The whole family at Thanksgiving

This year, the dos Santos Christmas letter is brought to you by Craig. Alissa has gone through four years of journalism school, internships with newspapers, and now a full-time job as a journalist, yet decided to pass the torch to someone who has only written e-mails and blog posts over the last eight years. I’m not sure what style of writing is appropriate, but I believe the Christmas letter tradition is mostly about boasting about my family, and how much I love them. This should be easy.

Dad and Andrew

Let’s start with Dad. The least changes with him from year to year, and we want to start small and build up to Andrew, since the munchkin is always full of surprises. Dad continues to work long hours at UofL. His research has done particularly well this year, and he’s written a number of innovative papers that are in various stages of being published. After six years of job switching and vagabonding myself, I truly appreciate that Dad found a job that is: flexible enough to allow him to always put us first, something he’s good at, and most importantly, something he loves to do. It’s not an easy feat, and I am proud to have him as my role model.

Mom, the ESL teacher

Balloons for Mom's ESL class

Mom. I visited Mom recently at her school. She got some free balloon twisting entertainment for her ESL kids, and I got to see her in her element as a teacher. Mom is forever graced by the fact that she just can’t be mean. Her stern teacher voice is borderline comedic. Half a dozen teachers and colleagues stopped by the room while Iwas there just to tell me how wonderful she is. Silly people. I already know that! It’s nice to visit Louisville and see Mom and Dad still fulfilled with this “empty nest” stage. As their kids, we continuously hope for their continued good health and to see them as often as possible.

At the top of Wynu Picchu in Peru

I spent the earlier part of the year in Brazil, then Argentina, then Peru. I climbed mountains and hiked along beaches. But as you will see, the name of the game this year with the kids was “employment.” In September, after four delightful years without a regular salary, I took a fantastic job as head of the mobile division of a games company in San Francisco. So far, I love it. Three quick notes: running is still a constant in my life and keeps me sane as everything else around me

changes. I try to be musical and play the guitar/piano, but my passion for music isn’t matched by natural ability. I would describe my social life as “actively single.” Interpret that any way you want, and you’re partially correct.

Me and the little sis

Alissa picked up her dream job this year as a TV news reporter in Lexington, KY. She’s close to home, loves her work so much she doesn’t mind doing the 4 a.m. morning shift, and is getting opportunities in her field that most colleagues her age can only dream of. I’m so happy to see her dive into something she loves, although it’s weird to see her on the news! Feel free to put her name in YouTube.com and see a few clips yourself. She’s so professional, I have a hard time believing it’s my little sister. She’s still sticking with me in the world of singledom, and we have banded together to talk about the good and bad of dating life.

At Andrew's 2nd birthday in Feb

Liane is also employed. Full time. 24 hours a day. With Andrew. The big news is that she’s taking a second job (crazy I know!). This particular bundle will arrive in March, and we hear it’s going to a girl! Alissa and I are ecstatic to be aunt and uncle again, and I think Kevin is overjoyed to fill one more slot on his family co-ed soccer team. Amidst this exciting news, Kevin and Liane will be moving next year as Kevin is about to finish his fellowship in Chicago. Where they’ll go is still up in the air, but after 10 years of hard work, he has fantastic options because everyone he works with gives him glowing reviews. Stay tuned, 2010 will be a big year for the Carneiros…

Before I get to Andrew, I can’t finish this letter without talking about Nana, who passed away in February. As a family, we were unbelievably lucky to be graced by her presence for so many years. She was a calming presence in our home for as long as I can remember. It is now abundantly clear the positive influence she had on all of us. She is dearly missed.

Andrew tries to wake me up...

So Andrew is almost 3 years old. He is a walking, talking, lovable, entertaining kid. But everyone says that. I think it’s best to describe him with a simple story. This is one of many conversations Liane sends us via e-mail.

Andrew is singing Down By the Station and ends with “Chug-chug, toot-toot off they go.”

Then he says, “Why they say toot-toot?”

Liane: “Because that’s what the train says.”

Andrew laughs and says, “That funny.”

Liane: “Why is that funny?”

Andrew: “I go toot-toot on the potty and train go toot-toot on the tracks.”

I hope this letter finds you in good health and surrounded by those you love. Please be in touch… all of us are on Facebook these days!

Love,

Craig, Liane, Kevin, Alissa, Brian and Loretta

After 10 years...

Whoa… wrote this after my reunion last month.  Guess I forgot to post it!

