie), and Carlos... Finally paid up the last part of my bet with Jud, Sambuca shot!

Came back to Kevin and Bob's house Sat night, with Bob already passed out. After trying to wake him up without succeeding, thought it would be fun to have an autograph signing session... hehehe.

Sports wise, Bosox are back to their winning ways, Real Madrid won their soccer match after a slow start and won La Liga, Guatemala got dismantled by Canada and was eliminated from the Gold Cup (freaking Canadians… I don’t think I have any Canadians friends besides Paul Schaffer).

Abrazos,
CRCP

P.S. - I can’t believe Bob Barker retired from the Price is Right… I’ve wanted to the on that show since forever and met Bob… Carlos Cruz, come on down, you’re the next contestant on the Price is Right!

Junebug...

My mom went to London to visit my sister for a couple of weeks, as JD, my sister’s husband, had some conference to go to in Miami. Therefore, my mom was gonna go over there and help out a bit and spend time with her grandkids; which means that my bro and I had been home alone for about a week now… sorry, no house parties for me… I wouldn’t want to clean all the mess up by myself.

So I finally went to see Pirate’s of the Caribbean 3 last week at Miraflores. It actually ended up being quite and adventure, as the 8:00PM showing was sold out right before we bought our tix, and that was the only showing that was subtitled and not dubbed like all the other showings. I refuse to watch movies that are dubbed… my friends so Spiderman 3 in Spanish a couple of weeks ago… hehe. Anyways, after trying to figure out what other movie theaters were showing the movie subtitled and running to Tikal Futura, we decided it was just gonna be easier to grab a bite to eat and wait for the next showing, which wasn’t till 9:45 PM…. I really liked the movie, but it ended around 12:35 AM, way too freaking late for a Wednesday.

This past Thursday we got together with some friends to watch the Gold Cup match, Guatemala vs. USA and the NBA finals… I was foolish enough to bet Jud two beers and a shot that Guatemala would tie or win, needless to say, I was paying part of the bet on Friday night. Friday night was so wicked, which included: Bosox winning, cool tattoos, couple of shots, water been thrown at me (thanks Zac), and stargazing among other activities… I wonder if this ever gets old, cause I don’t see how it can!

Kevin, Emka (who just got engaged), Billy, and Carlos

I wonder why Jud looks so happy...

Saturday had some ceviche while watching three soccer matches at the same time: La Seleccion de Guatemala, Real Mardrid and Barcelona were all playing at 1:00 PM… it was one of the greatest soccer hours ever. In a span of about 5 minutes, Real Madrid scored, Barcelona was scored upon, and Guatemala had a great goal against El Salvador… woohoo!!! Later on that night, we went to San Lucas for some girl’s party, then went to Antigua to try to get into Monoloco (one of my friends brought his girlfriend, and she didn’t bring her ID, so they wouldn’t let her in), but ended up going to Studio 35 and chilling there till close.

Julie, Juanfer, and Carlos... Tucher beer in da house!

Finally, this Monday the 11th I ended up going to Jaripeo (bull riding) in the afternoon (I wasn't planning on going, Estuardo asked if I wanted to go an hour before leaving), Estuardo was going there because it was an event that La Licorera was sponsoring. It was actually a pretty cool show, with a couple of riders getting a bit roughed up. As far as work goes, I haven’t traveled lately, but should be going to Panama next week… will keep u guys posted.

By the way, not sure if any of u have heard about this new show that Comedy Central is about to start broadcasting... "Lil' Bush," but it looks hilarious... this is the pilot episode, definetely a must see...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYeJEFa-xCA

Orale,
CRCP

P.S. - Margit is leaving us to go to Stockholm to get her MBA… congrats Margit!
P.S. II - Another Late Show Top Ten…

Late Show’s Top Ten Sings Paris Hilton Isn't Doing Well in Prison

10. Suffering from insomnia because she's not used to sleeping in the same bed every night
9. Too depressed to participate in prison riots
8. Desperate for intimacy, she made a boyfriend out of a stuffed laundry bag
7. She's ballooned to 93 pounds
6. Only time she said "That's hot!" was during delousing
5. Called Martha Stewart asking for "shower fight" tips
4. Only call she received was from Eddie Brill asking for her out cue
3. Was overheard muttering something about voting for Kucinich
2. Started a pen pal romance with Phil Spector
1. Seeking permission to videotape her conjugals

Last day of May...

