As natives of Massachusetts, we Looooove our Red Sox!!! When Andrea’s sister hooked us up with tickets we could Not refuse!!! Because we are poor bitches we were stuck in the Bleachers!!! Hahaha!! But regardless of where you sit, Fenway is the place to be during baseball season!! Red Sox fans are passionate, crazy people that want their team to dominate and have a good time watching it happen!! Everyone is dancing, singing, cheering and jeering all the while downing the golden amber of Bud Lite and mowing on a Fenway Frank!!
One major reason why Fenway is sooooo great is that it is sooooooo old. It is one of the last remaining inner-city major league baseball parks in the country. This makes for a more personal and entertaining experience. Even the scoreboard is a rarity. It is one of the last hand-operated scoreboards with green and red lights used to signal strikes, balls and outs. Fenway has character, character that you just can’t get at Yankee Stadium!
Next time you are in the hood, shell out $50 and get to Fenway!! Trust us you Won’t forget it!!!
Red Sox Nation takes its traditions Very seriously!! One slip up and we could lose the World Series and we all know how heart crushing that is to Beantown!!
Chanting “Yankees Suck” at Every single game no matter if we are playing them or not, slurring obscenities over empty bud light cups and singing “Sweet Caroline” during the seventh inning stretch are just a few of what to expect each and every time you hit the stands at Fenway!
Now really? Does Neil Diamond have anything to do with Red Sox Nation?? How may you ask did a song about hooking up with a sweet lil lady named Caroline become the anthem of the seventh inning stretch??
Well we are here to answer this puzzling question for you!!
Thanks to Miss Amy Tobey, who was the Fenway music director from 1998 -2004, heard the sweet tune at other sporting events and decided to throw it into the lineup. Tobey thought of “Sweet Caroline” as a good luck charm. It became a staple in between the sixth and ninth innings but only if the Sox were ahead. Soon fans expected to hear Mr. Diamond blaring across the park towards the end of the game regardless of the outcome.
When the Sox were bought in 2002, the new ownership asked for the tune to be played at every game during the 8th inning! And that my friends is how the union of “Sweet Caroline” and the Red Sox came to be.
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh, no, no
You would think that with one of the biggest populations of Irish outside of Ireland we would have had a little luck on our side this past St. Patty’s Day.
First came the rain, which wiped out the annul St. Patty’s parade in Southie. Torrential waves of water beat down upon Beantown for two days straight. With minimal equipment at our disposal we opted out of trekking to South Boston to stand in the freezing downpour.
Next came the Big day itself!! Knowing the Irish, we figured there would be two amazing drunk fests raging on in the streets near Broadway, the epicenter of Irish Boston. As we jigged down the streets to Broadway we realized that it wasn’t an Irish town but in fact a ghost town!! Apparently, the Irish of Southie only celebrate on the day of the parade!!! All we could think was, “Oh My Goodness, Oh My Guinness”!!
Knowing that Faneuil Hall, in downtown Boston, has a cluster of Irish pubs we hit the T to Government Center. Immediately, there were people decked out in green!! Thousands of partygoers were roaming the area of Faneuil Hall as well as lining up to get into the many said pubs!
In the end, we got drunk off Guinness that was magically delicious!! We love the Irish!!
Lesson Learned: Party in Southie: Day of St. Patty’s Day Parade. Party in Faneuil Hall: Actual day of St. Patty’s Day
For more photos, Check out our Flickr account ——–>>>>
A Limerick is a five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet. Limericks are meant to be funny. They often contain hyperbole, idioms and puns. The last line of a good limerick contains the ‘punch line’ or ‘heart’ of the joke.
In preparation for St. Patrick’s Day in South Boston and our Shmammered St. Patty’s Day video, we figured we would share some fun facts about Ireland, leprechauns, Guinness and more! Enjoy & Stay Tuned!!!
Fun Facts:
1. Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.
