Avy No Brazil: Feliz Natal

Having arrived back in Sao Paulo early the next morning, we slept till midday before making important preparations to attend a Christmas party hosted by Iris' Christian relatives. Our thorough regime mainly involved deploying various advanced techniques to re-hydrate our bodies.

Whether my fresh coconut water,

or plain old pool water, from above,

or even below.

Oh, and in emergency situations, double hydration.

At the end of it all, everyone knew who was the king of the pool.

"Dino" the 15 kg Christmas turkey prepared by Iris' mum Ana was also ready for the big event. It would have been easier if he could have just flown to the party himself.

On arrival at the venue, the 3 floor penthouse apartment of cousin Paula and her husband Bruno somewhere in sprawling Sao Paulo, we had a few snacks

and relaxed on the balcony with a glass of Champagne or two.

There was also time for a photo or two with the cousins,

and maybe another glass of bubbly. Thanks uncle Joao.

Then, suddenly, a knock at the door! Who could it be? Could it really be him?

It is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was at this point I discovered that Santa has the same outfit the world-over, whether northern or southern hemisphere. We were anticipating a Santa with white dreadlocks, red speedos and havaianas in the 30 degree Brazilian summer. Either way the kids received their Christmas presents, and a sweaty kiss, I suspect.

Then we got stuck-in to Dino.

After dinner, we played "Amigo Secreto" or "Secret Friend" for which every guest was previously assigned another guest through the Internet for whom they had to buy a gift of that person's choice and bring it to the party. Then every guest in turn had to describe their secret friend while the others guessed who it is at which point the revealed guest would receive their gift and in turn describe their own secret friend, and so on and so forth. Here are the highlights of the action