In the morning I received some phone calls from my cousins saying goodbye and everything, Alex came over to see me off and waited at the bus stop with me and my mum until the bus came. The person who told me the buses came on the hour every hour was a stupid retard, we were waiting at the stop for well over an hour until some woman came over to get the same bus and had a bus timetable on her. There were only so many buses a day and at pretty random times so you really needed the time table, or else you would have been like me and spent two afternoons waiting at the bus stop for a bus that wasn't due but I thought should have been. The bus came, I got on saying my goodbyes and found a seat. It was much better than the bus I got to come to New Jersey, I had a seat all to myself and the rest of the bus was pretty empty, I had no worries of getting in anybody's way with my bag. When I got to New York I just sat waiting for my bus to take me to Boston, I was really excited about moving on again and was really looking forward to drinking some nice beer. I got on the bus found a seat, it wasn't full but wasn't empty, I had a seat to my self so it was going to be a comfortable ride.

People was gradually starting to leave, everybody was getting tired, Tommy and his girlfriend had pretty much fallen asleep on the sofa. The oldies were in the kitchen still chatting and the little kids weren't running around so much any more. It seemed that Sarah had made a shop and they were playing some imaginary game where she was the boss and all the others were her employees. They played that until everybody left. Which wasn't much longer. I went back with Tommy and played some FIFA, it was to be my last game with him in an indefinite amount of time so I had to make the most of it. I ended up winning pretty much every game. We had one game with Iraq playing Qatar, myself being Iraq and Tommy being Qatar. I won about 11-0, it was a complete white wash, I couldn't stop myself from scoring. That was our last game and I felt proud to have gone out on a high, a phenomenal 11-0 victory! I said goodbyes then went back to my aunts, watched a bit of TV the went to bed, I had to get up pretty early, pack my things then get a bus to NYC before getting another bus to Boston.

The party wasn't over yet, just because we had eaten and left the restaurant there was still much more partying to do. We were all going back to my aunt and uncles place, literally all the family at the party were going back. Well not all of them, some of my cousins from Connecticut and up state New York left to go home, they had a pretty long drive ahead of them. We were the last ones to leave the restaurant, I had to wait around until everybody had left and say goodbyes with my aunt and uncle. When we got to their house everybody was outside waiting to go in, I couldn't imagine how you could get all those people into the house. I didn't actually expect everybody to come back to the house, I don't think my aunt and uncle did either. My cousins Tommy, Matt and the rest of them hadn't shown up, it was just Maria and Sarah. I went to go over to their house to get them to make them come over. When I got there Matt had left an I thought he went out but it turned out that he was walking over at the same time but went a different direction. I waited at theirs for a bit until they were all ready to leave. I had a couple of beers and spoke to Karl, finally Tommy was ready so we left. Like I said, to my surprise Matt was there already. There wasn't really mush to do apart from sit around and chat or watch TV but that was hard with little kids running around all over the place. The kids were running around, the oldies were sitting in the kitchen chatting and us lot were sitting in the lounge watching TV. As soon as I got in, I ran straight upstairs to get out of my suit and put on something a little cooler and more comfortable. Something more comfortable simply being the same shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and my beige linen trousers, the most perfect buy I have ever had. I was still pretty drunk, I think most people were, maybe even the ones who had been driving. The younger kids were playing hide and seek around the house, running around making this awful racket, I didn't care too much but I could see my uncle looking a little bit pissed off with it all. Oh well, what can he do, after all it was his special day.

