More April, More Fun...

April has been another great month thankfully. I’m getting more settle in my little apartment in Antigua, and have had a number of people over for drinks and just stopping by. Most people think the apartment is very cozy (another work for small, which it is) and that the location is prime. I really feel very comfortable in my little nest; though I wished the place was bit cheaper (don’t we all wish that about rent or mortgage payments).

On another front, I’ll be leaving my current work, as the year with the Foundation (did one last trip to Honduras and El Salvador this month) is up and I’ll be starting a new job with the CDC on May 7th (based in Guatemala City). Now, I’m very happy to have landed this job as I’ll the working in the HIV & TB area and will have coworkers again (I was working from home for a year, not the most social thing to do); the only problem is that the job is in the city and the commute in the morning and evening should be quite hectic (around 1 ½ hour… not sure yet). I’m thinking of maybe staying with my mom and brother a couple of nights per week, to save on gas money and so that I can sleep in a little longer…

On more exciting news, my dad was in Guatemala for work, we celebrated a number of birthdays, visited my usual bars, and went to Manuel’s wedding… pictures below.

We celebrated Vivi's bday at Estudio 35... quite a bit of wine and beer were had. Jorge, Britt, Carlos, Marcia, Vivi.


Zach, Carlos, Britt, Jorge, and Marcia @ Monoloco... Zach doesn't look that happy, but we tried to cheer him up.

My brother celebrated his 27th bday, so my dad took us out to Tanooshi for some great sushi and Japanese beer. It was really nice to see my dad again; I hadn't seen him since Xmas.

Britt and I for the wedding (don't I look very James Bondish?). One of my best high school friends, Manuel, got married on April 12th. Manuel and Josely know each other from HS, but didn't start dating till about 2 years ago. I was honored when they asked me to be one of the groomsmen.

High School friends! Here we have: Chino, Carlos, Manuel (groom), Estuardo, Juan Fernando.

As it's customary at Guatemalan weddings, plastic hats and leis were handed out to liven the atmosphere. Juanfer, Julie, Estuardo, Britt, and your host. I wanted to stay later, but we had our Flag Football playoff game the next morning (we lost, but we at least had a major improvement over last year).

Sports wise, Bosox are doing very well, leading the AL East as always. Celtics are in the playoffs, and Arsenal unfortunately got eliminated from the Champions league.

Hope everybody is doing well... abrazos pa' todos.
CRCP

Top Ten Ways George W. Bush Can Improve His Approval Rating
10. Fewer embarrassing gaffes, more humiliating blunders
9. Replace "Hail To The Chief" with Black Sabbath's "Iron Man"
8. Send FEMA to rebuild Knicks
7. Change name to Barack W. Obusha
6. Show America you're not some stiff workaholic by blowing off work sometimes
5. Only allow himself to be seen in pajamas like Hef
4. Release detailed program outlining how he'll do better in his third term
3. Erase deficit by going on "Deal or No Deal," finding briefcase containing 311 billion dollars
2. Ask father for tips on how he achieved his 31% approval rating
1. Hide Cheney's medication

April, April, April...

March is done! Wow, this month really flew bye, and you can tell I’ve been busier than usual due to my lack of posts, sorry for that! March was chaotic with birthdays, Easter, vacation time, March Madness, and barhopping… some pics to describe the events.

So Britt celebrated her quarter century on March 11th, Felicidades babe!!! We went to the city for a Japanese lunch (she adores sushi), came back to Antigua to have cakes (yes cakes), and ended the night at Monoloco. Here we have: Sam, Britt, Pamela, Lourdes, Carlos, and Charlie.

So for Easter I had plans tentative plans to go to Dominican Republic (with my sister and her family) or maybe Coban (with Bob and friends). In the end, due to work and lack of motivation, I decided to stay in Antigua for Easter and have small day trips.

Went up to Earthlodge and stayed overnight in a tree house. It had an amazing view, but at night, I barely got any sleep as I thought the tree house was gonna blow over (the wind was extremely strong). Britt admiring the view…


We did a small hike (25 min) from Earthlodge to this viewpoint… yeah!


Britt, Carlos, Karyn, and William. Easter Thursday we went to Nokiate with Karyn! She’s here visiting from the US for about 4 weeks… good luck with school in NYC Ms. Singer!

Easter is huge here in Guatemala, as there are processions all over the country. The most popular processions are in Guatemala City and in Antigua. With Antigua being so small, all the processions really make this small city chaotic. Each day reflects different bible events of Easter…

Here we have a view of an “alfombra” with the Agua volcano in the background.

The cucuruchos carrying the procession. This particular procession is of JC carrying the cross before his crucifixion.

Procession even happen at night (around midnight)… My car almost got towed one morning because I was parked in a “procession zone”.

Finally, at the end of March our friend Tom was leaving to go back to the US, so we had a little barhopping outing. We ended up going to 8 bars in Antigua, which is a good number, but we had originally planned to go to 12.

Here we have Adam, las primas, Carlos, and Lourdes @ Monoloco.

Charlie, Britt, Carlos, and Bob @ Ricky’s.

The bar hopping peeps @ Reds.

Everybody at Kafka… our last stop! I did invite people over for a last drink at my place… yeah!

Work is moving along, as I’ve been with the Foundation for a year now. The original thought was that it was going to last a year, so we’ll see what happens. Friends and family are doing extremely well, with us attending a bunch of events for Manuel and Josely who are getting married on April 12th.

Play ball! Another season of baseball has started, which is quite exciting. Boys of summer are here and I can’t wait to see how the Bosox do this year. As far as other things, my March Madness picks didn’t go that well, as I had UCLA winning the whole enchilada. Arsenal was doing well in the EPL and Champions League, but both seem to be out of reach now.

Abrazos para todos,
CRCP

P.S. - Feliz cumple Chofo! My younger bro celebrated his bday on the 9th...
P.S. II - My dad is here visiting! Some CDs he brought and other that I’ve bought lately: Kanye West’s Graduation, Matchbox 20 Greatest Hits, Kenna, Grammys 08, Britt Awards 08, and the new Jack Johnson.