Red Sox are World Champs... again!!!

Red Sox are World Champs! Red Sox are World Champs! We swept the Colorado Rockies, the hottest team in baseball till they met up with the Bosox! This is one of the best feelings ever, all the trips to Antigua to watch the Red Sox at Monoloco paid off. We are so freaking spoiled… the Sox have won the World Series (WS) twice in four years. This is completely unprecedented for any Red Sox fans that are alive… The Sox hadn’t won in 86 years when they finally pulled it off in 2004, and now they win again, WTF!?!?! I wish I could’ve been with my dad to share this experience; he was away on a trip when the Sox won the WS in 2004 and I was in VA, and I couldn’t talk to him right after the last out this time either, since he’s currently in Dubai for work… By the way, the Boston Red Sox have won 8 straight World Series games…. oh yeah (as the Kool Aid dude would say)!!!

I went down to Antigua last Wednesday to watch the first game of the WS, which we won 13 - 1. The second game I only saw up to the sixth inning, as we had been invited to the reopening of Soho (bar / club in the city), and I really wanted to go. Friday I did nothing productive besides work, I was too tired to go out, so I stayed in and watched the Seinfeld DVDs (Season 8). Saturday night I was back at Monoloco with all of the Guatemalan Red Sox Nation, game that we won again. As I didn’t want to drive home and then drive back to Antigua the next day, I stayed overnight. Sunday we had some amazing brunch (Doña Luisa), read a bit, and then went back to Monoloco for the fourth and final WS game. This was probably the most exciting game, with a number of close plays, and the intensity building with the possibility the Sox would be crowned World Champs once again (our 7th all time). Once the final batter struck out and the Red Sox had won again, it was chaos at the bar… everybody was hugging each other, tequilas, free vodka shots, and the special green monster shot were had… I was on such an emotional high; my adrenaline was going through the roof…. Good to have shared the win with a bunch of my boys and other Sox fans (Vance cut short his vacation, he was still supposed to go to Rio Dulce, just to come to Antigua to watch the Sox game with us… now that’s commitment).

Let's go Red Sox!

Papelbon and Varitek embrace after the final out...

Here' comes the rest of the team... woohoo!

Sox fans in Colorado... I love the big Papelbon riverdance cartoon.

Our Japanese connection... both Okajima and Matzusaka were money in the WS!

Wheaties cover... Josh Becket!!!

This is the way to celebrate... I want this kind of celebration for my next bday... showered with Champagne and beer!

Zach and Julia preparing the WS celebration shots.. . wohoo!

Our last shot of the night... Green Monster in da house!!! Let's go Red Sox!!!

I seriously love my Red Sox team… and I can’t wait for next season, when we get to here “play ball” again! Unfortunately, I don't have any other excuse to hang out in Antigua all the time now... or do I?!?!?!

Later,
CRCP

P.S. - Too bad Jud and Billy weren’t at Monoloco to celebrate with us…
P.S. II - One more time: Let’s go Red Sox (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)
P.S. III - Another Late Show Top Ten…

Late Show’s Top Ten Colorado Rockies Excuses
10. Even we've never heard of most of our players
9. C'mon, how can you not root for Big Papi -- He's adorable!
8. Relax, there's still a lot of baseball to be played
7. The curse of the Bambino???
6. At that altitude, the beer really knocks you on your ass
5. Video store didn't have 'Field of Dreams,' so team tried to get inspired by watching Kevin Costner in 'The Bodyguard'
4. Boston used illegal tactics, like spelling socks with an 'x'
3. O.J. stole the equipment!
2. Manager distracted by Joe Torre walking around with his resume
1. Umpires unfairly allowed Red Sox pitchers to throw really fast

Sox in the WS… best October ever!!!

What a crazy week! The Bosox were one game down from being eliminated from the playoffs, but staged a huge comeback and outscored the Cleveland Indians 30 – 5 in the last three games to win the American League and head to the World Series. I watched the last two games at Monoloco with the Red Sox faithful, with Sunday night’s game culminating with free shots and everybody singing to “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond (at Fenway Park it’s sung during the 7th inning stretch). I swear, the ambiance was incredible, people were singing, yelling, and chanting… and a bunch of us had our Sox gear on. I can’t wait till the WS starts this Wednesday… Let’s go Red Sox!!! Let’s go Red Sox!!!

Great celebration... talk about a team effort, everybody contributed (even JD Drew!)