The place was packed, they had two parties going on, one in the front room and one in the back room. My aunt and uncles was in the front room, it was a much better location. It was where the bar was and all the other things needed, plus it had windows looking out onto the street, not the best of views but at least it had one. I had no idea who any of the people were, the only ones I knew were my cousins that I had already met. I knew that some of these people were other cousins and some were neighbours and good friends of my aunt and uncle. I was introduced to some but there were still some I had no idea who they were. Before it was time to eat, for some reason my aunt wanted the immediate family to be introduced and then to stand in a line and hold up our arms so we can all walk through them. It was rubbish, totally stupid and looked awful, worse still we all felt like complete and utter idiots having to do it. The starters were brought out, it was a massive platter full of all sorts of cured meats, cold cuts, olives and more nibbles. Each table was given a bottle of white wine, a bottle of red and a pitcher of beer. For some reason they took away our beer, maybe it was because there was only a couple of adults on the table, one being myself. I went and got the pitcher back from the bar, to my surprise it wasn't a draft beer, the bar staff were opening bottles of Corona and filling the pitcher up with them, they were giving us all pitchers of Corona. Not the best of beers but its a million times better than Coors or Bud light. There was still a lot left over from the starter but the waiters took it away to bring out our main dish. Well first the owner went around asking everybody what they would like for their main, there was choice of lemon sole, chicken and something else that I didn't actually hear. I went for the fish. I think I can speak for everybody that we were all really hungry now and couldn't wait a moment more for our food to come out. Strangely when it did come out it wasn't all together, everybody was eating at different times and all sorts. Someone on my table didn't even get their food, they had to chase it up with the waiter. If I'm being critical which I might as well be, the service was terrible but at least the food was quite good. Once everybody had finished eating, it was time to cut the cake. Take some photographs and all that. The cake was cut and dished out to everybody, desert came out and we all sat down and ate some more. There was some time to dance and the bride and groom to share there second, first dance.

We were seated in our families on the front row then everybody else were either friends or local people generally attending the church. When I was looking around at all the regular people at the church they slowly seemed less and less regular, in fact I would go as far to say that they were right out freaks. Most of the women had massive 'bingo wings' the saggy flaps of skin under the arms, and they weren't that fat, none of them had necks, it was just chin to chest. What had happened to all these poor people, maybe they had become so engrossed in their religion that they had forgotten to care for themselves. Any way, the mass was under way, the priest introduced everybody and the ceremony. My aunt and uncle were sitting on two chairs at the front, it was pretty much a wedding again, they were renewing their vowels as most people tend to do on the 50th wedding anniversaries. The priest was actually okay, he didn't seem to care that a lot of the audience were non church goers and just continued as was. When it came to taking the communion I opted out of it, I had been baptised, had my holy communion and even been confirmed but I don't believe in any of this religion crap any more so I thought it was best if I stayed in my seat. The whole service didn't last too long, it seemed like it was all done and dusted in under an hour which is pretty good for a wedding ceremony. We had some photographs taken in the church and a couple more outside the church then we left to go to the reception at a local Italian restaurant down the road.

It was now the day of the party and everybody was rushing around sorting out their clothes and eating breakfast and generally doing what you do when you are getting ready for a wedding or the like. I had my suit with me, I made my uncle bring it to Cuba when I met him there, well technically I didn't make him bring it, I asked him politely if he could and he said yes. I had to my new shoes ready, they didn't need polishing as they were brand new, I had my new shirt ironed and ready and I had my tie. Once I had my shower I was sorted, ready for whatever the day would bring me. As usual with things like this, the day wouldn't begin properly without millions of bloody photographs. I really hate having my photograph taken when I'm having to pose with other people in a sort of uncomfortable situation, not so much uncomfortable just when it has an unnatural feeling about it. Once all the photographs had been taken and we were nearly running late for the church we left, we were held up a little bit more as my aunt hadn't eaten anything all day and had come over all weak, she has a blood sugar problem, I'm not sure if its diabetes but when she doesn't eat she gets very weak and nauseous.

My mother and grandmother were staying at my aunts place so we all drove there, I was staying there too so it didn't really make a difference to me. My cousins came in for a bit, we all briefly caught up then my cousins left. My mother wanted to tell me some things and give me some stuff she had brought from England, it could have waited till the morning but I suppose it was probably better to get it out of the way now as we all had to get washed and ready for my great aunt and uncles wedding anniversary. My mother filled me in with some information about credit cards, gave me a little bit of cash and I gave her some things I no longer needed for the rest of my trip, a big bright red, waterproof poncho being one. I bought it with good intentions of using it and when it came down to the times I actually needed it I would always forget it in my bag. Also some other things that I no longer deem necessary. After that was all sorted everybody went to sleep. My uncle tends to go to bed around 18.30/19.00 which is quite early, then wakes up around 6/7.00. He was n bed and had probably been so for most of the evening, he either didn't hear us come in or couldn't be bothered to get up and say hello, it didn't make much difference as he would see us all in the morning any way.