Last night was my 10 year reunion. After much planning, mostly on the part of my good friend Sara Hume, the event went off quite spectacularly.   I think everyone was a bit surprised at how much fun they had.  I had an excellent time seeing friends that I literally had not seen since the day we graduated.  I really wish we had had more time.  4 hours was hardly enough to say hi to the people I haven’t seen, and certainly not enough time to really have a conversation.  I heard people say that being connected on places like facebook has ruined reunions.  I think the opposite.  I was happy that a lot of the people I talked to already knew something of what I’ve been up to, and vice versa.  I’m happy facebook gives us a glimpse into people’s lives, and I can say that I’ll be more likely to call up some old friends now that we’ve actually seen each other in person.

The great part is that I was really impressed with the people I met.  Impressed and humbled… I’m not sure if my expectations were low, but I was blown away by all the things people had done.

I’ve moved a lot, and I was thinking this morning that it would be great if we had more formalized reunions for the other parts of life.   I’d love to see my post college crowd after 10 years.  Or even my elementary school crowd in Indiana.  It’s such a strange thing to see people from years past, because we don’t really have a chance to catch up completely, and as much as I’d like to… it’s unlikely I’ll see anyone but a handful of people again until the next reunion.

There was something to be learned from last night.  I’m not really clear on what it is though.  Perhaps that life seems to continuously change, and even if I wanted to I couldn’t stop any portion of it.   Things, people, situations have changed so much since high school that it makes everything seem ephemeral.  My general life situation today won’t be the same tomorrow.  But today I’m happy, so I guess I’ll just focus on that.

So after nearly two months, Neema and I are finally getting settled in our place.  We live at 15th and Mission in the (shocker) Mission District.  If you haven’t been to SF, the mission district is a bit gritty, has tons going on, and has a strong latin community. I am thrilled to be back in a place with good Mexican food.  After getting used to it in college in Houston, Seattle was completely void of a decent, authentic mexican meal.

Neema and I have been outfitting the place with random furniture.  He insists on getting stuff with “character” which means we go often to the thrift shops near us, and reluctantly to Ikea when I demand practicality. Our greatest find was easily our 8 ft custom plush red velvet sofa.  It is more than a sofa.  It’s a statement.

I wouldn’t say that San Francisco is home yet, but at least I have a home there, and it’s getting more comfortable. My weekend back in Seattle was magically relaxing and fun, and sad in that I don’t live there any longer.   It’s been very very hard to keep touch with my friends in Seattle, as live has not really settled down yet.  I spend every waking minute doing something that seems urgent in some way, either for work or to get my life settled.

The end is near though.  By Thanksgiving, I hope to be fully settled.  If I’ve ignored you up until this point, I’m deeply sorry.  Please feel free to reach out, and I promise to do better to get in touch with my friends soon.  You are long from being forgotten, I just am barely keeping up with myself these days.

Tonight is a monumental occasion though.  Our first potluck dinner party.  Niels and I started the tradition in Seattle, and many years before that it was the Tuesday lunches at Microsoft that I used to host.  I love having people over to my home, and I have high hopes for these dinner parties in a friendly place like San Francisco.

If the world is getting smaller, then San Francisco is getting tiny.  I have lived in the bay area for less than 2 months, and in this time, I have randomly bumped into people from my past more times than I can count.  Actually, to really emphasize how crazy this is, let me actually go back and count.

Roni: She’s a friend from high school who I last saw / talked to over nearly 12 years ago.  I ran into her while walking down Mission street.

Samreen: I met Samreen through a friend who introduced us while we were both in Argentina this past year.  I walked by a popular brunch place near my house and I saw her sitting outside with some friends

Falguni: Friends from my first few years in Seattle.  Bumped into her at a happy hour after work last Friday.

Arthur: Classmate from Rice.  Was on a team project with him Sr year at Rice, and bumped into him on the caltrain platform in Mountain View.

Stephanie: Recruited me to Microsoft out of Rice.  We worked on Rice recruiting together as well.  I ran into her in the HR office of Zynga when I went for my interview.

Raya: Met Raya through a college friend when they were both in med school at Baylor together.  Ran into her when I was getting off the Muni train in downtown San Fran.

Katia: Met while in India in 2007.  We ran into each other twice in two days in Bombay, and thus became friends.  I knew she was in SF, but ran into her twice at two bars on subsequent weekends.

Cassie: This one’s crazy.  We rode the bus together in High School.  Ran into her when i walked into a bar last Saturday in the Marina.  nuts.

Lindsay: She sat down next to me on the caltrain.  After talking we realized I had read her craigslist posting for a new roommate earlier that day.

Nicole: My cousin.  Literally almost ran into her while walking in the mission.  Turns out she lives a few short blocks from me and I didn’t even realize it.

Now, considering I know very few people in the city, This has been just crazy. Crazy good that is.  Meeting people randomly has always been a key factor in making a place feel like home to me.  So far so good!