2. On St. Patrick’s Day, 13 million pints of Guinness are served worldwide.
3. There are more Americans of Irish origin than there are Irish in Ireland.
4. The name “leprechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”
5.The luck of the Irish was with George Washington in 1776 when the British evacuated Boston on St. Patrick’s Day, leaving the Americans to take over the city.
You could say we got our World’s ROCKED!! On the ride home from an amazing night of hitting the lanes (bowling) our Tuk Tuk crashed into a telephone pole at 40 mph!!! We didn’t even see it coming!!! At the moment of impact our 40 oz beer bottles smashed into a thousand sharp pieces that sliced our white legs open in deep, red gashes!!! Pretty much we were thrown into a wall at an accelerated speed! The damage to our bodies was beyond belief.
To be fully honest our memories of the initial impact are vague to say the least. It was like a scene from a war movie. Screaming, blood and major injuries plagued our crew of six. Anton, our Swedish savior was thankfully there to help us out. Chelsea had passed out from her concussion and awoke on the ground with five Laotians surrounding her. Anton was there to help her through, explaining what had happened, holding her hand and getting her into the other tuk tuk that was our ambulance. Kinsey on the other had knew the minute she gained consciousness that her collarbone was broken!! When she finally got into the tuk tuk Anton held his own shirt to the deep wound on her leg all the while holding her hand till we got to the hospital.
At the hospital they took, Tom, Reeta and Kinsey into the third world ER to sew up their open wounds. On three brown beds they placed the victims and began sewing, with No anesthesia!! From outside the ER all was heard were the screeches from our three friends as the doctors stitched them up.
Ex-rays were taken and we were given aspirin and told to go home!!! We could barely make it out the door on our own! We were all stumbling and helping each other into the tuk tuk that was taking us back into town where we stayed.
Our Injuries:
Kinsey had a collarbone that was shattered, two broken ribs, a torn ligament in her shoulder and gashes on her head and legs. Kinsey got Fuuucked!!!!
Chelsea’s head was smashed into the cab of the truck causing a deep dent and a concussion. Not only that but she had two fractured ribs and a messed up arm.
Reeta had deep gashes in her legs, something wrong with her shoulder and a head injury.
Anton had a head injury and broken bones in his hand.
Tom had Deep, Deep gashes on his legs.
And Thomas had a swollen tongue…the lucky bastard!!!
We just want to say that we love you all and would not have made it through that ordeal without the four of you!! Free stay if you ever grace us with your presence here in Boston!! XOXOX
Due to the severity of our injuries we returned home within 36 hours of the accident! We want to thank United Airlines for theexceptional care from Bangkok allllll the way to Boston. You guys Rock!!!
We were so humbled by all of the help we were getting from the people of Laos, the passengers on all of our flights and in the airports. So many people extended their hands to us when they saw the conditions we were in flying home. From helping carry our bags, pushing our wheelchairs and going to get us food and water we cannot thank you more for your kindness!! However, once we landed in our own country we pretty much were kicked to the curb!! No one cared or stopped to help us out. We were so shocked and saddened that our own people didn’t look twice at us. Welcome to America!!
Moral of the Story:
We know you have all heard this before but life is short. You think you are in control but you are not!! Life can be taken away in a split second!! So you might as well live everyday doing what you love and what makes you happy and Not giving a flying fuck about what others think!! This hasn’t scared us away from travel it has only made us want to travel More!! Live life to the FULLEST!!!
Rock On Rock Hard!!
Your Trusty Travelin’ Duo!
Chelsea & Kinsey
Stay tuned for more Amazingly Awesome Adventures!!!
For more photos, Check out our Flickr account ————->>>
Pho, it’s what’s for breakfast! Rice noodles in a beef broth with different cuts of beef in it, these could include steak, fatty flank, lung and any other organ. It is served with bean sprouts, lime and greens. It is tasty, cheap and widely available! Every street corner has a pho stand!
The limes in Southeast Asia are a cross between lemons and limes. They are smaller and sweeter and perfect for making sweet, sweet limejuice. Pretty much a lime smoothie!! Cool and refreshing, perfect for those hot, hot Cambodian days!!