It was time to pick my mother up so Tommy and myself left to go back to my aunts house, her son Frank was on his way, he was the one who was going to be driving us all to the airport. We managed go sweet talk Frank into letting his sister and my mothers fist cousin Maria come along too. It was pretty late now, most of us were quite tired so we sat in the car not saying too much. It was really funny to see how Aunt Rosa reacts to how other people drive, she is just like my Grandmother. If somebody is going a little bit too fast she'll moan, if somebody brakes too hard she'll moan and so on, for pretty much every detail involved in driving. We got to the airport a little early as somewhere it said that the flight was getting in early, when we checked the screens it said that the flight was on time to land around 23.15 so we sat and waited in the arrivals bit. I really hate having to wait for people to get off the plane, it is so frustrating as there is no guarantee when they will actually come out. We got there about 23.00 so had a little while to wait if the screen was correct. I have had some bad experiences with waiting at airports, some I would rather not talk about and the time I had to wait for my uncle Frank at the airport in Cuba ended up in being an all day event, I was hoping that this wouldn't take quite as long.
I started noticing more English looking people coming out of the baggage claim area, and they had Virgin Atlantic bags which meant that it was my mothers plane for sure as it was the only Virgin Atlantic flight arriving tonight. More and more people came out but still not my mother or grandmother, what was taking them so long? After a burst of about twenty or so people there was nothing again for a few minutes, this kept repeating itself for the next hour. Until magically they appeared in the distance, this was it, they were going to get a surprise as they only expected Frank to be picking them up, at least I think they did. They could never have imagined that all of us would be there for them. There was a slight worry as to how we would all fit in the car with bags and all but when we saw them we knew it would be easy, they only had a small suitcase each and a small carry on bag. We all said our hello, hows it going and the like then left for the car. Everybody was tired so we went back to my aunts house as quick as we could. In the car we were just catching up with each other, Tommy and Maria fell asleep so it was pretty much just the front half of the car still awake.

On the Saturday before we had to go and pick up my mother from the airport, Tommy decided he would take me to this place called 'Sonic' it was an old fashioned style drive through restaurant, the waiters and waitresses went round on roller skates, you could either eat in your car, I the restaurant or take away. We took away as we had to take some food back to Tommy's house. The food is pretty much the same as the kind of stuff you get in any fast food chain and diner, nothing special, although they did have big fat burgers in sliced bread instead of normal burger buns. I went for a big cheeseburger and a foot long hot dog. I was really hungry as I hadn't eaten any lunch and it was now early evening so I ate my hot dog as soon as I could. On the way back we went via a liquor store to pick up some beers to wash down the food with. I got some beer called honey brown lager or something like that. It was okay, like a dark lager, slightly more full bodied with a barely noticeable honey taste. The food was pretty nice as far as fast food goes. I chose to get these potato things, they were like potato croquettes, I think they were actually potato croquettes but called something else. After the food we played some more games of FIFA until it was time to go and pick up my mother from the airport.

The main reason I was in New Jersey was because it was Aunt Rosa and Uncle Tommy's 50th wedding anniversary. They were going to renew their vowels and have a party at a nearby restaurant. Because of time constraints I had to leave the day after, I had plans to go to Boston and check out the universities and the breweries, plus I had a bus to Montreal in a few days so didn't have much time to look around Boston. My mother and grandmother were arriving on Saturday and the party was on Sunday, I was leaving on the Monday.

The night wasn't without incident, something really scary happened to the cute, big fat dog Shyla. Matt had just arrived from being out that evening, he had a plate of chicken wings and he placed it on the table pretty close to the edge. Apparently its bad to put food near the edge as the dogs will jump up and get it. What was even worse was the fact that the dogs can't eat chicken bones, they are too small and get stuck in their throat and can choke them. Shyla somehow managed to jump up to get a chicken wing from out of the plate, even though she is a fat lump she still managed to jump pretty high. When it comes to food I'm sure that she will do anything to get it. She just jumped up, grabbed the chicken wing and chomped on it, whilst being chased around the garden by Cydni. As soon as we all noticed it we tried to get her so we could stop her eating the wing, we couldn't catch her, she was sprinting around the garden. Karl, my cousins dad was the one who managed to pin Shyla down and tried to get the wing out, he couldn't do it so had to resort to putting his fingers down her throat and trying to grab it or at least make her vomit the bones up. I was shocked and had no idea what to do in this situation, if it was a person choking you could perform the Heimlich Maneuver, what do you do when it is a dog and not a person? Shyla eventually vomited out the bone and lay there very still, rapidly breathing with a really fast pulse rate. We were all scared, I think most if not all the bone had come out and the dog was just in shock now. What made it seem pretty bad was the fact that everybody was screaming and shouting and blaming Matt for it all, he had put the plat on the edge of the table for literally ten seconds, in that time Shyla had jumped up and got the bone. We all watched Shyla carefully, they put her in her bed and sat with her to make sure was okay and didn't die. Everybody was paranoid so Karl called the vet and asked what should be happening, it sounded okay as if Shyla just needed some rest but they were all really scared so picked her up, put her in the car and went to the vets. I stayed at the house and played some FIFA, I was sure she would be fine so it didn't worry me as much, plus it wasn't my dog but I was still worried for her. I stayed around until Karl came back with Shyla. They came back not long after they left, with Shyla running and barking like normal, she was fine, just a little shaken up.