I don’t know if you realize this, but a lot of my friends (which means u guys) have birthdays in May, which makes it quite chaotic to remember whose birthday is when (the only other month I remember with this many bdays is October). Let’s review, by birth date order: Alan - May 17th, Mariana – May 17th, Alfredo – May 18th, Mickey B – May 23rd, Jud – May 22nd, Manuel – May 29th, Bob – May 30th… phew! So you can understand if I get them all mixed up or don’t remember the exact date, though I try my best. Anyways, Feliz Cumpleaños to all of you, and if you haven’t already, have a beer – my treat, I’ll have to pay you back whenever I see you again.

Two weeks ago I was in Honduras because of work; I was staying there Wednesday through Friday afternoon. I was supposed to return on Friday night, getting into Guate around 8 PM… which was great, because that night was the Monoloco anniversary party! I had planned from Honduras for a bunch of my friends to go, and everybody was psyched about it. Long story short, original flight back was cancelled, they put in another one with a layover in San Salvador, only to have that flight be completely full and I had to spend Friday night in San Salvador… I was so pissed since I was really looking forward to the party, and from what I hear, it was a great one too. I guess I’ll have to get used to this every now and then, part of traveling I guess, but I really wanted to go… FUDGE!

By the way, while in Honduras I ended up buying the Tracy Chapman – Greatest Hits CD… when I got back to Guatemala and listened to the CD, the audio was terrible, the master recording must have been messed up in someway. Since I don’t know when I’ll be back in Honduras, I decided I was gonna buy that same CD in Guate, and just exchange the new CD for the bad one. Then I was gonna take it back to the store and claim that the CD was damaged or something, and would get a refund or another CD. Sounds like a good plan, right? Anyways, I went and got the new CD, but it turned out that the audio was messed up exactly like the one I already had. I even got another one, with exactly the same problem, so my master plan failed. I’ve decided I’m gonna write to Elektra and I’ll let you know what happens… talk about lack of quality control.

Saturday the 19th, after arriving from El Salvador, I had a basketball game and afterwards we celebrated Mariana’s birthday… It was over at Estuardo’s house (they have been dating over a year now), with the theme being Hello Kitty. Here are some pics from the event…

Mariana and the boys...

Happy Birthday! See all the Hello Kitty stuff...

Last week I was in San Salvador for work, and that ended up being a good trip as well. We got a lot accomplished, and should be visiting again in the shortly. I got back from El Salvador on Saturday morning, and I’m happy to report I finally got my car back that day!!! Woohoo! I picked it up only to notice that a few things were not done, but I got it back that day anyway, and just have to take it back at some point next week for some final touches. The car looks and feels great, though I still can’t believe I crashed it.

Sports wise, Bosox are still kicking some butt… best record in the Majors baby! Celtics got a bad deal when they ended up with the 5th pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, and in soccer, Guatemala will be playing in the Gold Cup soon, we’ll see how we do.

Some crazy pics from Funky Monkey... not sure if I had mentioned it before, but my friend Bob is / was a gymnast back in the day, so every once in awhile he'll do some crazy stuff.

Bob in a split...

Not sure what you call this, but pretty freaking impressive...

Abrazos,
CRCP

PS I – We have yet to fully celebrate Bob’s and Jud’s b-day… should be a blast!
PS II – Heard another person from ARC was leaving… wow!
PS III – I saw “Spiderman 3” and was not impressed at all, too mushy wushy. I saw “The Curse of the Golden Flower” this week; I highly recommend it… great visuals, astounding plot, and cool fight scenes.
PS IV – I missed a friend’s wedding this past week… it was in Venezuela and I had to work… sorry Ana Maria Mini! I wish you and your husband all the best.