As you saw in the video, Self Help Community Center or S.H.C.C is a small school located just outside Siem Reap, Cambodia in Krobey Real. It provides free additional education to twelve villages based around Krobey Real. Each student receives an additional hour of schooling free of charge. S.H.C.C. was founded and is run by a community local, Sambath Chourn.
When returning to his home village of Krobey Real after a six-year absence, he noticed that his community was not evolving. Lack of education is a direct result as to why the people of his community are not prospering in the modern day economy. With the money he earned living in Siem Reap he started S.H.C.C.
How did we find this place? A fellow traveler told us about her experience volunteering. We wanted in on the action. She said they weren’t looking for any teachers at the moment but were looking to maybe make a promotional video for their website. “We make videos!!!” we said in unison.
We got in contact with Sambath and were on our way to help out S.H.C.C. not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into…
The next ten days would turn out to be some of the most profound days of our lives!!!
Because we were doing such a big project, Sambath invited us to stay in the village. This gave us a real taste of what being a Cambodian really means.
The family that we stayed with consisted of tailors and security guards that worked in Siem Reap. They seemed to have it a tiny bit easier than the farmers or fishermen but not by much. Our family was also small, with only three children. The only way we could communicate with our family was through sign language and Rockstar, the youngest brother, who was the only member of the family that spoke English. The bond that we formed with this family surpassed anything that we could have possibly imagined despite the language barrier. When they found out that it was Kinsey’s birthday while we were there they planned a surprise party for her. Throughout our stay, lots of laughs, hugs, hitting and tears (hitting in Cambodian culture is a sign of affection) were exchanged! To the point where they invited us back after we had finished editing the video for a celebration at the local pagoda. The time we spent living with this family taught us things about life and ourselves that we could never learn from textbooks or lectures. They have touched our hearts and souls and we miss them every minute.
The people of Krobey Real work from sun up to sun down. Children as young as six or seven work besides their parents farming, fishing, sewing and basket-weaving all to just to make ends meet.
Because the government does not fund public education the poor get the short end of the stick. They can barely afford to clothe and feed their children let alone pay to provide additional schooling. In return, this leads to fewer opportunities because they are uneducated. The jobs left for these people are physically strenuous and low paying. It is a vicious cycle that S.H.C.C. is trying to break.
The Cambodian poor do not have access to basic health care needs. Most adults have more than a few teeth missing and the others they do have are rotting. Tooth decay is apparent as early as five years old. After walking back from the market, a family invited us in for a shot of rice wine. They were very happy to have us there, so of course they were all smiling. Instead of white pearly smiles we got toothless and rotten grins. Even the little boy we were living with had tooth decay and he was only twelve.
With families as large as eleven and twelve people, the majority of rural Cambodians have absolutely no education on sexual health and birth control. This results in a lower standard of living in a place where the standard isn’t very high to begin with. While biking around the village, one woman held up her baby and began yelling to us. Sambath told us that she was saying, “Come take my baby, you can take care of my baby.”
Sambath is an Inspiration!! What he showed us we will never be able to reciprocate. The selflessness that Sambath lives is a lesson that everyone should take a chapter from. He is not in it for the bragging rights but to truly help the people of his community. Sambath, it was a privilege to have met you and to have worked with you. Hopefully, we have helped a tiny bit for your cause and all those beautiful kids. We will Never Forget you!!!!
TO DONATE: Please send a Money Gram or Western Union to Sambath Chourn in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Send him an email at chournsambath@yahoo.com with the reference number for pick up!!
Thank you for ALLLL your help in making S.H.C.C. grow and Grow and GROW!!!!!!
For more photos, check out our Flickr account ———->>>
One major reason why Fenway is sooooo great is that it is sooooooo old. It is one of the last remaining inner-city major league baseball parks in the country. This makes for a more personal and entertaining experience. Even the scoreboard is a rarity. It is one of the last hand-operated scoreboards with green and red lights used to signal strikes, balls and outs. Fenway has character, character that you just can’t get at Yankee Stadium!