This is one of the greatest sports celebrations ever... Papelbon doing an Irish jig (and Youk joins later on)

So I was at Monoloco on Tuesday watching the game, and Zac (bartender) introduced me to the one and only Cleveland Indians fan at the bar. So we got to talking about the Bosox, baseball, Guatemala, and other things, and he mentions that his wife is here in Guatemala doing some non profit work. He then mentions that she’s really adventurous and asks me if I had heard of a show called Survivor. I tell him that I love the show, and he proceeds to tell me his wife was in Survivor Guatemala (Margaret, the player / nurse who looked after all the guys when they got sick after the challenges). Anyway, I know it’s kinda dorky, but that was sorta exciting… I actually met her last Saturday, talked to her for awhile, and hope to have a pic to prove that I’ve met her very soon (she should be in Antigua for another week, so I’ll let u know how that goes).

So last night I finished watching Season III of The Office, some of the deleted scenes are freaking hilarious…. I know Season IV already started in the US, but it won’t start showing here till January or something (on FX). I’ve started reading Ecology of Commerce, which is really interesting… recommend it for any of you who are interested in the environment and sustainable communities.

As far as personal life goes, things are amazing… All my friends are doing great, different friends have started cool new relationships, meeting interesting new people and trying new restaurants in Antigua (had a huge brunch there this Sunday), and we didn’t lose in FF this past weekend (it was our bye week… hehe).

Later,
CRCP

P.S. - Let’s not feel huffy… there’s a natural mystic blowing in the air…
P.S. II - Feliz cumple to Sungi, Felicia, Ciskanik, Teng, and Merky…. And of course my mom!!! All the libras in da house!
P.S. III - It has really been the best October ever… will share more thoughts as things continue to improve and advance.

October Nights...

So October is halfway gone… it has been a really interesting month so far. First of, I was in El Salvador and Honduras last week for work. In El Salvador, we finally signed the MOU with the Ministry of Health, which means the Foundation can start working there fulltime. This is a pretty big deal, as part of the reason I was brought on board was to get other Central American countries to start collaborating with us. I’m hoping that Panama will sign in the upcoming weeks, and I’ve got a trip scheduled for Nicaragua next month to do a presentation of what the Foundation does.

I’ve been going down to Antigua more often than usual this past two weeks, as different events have taken place: a) Laura went back to Australia, so there was a going away party b) Bob’s brother Tom was in town visiting c) Bosox are in the playoffs, so I’ve tried to catch as many games as I can with Red Sox Nation at Monoloco d) Plus the usual hanging out with friends.

Carlos and Laura @ her going away bash... she went back to Australia but hopes to be back in Guatemala in about 6 months or so.

Lula, William, and Carlos... enjoying a Bosox game.

Mike, Tom (Bob's brother), Carlos, Lourdes, and Bob...

My mom is leaving for London on the 16th for a month to visit the grandkids… she’s really excited to be spending time with Marnix and Noah, as my sister and her husband will be gone for a couple of weeks for a wedding in Australia. Marnix is so talkative now, mixing the English and Spanish in the funniest way… he actually says rubbish instead of trash!

I ordered some stuff from Amazon that I’ve been wanting for some time and finally got last week: DVD - Seinfeld Season 8, DVD - The Office Season 3, CD - Fever Pitch, CD - M. Ward’s Post War (finally, after a year of wanting it), Book - Ecology of Commerce… I’m so excited about finally getting the CD by M. Ward, which is absolutely amazing. Also, really looking forward to starting on the book too, not sure if any of you have heard about it… but it’s been highly recommended.

Bosox swept the Angels, but seem to have found a good adversary in the Cleveland Indians… looks like this is gonna be a great series. NE Patriots just kicked some cowboy ass on Sunday… sorry Felicia! The only bad sports news is that we continue to lose on our FF league… so far we’re 0 - 5… it’s so freaking frustrating!!! Only two more games to go, so our main goal now is to just win one baby!

Here's the video of my favorite Spanish song of the moment: "Pasarela" by DJ Nelson feat. Dalmata. The song has great rhythm and the mariachi band is the background is a huge plus... enjoy & lemme know if u like it!

Excited to report that the puzzled has finally come together… really enjoyed putting it together, but now the really good times start. Confusion is overrated… patience is underrated.

Later & abrazos,
CRCP

P.S. - Feliz cumpleaños to all the October bday boys and girls!
P.S. II - I have a new favorite beer here in Guatemala: Brahva Extra. It’s so freaking good… reminds me a lot of good US beers, like Sam Adams and some ale beers.
P.S. III - Another Late Show Top Ten….