On my way home today, I was stepping on the caltrain in Mountain View and got a call from Orbitz.  My flight was on time to depart in three hours.  The only problem?  I thought I was leaving tomorrow! Apparently I got confused with the leaving/arriving dates of my red-eye to NYC.  So 3 frantic hours later, I’m on my way to NYC a day early.

I will say my iPhone performed wonderfully.  On the way back on the caltrain, I checked my flight, called appropriate parties to alert them of my early arrival, rescheduled my meetings, checked the weather, made a packing list, and scheduled my taxi pickup.

Technology is amazing.

I’ve also written 4 blog posts while on this flight, so after months in the dark, I’ll be posting a lot in the coming days.

Leaping in front of Coit tower. That's the Golden Gate bridge in the background.

Well, I’m here.  The past week has been a whirlwind of work, play, discovering the city, meeting new people, seeing old friends.  I could write 10 pages on everything that has happened but instead I’ll just give some highlights.

• There is no “Seattle Freeze” here. Whenever I opened a map up this weekend, people stopped and asked me if they could help. The first time I thought I was lucky, but after the third I realized the culture is just different here.
• The hills are unbelievable.  I lived on a crazy hill in Seattle, but on this morning’s run, I went up at least 6 that were longer and steeper.  This makes biking and walking around the city trickier than just knowing directions via Google Maps.
• Not having a car is great and liberating and frustrating at the same time. There are over 12 different types of public transit here, and it’s very confusing. I’m so glad not to have parking issues and I’m getting lots of exercise on my bike.  But at times I wish I could hop in a car to get to work.  I’m now signed up on Zip Car though… so at least weekend trips are an option.
• There’s a crowd in Seattle who are hipster-liberal.  People in San Francisco take it to a different level.
• Work is awesome. I’m working in games, focusing on bringing our current games at Playdom onto the iPhone.  I’m getting great responsibility, and the growth potential and mentorship is exactly what I was hoping for.
• I’m psyched to be in touch with so many old friends.  Jacob Rios, Chris Warner, Craig Fratrik, Katia Savchuk, Hadley Leggett, Lee Linden, Kim Swanson… Not to mention my cousin Earl… There’s literally someone in this city who has known me through every stage of life.  Pretty cool to be back in touch.

The house hunt has just begun, and my future roommates (Neema and Joel) and I are trying to navigate the maze that is San Francisco housing.  I’m really hoping we end up with a great place that satisfies all our requirements.

If I’ve been out of touch, I apologize.  I’m barely able to keep up with my new life here, and I’m hoping that once it settles down in October I’ll be able to be in closer touch with my friends and family that I miss so much.

Friends. Home.

My life has had a high amount of variance in the years since leaving Microsoft. I’ve traveled, worked for myself, done contracts, traveled some more and overall, had a fabulous time. The one consistency has been Seattle, which I’ve now called home for six years.  At times it’s been more like a home base, but my friends there have always welcomed me home and now that I’m on the verge of leaving I’m really starting to realize how much I’m going to miss it.

At the end of the month, I’m moving to San Francisco, to join a startup in the social gaming industry called Playdom. I’ve been messing around with the iPhone platform since February, and now I’ll be starting the mobile division, bringing Playdom games onto the iPhone, and hopefully other platforms soon.  It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I’m really excited about the company and team I’ll be working with.  I’ve barely experienced San Francisco, but I’ve always thought I’d spend some time there eventually and everyone tells me I’m going to love it.

This excitement is only countered by my sadness in leaving my friends and home in Seattle. I’ve lived in six places in the US in my lifetime, (Cleveland, Madison, West Lafayette, Louisville, Houston, Seattle) and that doesn’t count the time spent abroad in India, Australia and Brazil, which totals about two and a half years.  What does this mean?  Well as Niels puts it, I’m nearly a professional in terms of moving. So I’m not scared at all about moving to San Francisco. New place, new things to discover, new friends to meet… I’ve done that before and I actually enjoy it. But no matter how many times I’ve moved, or had to move, I have never gotten used to saying goodbye.

I’ll miss Seattle and the friends that have made it home.  I hope to visit often, and hope they visit me too.

The Machu Picchu Shot

Wow. Five days trekking around the national park with a finish at the famed Machu Picchu which was much more impressive than I had anticipated.  What really made the trip was our group, which consisted of a couple from Hawaii, one other east coast American, three Brits, an Irish girl and two Swedish girls.  We all got to know each other really well over the course of the week, and a few days later in Cusco, we’re still having meals together and going out til 6 in the morning.

Hiking in the Five Finger 'shoes' was awesome...