The next few days pretty much followed the same routine, one day I had some fried Spam for breakfast, others I had cereal but that was pretty much it. I won some games of FIFA and I lost some. It wasn't until I got invited to my little cousins birthday party, she had just turned twelve. She had already had her birthday party with friends last week. She was telling my this story that there was a piñata and she wasn't the one who knocked it down and got the sweets out, it was one of her friends. I have never had a piñata before but I would assume that it should be the person who's party it is to be the one to knock it down and get the sweets out. Is that not the way it should be? Well it didn't happen like that and she was moaning a little but didn't seem to care too much about it. We all sat around the table outside, chatting and then my cousin started showing us some magic kit thing she got from summer camp. To be polite I didn't say anything but the magic tricks if you could call them that were terrible. It wasn't my cousin being crap, it was the actual tricks. One was a magic wand with an elastic band that made it bob up and down in your hand, another trick was the plastic film fish that beds different ways meaning different things, that's not a trick. There was another trick that may fool some people but it didn't fool me in the slightest, it was a card trick, like one of those tricks where the cards have double sides so whatever way round you look, you always have the same cards. I have to say that I am not impressed, I feel a little guilty saying all this because my cousin may have enjoyed it. As it was my cousins birthday we had some cake, the cake was amazing, the first ice cream cake I have ever had from Dairy Queen, in fact the first ice cream cake I can remember having ever. It tasted so good so I had a big piece and a little bit extra. Before we actually dove into the cake we sang her happy birthday, we didn't just eat the cake straight away.

After the game I got back into my usual routine and played some FIFA until we got hungry. I had seen a 'Whitecastle' drive in place down the road on my way into NYC the other day, I hadn't ever had a Whitecastle burger and proposed the idea to Tommy. He was up for it too so we drove over and picked up a thing called a 'crave box' it was a big box containing thirty little burgers. If anybody doesn't know what Whitecastle is like, they specialise in really small burgers or cheeseburgers with chopped onions and what appeared to be relish. The burgers are only about five centimetres in diameter and the actual patty is like a solid piece of what us English call corned beef. It wasn't a regular burger patty, and I think they are steamed. The burgers didn't exactly taste amazing but they hit the spot, well after eating about ten of them, they are not filling at all and really addictive. I have been told a few bad stories by different people about negative experiences of eating Whitecastle burgers, most of which resulted in them getting a bad case of the shits. After eating my quota of burgers and getting beaten by Tommy, he dropped me off home and I went to bed. I felt fine the next day, didn't have an upset tummy or anything.

It was the day the highly anticipated world cup final, I said that I would watch it at my cousins with the family, they had a bigger TV and they got much more into their football than my uncle who seems to prefer baseball. I had some lunch then went over to watch the football. It was the first time that I walked there from my aunts house, it wasn't far but I wasn't sure of the way. I knew the way to go via the main road but I had no memory of what way we went the other night via the back streets. I had a rough idea, I knew the name of the road and the direction of their house so I set off. I ended up missing the turning to get to their house and walked right past it and ended up on another different main road. I walked in the rough direction of where I knew the house to be and ended up on the correct street. There it was, I could see the house because it has a giant flagpole with the American flag on it and also my cousins were kicking a ball around in front of their house. The game was about ten minutes off so I got a beer, took my seat and watched the pre match talk. I was so hoping that the Netherlands would win, I was definitely supporting them. The game was pretty boring, neither team looked any good, the Netherlands like always crumbled under pressure, many people say that they are the greatest team never to win the world cup. They are probably right as over the years they have had consistently good teams and some great world class player, they just never win anything. Spain on the other hand have never even been to the world cup final so they were all really excited in getting this far. They are the current European Championship winners but again, the final of that tournament in 2008 was rubbish, it ended in a 1-0 victory. Just like this world cup final, it was a really boring game to watch and it ended with Spain scoring an okay goal but it ended 1-0 and not much happened all game. If I was Spanish or Dutch it would have been very different but to be honest I wasn't that interested in who won, I just wanted to watch a good game.

