Eccentric encounters

Adam and Becca's cousins from New York are great guys, and they came up specially for the occasion. Can't remember the name of the 15-year-old kid and his friend, but Josh is 17, and is endeavouring (with little success) to master a good Aussie accent. These three boys kept me company for much of the celebrations — good to have some mates around, since I didn't know many other people here.

My uncle and aunt from back home in Sydney, Ivor and Manuela got into Boston late this evening. Like the rest of us, they're here for Adam's barmitzvah, as well as for the general family get-together surrounding it. And like my dad, this is the first time I've seen them, since leaving Sydney 8 months ago. "The other Epsteins" (as I sometimes call them) are in town for about a week, after which time they'll be going on a little road trip through the New England area.

What can I say — he's my dad! And until today, I hadn't seen him for a ridiculously long time of 8 months, since I left Sydney back in February. This morning, my dad flew into Boston (after having a flight cancel on him, and getting stuck in LA for 12 hours), and we had a warm and heartfelt reunion. Like me, he's here for my cousin Adam's barmitzvah. And unlike me, he's not doing a crazy 12-month trip around the world: he's just on holiday for two weeks, and then he goes straight back to Sydney. It's very, very nice to see him again — as with all my family, I've missed him a lot during my time away from home.

This super-nice married couple are best friends of my cousins, the Goldsteins — in fact, they're so incredibly super-nice, that they're letting my dad and myself stay in their house for two weeks, while we're here in Boston! Tara and Ashki haven't got any kids yet — but no doubt they'll be getting round to it, before too long. The couple are both studying (post-grad) at university this year, but they'll be getting back into the workforce come next year. Tara does a bit of work as a Hebrew teacher, and she helped Adam to prepare for his upcoming barmitzvah. Really friendly people, and full of warm heimische spirit.

The Goldsteins are my wonderful and adorable cousins who live here in Boston. Adam is 13, and is the star of the show for now — since it's his Barmitzvah on the weekend! Becca is 16, and is America's aspiring second female president (Hillary's gonna be the first, right? :P). Their "mom" (i.e. mum), Janine, is my Dad's first cousin, and was a professor at Boston's famous Harvard University for almost 10 years. And their dad, David, runs a software company here in the city. They're my favourite overseas cousins, and this is the first time I've seen them in seven years.

These two girls — Ashley from Nevada, USA; and Megan from Ottawa, Canada — have both been staying here at Aquario with me all week. They're both blonde, beautiful, brash, talkative, and fresh from Oktoberfest, which they just celebrated in its true home — Southern Germany. Now that they're down here in Brazil, they're still living that Oktober spirit, by continuing to drink copious quantities of whatever beer they can get their hands on, and by continuing to rant and sing gregariously whenever the moment takes their fancy. Awesome free spirits — the girls, that is, not their beverages :P.

I made acquaintance with these two boys, on today's hike to Dos Rios. Both of them are from Italy, and they're old friends: however, one is just in Brazil for a short holiday; and the other one is currently living in São Paulo. When we finished the hike, they invited the lot of us back to their cosy little guesthouse, for a barbeque and some drinks. Great lads: warm to all around them, and always ready to have a good time.

Sophie's a lovely girl from a tiny town near rural Cheltenham, in England. I met her today on the hike to Dos Rios, here on Ilha Grande. She's a very good-looking girl, but is unfortunately taken (don't you just hate it when that happens?) — her boyfriend, apparently, is currently travelling in Australia. Sophie has the ambitious aim of covering both South and Central America within the next 4 months: I say to her, good luck.

After dinner at the Aquario barbeque tonight — when we followed dinner with more than a few drinks — we were joined by a pair of absolutely plastered, absolutely insane Irish chicks. Can't remember their names (perhaps they couldn't, either!), but they were one of the funniest pair of people I've met on this whole trip: they were cracking us up for hours on end! Between extensive slurps of beer, these girls were recounting to us the joys of Ireland, the benefits of not giving a f$#% about anything much, and their love of the chicken dance. Insert raised eyebrow here.

These three lovely ladies, from the fine city of Buenos Aires in Argentina, came on the boat tour around Ilha Grande with me today. "Las Tres Argentinas" (lit: "The Three Argentinean Girls") are a bit older than me — in their early 30s, and one of them is a married mum — but they're still looking great, and still able to jump in there with the best of 'em. Literally. They came over to Brazil for a short holiday from their busy lives back in BA, and a short but sweet holiday is exactly what they're getting.