The hike covered a lot of different terrain… glaciers, mountain passes, rainforest and regular dirt paths.   I started out the hike in my Vibram Five Fingers, which never ceased to attract attention… I managed the whole 80K trip in them, and am now a solid covert that they are the best hiking shoes in non-freezing temperatures. I could bounce off rocks and scramble up boulders with ease… and other than one morning where I had to put them on cold and wet, they were a pleasure to wear.

The food on the trip was also great.  We had a cook who stopped at nothing to wow us with Peruvian and traditional Andean cuisine.  We even had hot coca tea delivered to our tents on the early 5am mornings.  Machu Picchu itself was pretty amazing to see in person.  I’ve seen it in pictures a thousand times but to be walking among the ruins and marvel at how they put them together was really impressive.

Balloons for Andean kids

The balloons came along for the trip as well, as is usual for me.  Making balloons for some of the kids that we came upon on the trek was really a highlight.  It’s amazing how something so simple can be so entertaining, for both me and the kids.

Here’s the link to some of the photos…

I haven’t processed the panoramics as yet, but you’ll notice a theme of jumping photos and shoes… something to spice up the photos, since I’ve taken so many at this point.  Oh yeah… and the beard has continued to grow… and feels foreign on my face.  As if I didn’t have enough ambiguity when it comes to guessing my ethnicity, now people think I’m Israeli.

After my adventures in the mountains last week, my journey around Peru (which is being made up as I go along) took me to the famous Lake Titicaca.  After only 4 hours sleep, we took off on an overnight excursion to the islands on Lake Titicaca, which included visiting the floating islands made of reeds, staying a night with an indigenous family, and catching sunset from the highest point of the island.

All in all a good trip, and met some cool people.  Now I´m in Cusco, and we spent the last two days around town.  I´m taking off for my five day hike to Machu Picchu tomorrow.  We were supposed to see some Inca ruins via bus today, but missed it due to a heavy party night with new friends yesterday.  Maybe I´ll do it when I get back from my hike.  My friend Katie who I met in Argentina has been traveling with me all this time, but tomorrow I´ll be parting ways and she´ll be joining up with another friend.  She´s been great to travel with, and I´m wondering how I´ll fare with my non-existent Spanish.  I can understand almost everything, but they don´t understand Portuguese at all.  I´m trying to Spanishify it, and it works like 30% of the time. 

Food so far has been pretty hit or miss, but incredibly cheap.  I finally tried the ¨cuy¨ at the insistence of my friend Filipe back home.  Cuy is Guinea Pig.  Yes, that same pet you had as a kid, only de-furred and served extra crispy with teeth,  eyes, ears, paws… all right there on my plate.  It was a trying moment, but I ate it and now won´t be doing it again.  It wasn´t that tasty, and the sight of it was pretty gnarly.  I also tried chicharrones, which is essentially fried hunks of pig.  Better than the cuy, but not something I´ll really seek out in the future. 

Some other random news…  Cusco is at about 10,000 ft, and my runs in the morning only last 30 minutes and I have to stop about every 2 minutes on the slightest of inclines.  Also, I´m not shaving on this trip so after a week I´m starting to look pretty grizzly.

So… I´m in Peru.  For about three weeks, and just because.  I had friend traveling around South America and really, it´s not very difficult to convince me to join.  This is my third trip to South America this year and it´s only May. 

Anyhow, I flew into Lima and then hopped on another flight to meet up in Arequipa.  So far, we´ve done a day trip to see Colca Canyon, which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. The highlight was definitely seeing the huge condors at one of the points overlooking the canyon.  The birds are so big (10-12 ft wingspan) they can´t take off without wind and so they only live is specific places in the valley.  They look really unstable in the air… like a plane that´s at the mercy of the wind.

The second trip was an overnight to Chachani Mountain, which is about 3 hours outside the city and is 6075m tall.  That´s over 18,000 ft.  We camped the first night at about 15,500 ft, which made it very cold and hard to breathe.  We left at midnight to start the 6 hour hike, and people were dropping like flies.  I made it to about 17,000 ft before I was overcome by altitude sickness and couldn´t walk in a straight line, let alone continue hiking through the snow in crampons. I had to turn around solo and make it back to base camp in the dark In my dizzy state I of course got lost as the trail was not marked.  I was lost for about 2 and a half hours which got pretty scary because my mind was playing tricks on me. Also because being lost alone on a Peruvian mountainside in the middle of the night when I´m dizzy and have a hard time breathing really isn´t an ideal situation.  Anyhow, I eventually made it to within shouting distance and someone in the base camp turned on their headlamp and I was able to make it back.  SO relieved. 

So anyhow, I´m alive and well and ready for the next adventure. Headed to Lake Titicaca tonight and Machu Picchu in about a week.