Matt's graduation party day. Aunt rose had been making some snacks and other things to eat to take over to my cousins house. We got there in the afternoon time maybe around 14/15.00 at the same time that pretty much all of the other cousins arrived. I got to meet the cousins on my uncle Tommy's side of the family, I had never ever seen them before and to be honest I didn't even know about them. We all sat outside for a bit, had some beer and some nibbles then most of us young ones went inside to watch the third and fourth play off of the world cup, Germany were playing Uruguay. After about half an hour into the game the food was put out on a table for people to help themselves to. I was hungry but didn't want to miss much of the game, it was really exciting, very very open, it was really hard to tell which side looked better. At the end of the first half I went up to get food, most people had helped themselves by now so there was no queue and not too much choice as most of it had gone. I took a lot of the little there was left, got a beer and went back to my seat to watch the second half. The game was a good one, one I would have to say that I would rather watch than a Spain VS Netherlands final tomorrow. Back to the party and desert was being served now, some cakes and other sweet things. For some reason it didn't feel strange that it was Matt's graduation party and he was hardly about, he was out with some mates, came back went upstairs and then disappeared again. I used to be exactly the same and still am to a certain extent, I don't like having family parties on my behalf, its just an excuse for friends and relatives to see each other when they wouldn't normally find the time to do so, worse still if it is a party that you really don't want to have. I keep hearing how Matt is never home and he doesn't take part in anything family orientated, he is young and likes being out and about, I'm sure when he gets a bit older he will start to see the value of his family. We played some more FIFA, as Tommy didn't have to work tomorrow we played for most of the night.

The next day I didn't do anything it was another day of watching films and not doing what I should have been doing. I was getting into a routine, getting up around 10.00am, having breakfast, watching TV, eating lunch, watching more TV, eating dinner, then going over to my cousins to play some FIFA.

My aunt and uncle went out shopping this morning to try and track down some fresh rabbit, they knew a Portuguese shop in town sold some but they didn't know if they had any and if not where else they could get some from. I did say that it wasn't that important, that I just fancied it and if they couldn't find any not to worry I wouldn't mind. Like most Italians they don't understand I don't mind, they don't even understand no, if you don't want something and keep saying no they still try and force it in you. After maybe a couple of hours shopping they returned with a whole fresh rabbit, so rabbit would be on the menu after all. At lunch they filled me in on how difficult it was to track the rabbit down, none of the local shops had any and they had to go right into Elizabeth to find some. They had some shark so they was no need in trying to find any of that, in fact when I woke up to have some breakfast I saw they shark defrosting on the sinks draining board. After I ate, I went over to my cousins place again to chill out, play some FIFA and their dogs. I haven't mentioned the dogs yet but I definitely have to. They have two dogs, a little Chihuahua and Dachshund cross and a beagle. The little Chihuahua thing is called Cydni and looks pretty healthy and normal but the beagle on the other hand is called Shyla and is the fattest little dog I have ever laid eyes on. Its so cute though, it just waddles around, can barely go up and down stairs and gets really tired just by walking from one room to another. Its just the softest and cutest dog I have ever seen, she has such loving eyes that stare at you secretly asking for more food even though she definitely doesn't need any more. They are both bitches so often get very confrontational, more so than I have noticed with two male dogs. Cydni is a very jealous dog, its obvious that Shyla being the cutest getting more attention so Cydni decides she will fight every time somebody stroke or plays with Shyla. It was quickly approaching dinner time so my and Alex went back to my aunts house and Tommy and his girlfriend joined us in a bit. They hadn't asked in advance to go over, just a spur of the moment thing, they wanted to try some shark and some rabbit so decided they would go over. When they arrived you could tell my uncle wasn't too happy about it, he moaned in the way that he does and put his head down and ate, then went off to watch the baseball in his little basement lounge set up. He has a TV a fridge and some whisky, rum and brandy down there. There are also some bags of crisps for when he might get a little hungry. The rabbit was unbelievably tasty, not dry at all and perfectly tender. The shark was equally as good, its a shame that there wasn't enough of it all. My aunt hadn't expected all these people round so only bought enough for her, my uncle and myself. After the dinner we hanged around for a bit digesting the food, then we all went off back to my cousins place to play some more FIFA, for me to kick his arse at FIFA more like.

