10/28/2004

86 years... It actually happened. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series. Hold on, I just need to write that again. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series. Down three games to none against the Yankees, I was resigned to yet another year of futility, only this time absolutely no information, which could either make it a slightly less bitter pill to swallow, or even more so. They won Game 4 of the ALCS, and I was sure it'd be over the day after- maybe they could get one lucky break, but hey, they were playing the Yankees. Then they won the next three, confounding history. After that, it was on to the World Series. Now, they're Champions, and I'm in Chad.

My first apartment in Boston was in Kenmore Square, about two blocks from Fenway Park. It was down in a basement across the street from one of the main Boston University dorms, so my view consisted primarily of people's shoes as they passed by, and the occasional beer can. When I arrived in September 1999, I had no interest in sports; I was going to a school full of musicians and actors, for God's sake... I truly couldn't have cared less. I didn't have a TV, so I was strapped for entertainment– one night I was bored and thought I'd try browsing the radio. I stopped when I heard voices, and realized a moment later that I was listening to the Red Sox game happening less than a quarter-mile away. I kept listening; I could see what was happening, even though the only thing in my field of vision was a white stucco wall, and someone's Doc Marten's. The Sox were in the playoffs that year, and I became a fan just in time to see them suffer a horrific loss to the Yankees in the ALCS.

The next year I started going to games regularly, and listened religiously to the games each night on the radio. On the nights when the team was playing on the West Coast, say Oakland or Anaheim, I would fall asleep to the sounds of Joe & Jerry, the radio commentators, and wouldn't be able to find out what'd happened until I checked the Internet the next morning.

Now, I don't have that opportunity. The only reason that I know about any of this is because of the Consular Officer at the US Embassy in N'Djamena, named Vinnie. He's a huge Yankee fan (hey, nobody's perfect), but when he heard that there were baseball fans among our training class, he began taping them for us off of the Armed Forced Network, and sending them down on the daily trucks to Darda. For the past week or so I've gathered around with Michael, Aaron, Darren, and occasionally one or two others after the generator turns on at 6, and popped in the latest tape, courtesy of Vinnie. It's not the most comfortable viewing experience, since we're usually fighting off mosquitoes and crickets while we watch, but at least it's there.

I can only imagine what Boston must be like right now- God, would I love to be there. I can't help but think that the entire New England region will shut down for about the next week, and it'll be one giant block party, from Maine to Connecticut. I remember joking with a friend of mine about how it would just figure that I'd go to Chad, and This Would Be The Year. When the Sox were 11.5 games behind the Yankees in mid-August, it wasn't easy to believe. I won't lie and say that I kept the faith the entire time, but boy am I glad to be proven wrong tonight.

On a completely different note, tomorrow is the one of the milestones of our training. At 2:00 tomorrow, our APCD Djimessa will reveal exactly where we are going to be placed, and I'll find out where I'm going to be living for the next two years. It's scary, but also incredibly exciting- we'll head out to visit our new homes next week, and after the rest of training, well, we're off. There's been all sorts of rumors circulating over the past few days- Josh, one of the other Trainees, claims to have made a list of predictions for everyone. I guess tomorrow, we'll see if he's right...

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