Late Show’s Top Ten Signs Your Team Isn't Going To Win The World Series
10. Team falls behind during the National Anthem
9. You're leading the league in bypasses
8. Arrive in Cleveland -- game is in Boston
7. They said they're only going to give it 109%
6. After every pitch, catcher goes to sell ball on eBay
5. Only pre-game stretching comes in the form of a "wide bathroom stance"
4. Players frequently miss at-bats because they're in line for beer
3. Your first baseman is actually named "Who" (just think of the confusion)
2. Insert New York Mets joke here
1. Manager leaves after seventh inning to beat the traffic

Another bday & Bosox in the playoffs...

I just had another bday! Woohoo… I can’t believe another great year of my life is behind me… time sure is sprinting bye. So on Saturday night I had a little get together with friends in Antigua Guatemala, at this place called Estudio 35 (many a people have asked why I didn’t have it at Monoloco, but since I had it there last year, decided it was a good change of pace). I had told people I was gonna be there starting at 7PM, but because I had to pick up two friends who were NOT ready when I went to pick’em up, I actually didn’t get there till almost 8PM (I was stressing that someone had shown up on time and not found me there… which didn’t happen thankfully... latino time is great).

Anyways, once we were finally there, we had some rum, vodka, Long Island Ice Teas (thanks cousin), and shots… phew! I’m glad I made it out of there alive…. We had a great time drinking, talking, and even some dancing towards the end. Here are the pics from the glorious event:

Britt, Carlos, and Lucky... more rum for us!

At some point it was really crowded in the space we had... good thing we had enought drinks!

Juanfer, Julie, Carlos, Marianna, and Estuardo...

Coche, Carlos, Josely, and Manuel...

Lourdes, Carlos, Bob, and Pamela... this group was really into dancing the night away.

Joto (cousin) and Carlos

I had a shot called a "cucaracha"! I had not had one of those since my brother in law's bachelor party... ah! Cucarachas bring back really bad memories, I just had it since someone treated me to it.

On Sunday the 30th (my actual bday) we had our 3rd Flag Football game, which we unfortunately lost by 6 points (and we lost the one the week before that, so we’re now 0 - 3… pathetic). Anyway, after leaving the game all pissed, the family came over for a nice carne asada luncheon… uncles, aunts, cousins… really good times. So what did I get for my bday: money, CDs, a pen, a cool ass t-shirt, and a dress shirt… overall, it was a great day! I even got to hear Marnix wish me a happy bday, since my sister called and had him on the phone for about 10 minutes until he finally said: “Happy birthday Carlos”… talk about priceless things.

So my sister celebrated her kid's bday on September 30th back in the UK... here is a pic of the family (Noah just turned 1 and Marnix 3).

Work is going well, though my boss still gets on my nerves so freaking much… I wish I had coworkers so that we could all complain about him, but that’s one of the disadvantages of working from home and being the only representative of the foundation in the area. Speaking of, I should be in El Salvador and Honduras for work next week…. Anybody there?

Sports wise, extremely excited to report that the Bosox won the AL East for the first time since 1995… The Evil Empire was not able to bring us down this year, though they did go into the postseason as well. Bosox have already won their first game in the playoffs… post season is so freaking exciting! I’ll be watching most games at Monoloco with my fellow Red Sox fans… woohoo!!! Question is: if the Bosox win the World Series, are the drinks on the house for us the fans (I'm hoping for a Cubbies vs. Bosox WS)??? As far as my NFL picks go, this year has not gone so well, as I’m not in the top 3… but it’s still early in the season, so I still have hope.

Bosox wint the AL EAST for the first time since 1995!!! I love the guy with the Bud Light Box cap...

Making progress with the unsolvable, pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together…

Later,
CRCP

P.S. - Lucky is done with her cast! She’s now wearing a arm bracelet or something…
P.S. II – Happy Bday Margit! Espero que se la haya pasado super bien.
P.S. III – Another Late Show Top Ten…

Late Show’s Top Ten Signs Your Baby Is Too Fat
10. She has your eyes and Barry Bonds' head
9. Doctor says, "It's a... Good Lord!"
8. "Baby carriage" is a forklift
7. The kid's got more chins than fingers
6. Incubator littered with baby back ribs
5. Local news crew shows up thinking a baby elephant has been born
4. His pacifier is a stick of butter
3. Never mind a c-section, you had a d-section! I tell you, folks, that's one fat baby!
2. Gets winded napping
1. Twice a day the kid gets mistaken for Rosie O'Donnell