I didn't really have anything to do during the day, I should really have been catching up with my writing but I kept on getting distracted by the TV and the endless list of films constantly being shown. I started writing then after about half an hour I was watching a film, the another, then eating dinner. After dinner I started going over to my cousins to hang around with them, they are round my age and not to be mean to my aunt and uncle but it seemed a much better idea to be hanging around people around my age rather than being old enough to be my grandparents. My aunt asked me what I liked to eat, I said I hadn't eaten rabbit for ages and quite fancied some. She didn't have any rabbit in the freezer or anything so would have to go out and buy some specially, she did have shark however, well I say shark its actually dogfish which is a shark but very small, and pretty tasty. She was going to cook it tomorrow night, my cousin Alex caught wind of this and wanted in, he had never eaten rabbit before and hadn't eaten shark in a very long time. In the mean time I went over to their house to play some FIFA and win. I hadn't played FIFA much in my life so am not that great but I do occasionally win games. We kept playing all night long, I won some of the games and lost some, it was about 50/50 at this point. I had been invited to my cousin Matt's graduation party in Saturday, he had just graduated from high school so his parents were throwing a celebration party for him. It was getting pretty late and Tommy has work during the day so he dropped me off back at the house, I watched a bit of TV before I went to bed, it was only around midnight so not too late.

The next day I took it easy, I didn't have to do anything so I didn't, I just watched some films on TV, most of the films I hadn't seen yet so it was okay, I wasn't just completely wasting my time. I had arranged to meet up with Tommy after he finished work, maybe go out for a meal or something, catch up and that. He gave me a call when he finished and said he would pick me up around 19.30 or when his girlfriend went over, then we would go out to get some food at Applebee's, some American restaurant chain. He picked me up and we went to go and pick one his mates up then go and get some food. Firstly we went to the liquor store to get some alcoholic beverages, I got this rum called 'Admiral Nelson', it was a cheap version of 'Captain Morgans spiced rum' and tasted pretty much exactly the same. I had just eaten dinner as I was hungry but I could eat a little bit I suppose. When we got in the place, it was like every other restaurant chain, they are all the same, everywhere you go. I got some beer not Blue Moon as I think it really tastes of celery and I'm not too keen on celery, in fact it is the only thing (food wise) that I can barely eat and some puller pork tacos with some chilli sauce. Everybody was eating a lot and all I had were some pork tacos that I couldn't even finish, I was that full. We got some polystyrene boxes to put the left over food in and went back to Tommy's place to drink some beer and play a game of poker. Another one of his friends was coming over and we were all going to play some poker. I usually play better when I'm drunk so I started drinking, the game went on for far too long, after an hour nobody was out yet, then Tommy's mate went. Tommy's brother was still in, he had such a measly amount of chips left it made sense to get him out, he soon went after that hand. Then

The room I had was on the top floor and didn't have any air conditioning or anything and it was in the middle of a really big heat wave so the temperature was unbearably hot and humid. I had a fan and had to fiddle around with it to get it in the best position to cool me down. I finally put it on the chest next to the bed and had it pointing my face and upper body. It worked though, at least it meant I could actually sleep in the unbearable heat, I wasn't comfortable but could sleep.

After the show everybody from the show went to a bar around the corner, had a few beers and we all chatted. Most of the conversation was based around the show but some was just general. After about an hour or so of drinking, we left and I got driven home. It was about 1.00am so the roads were pretty empty now and it didn't take very long to get back. Cel's mate is from New Jersey and said that he didn't grow up that far from where I was staying, he even pointed out his old high school and college. As soon as I got in I went to bed, I was tired and it had been a long day.

The theatre or whatever you call the place where the performance was taking place was tucked away through a small back door of what looked like a small shop. We went inside, Cel's mate signed himself up, Cel was unsure if he was going to do it, he wanted to but wasn't sure if he had the confidence to or not. I definitely didn't have the balls to get up on stage and perform so I opted out and sat around drinking some beer and read a few pages of my book. Out the back they were having some sort of practice session, from what I could hear it sounded like they were all just screaming. The nigh was called the 'magnet mixer' and it was an improv night with local performers and some improv teachers. I had never been to an improv night or even seen that much of it, all I knew was pretty much from watching 'who's line is it anyway?'. The thing was due to start so people were being called in to sit down at their places ready to watch it. We all took our seats, the lights were dimmed and out came the MCs. The MCs introduced the show, had a bit of a joke with each other, the explained what was going on and then they called out the first performers. The performances were inspired by listening to about ten seconds of a song set to a specific theme, for some reason tonight’s theme was Christmas, Christmas in July to be more specific. Each groups performance only lasted for a few minutes, for some it was enough, for others were just getting into it. Each group only had one performance. Some were really funny, others were quite literally shit, it made a difference if at least one of the group was a seasoned performer. Some of the performers belonged to a group that do it every week, some even had their own comedy nights. There was actually some really funny sketches, Cel's mats one for instance was hilarious. He was a husband recently released from prison, the scenario was at a dinner table and they had a guest who was apparently his best friend and also the person who set him up for jail. It was very serious and funny at the same time. Another funny one was about a family and the dad was played by a woman who was a member of a comedy outfit called 'taco supreme' she was so funny I couldn't stop myself from laughing. The night went on for a while, it wasn't boring, I had just noticed that we had been in there for a long time. Cel's mate had said he would give me a lift back home so I didn't have to worry about getting the bus at any time. It came to the last sketch and the MCs took a while to introduce it, they were opening up for something special. They asked Cel if he wanted to perform and gave him a grand introduction saying it was he had come all the way from England for this, everybody cheered and gave a round of applause. Cel had been paired with some random girl, a random guy and the man who created the magnet mixer, he was in good hands. The sketch started and it was clear that Cel was nervous but he carried it off well, he even opened the sketch and everybody followed his lead. The overall sketch was quite funny, there was a part in it when I won't say exactly what happened as it was rude but it ended up in the creator taking the piss out of Cel because he said Father Christmas instead of how the Americans say Santa. It was very funny at the time, especially for me as I say Father Christmas too. After the show there was a huge round of applause, the MCs do this thing if its somebody's first time, they ask them a question, if they say yes, they celebrate in dance. It was very funny to see Cel up on stage, getting involved and having a good time.

I ended up waiting at the bus stop for over an hour, it was about an hour and twenty minutes, the lady on another bus had told me the bus comes on the hour every hour, she must have been wrong because I was there for more than and hour and no bus ever came. Eventually my bus came, I got on and before I knew it I was in NYC, it only took about half an hour, the longest part was getting through the tunnel between New Jersey and NYC. I was going to meet my mate Cel to watch his mate do some improv comedy night somewhere in Manhattan. I had no idea where it was, all I had been told was a bar to meet. I went for a walk looking for a borders or something but by the time I got to one it was closed, I had no idea where any were and didn't really care too much as all I wanted to do was have a quick look around to kill time. I was getting thirsty so went in the first bar I saw that had happy hour. The only drink they had cheap was a bottle of Miller high life for $2.50 so I got one of those before I decided what else I wanted. I ended up staying in there for a couple more beers and had some bbq brisket sliders. They were really tasty but nothing compared to the bloody beast. I left in search of the bar I was supposed to meet them, I knew where it was so went in. I thought that the improve thing was going to be in there so I asked the guy, when he said no I was shocked, maybe I had made a mistake or something. I got a text message saying to wait there as Cel and his mate would be arriving in a minute. When they got here they clarified things for me, this bar was just a place to go for cheap nice beer and the improv thing was around the corner.

I had arranged to meet up with a friend from back home, he was about and wanted to go out in Manhattan. I was planning to go to the city after the football, it was the semi final so I had to stick around and watch it, Germany were playing Spain. Spain won again, a really bad game, they did outplay Germany but all they did was keep possession of the ball then get a lucky goal again. Germany were missing one of their key player as he got two yellow cards and had to miss the game. He got a second yellow card because the ball hit him in the arm, it was ridiculous but the referee was shit so gave a yellow. The final was going to be played on Sunday and was between the Netherlands and Spain, I'm definitely going for the Netherlands, I'm not against Spain, its just I prefer the Netherlands and I really don't like the way Spain play, its so boring to watch. The game was over any way and I had to get to NYC. As I wasn't meeting my friend till later I had some dinner before I left as I was pretty hungry and to stop myself getting even hungrier later on. I was getting the NJ transit bus to NYC, the bus I should have got comes and goes from this stop, the stop was quite literally across the road from my aunts place.

When I got to their house, they all came out to greet me, apart from Matt the second eldest, he was the only one I hadn't met yet, he was out apparently but would probably be getting back a little bit later. We all sat around the table in the garden, I told them stories of my travels, they filled my in on their lives, we were all making up for lost time. We spent the rest of the evening catching up. Then my aunt left, she told me about this key situation, if ever I am out and return home when they are in bed we had this arrangement of where she would hide the front door key and how she would lock the door. I decided to stay to play some FIFA with my cousins for a while. It was getting late and my eldest cousin Tommy had to work so he drove me home.

Being at the house brought back memories of when I was here last year, nothing had changed at all. It was coming up to dinner time so I put my things away upstairs in the room I was going to be sleeping in and headed downstairs. My uncle Tommy showed me how to work the TV, got me an ice cold Coors light and we sat down and watched a bit of TV before dinner. My aunt Rosa had cooked me some pasta with tomato sauce, something I hadn't had for a while, not a home cooked proper Italian style one. I ate the pasta with some of her home made pickled chillis. They were so good and so spicy, there was choice of banana pepper and a cherry pepper, I opted for the cherry as it looked cuter. The food was so tasty, I couldn't help myself by having seconds and thirds. Since being in the states I have noticed that I have an appetite that never seems to go, I do get full up but the full feeling only lasts for a brief moment then hunger sinks in again. The rest of the evening I just sat down and watched a couple of films on my uncles TV because he had the full assortment on Verizon Fios.

I had no idea where I was or where I was supposed to be going, all I know is that some man on the bus told me this is the wrong place and to keep walking down the same road in the opposite direction. I did just that and ended up walking for two miles in the scorching heat, it wasn't very good when I was carrying my bags but it was my fault for making the mistake. I should have been told that it was the express bus before I boarded it, it would have meant that I didn't need to walk so much. I walked as far as I could and I couldn't take it any more, I had no idea what to do so I called my aunt and uncle and they came to pick me up. It took me a while to explain where I was, they didn't understand that I was on Locust St so I had to repeat it time after time. They picked me up at a garage the corner and they took my back to theirs, for now I was home.

I got the NJ transit bus from the Port Authority bus terminal to where my great aunt and uncle live in Roselle Park. I bought the ticket from the machine and had to check to make sure it was the right one. I then had to enquire as to where I was actually supposed to go to get the bus. The terminal was very confusing, there were platform and signs pointing in all sorts of directions and I had to be sure. I boarded my bus at the correct gate. It was really awkward as there wasn't anywhere for me to put my bag and I had a big rucksack from travelling. In the end I had to put the bloody bag on my lap for the whole journey which was in no way comfortable. I stupidly got on the wrong bus, I had no idea that there was an express bus and a stopping bus that went through Elizabeth and went straight to the stop I wanted. Because of my mistake I had to get off at the first stop then walk towards where my aunt and uncle live.

I had arranged to meet Paolo near his work after he finished then go down somewhere to watch the fireworks, maybe from the village. The guys I went to the concert with came along to, they were going to watch the fireworks anyway so thought they might just come with me to watch them. When I was supposed to meet Paolo I couldn't find him and I was really desperate for a piss so I went to the nearest bar to take a leak. I told him to meet us by the bar then we would head off towards the river to get a good spot. I felt so much better after I urinate, I just love the feeling when you desperately need to go then you let it all out, it sends a shiver down my spine it feels that good. We managed to secure a spot with a good view to watch the fireworks. The go under way and the excitement began to build, until a point the it got lost and was replaced with boredom. After about ten minutes I left because it was getting really really boring, plus if I left before it finished I could get to the bar easily and buy some beer. The highlight of the fireworks had to be a display in the shape of a smiley face, one firework went up and when it exploded was in the shape of a smiley, there were a few of them at a time and it looked really cool. The rest were the same fireworks you see everywhere. The bar was empty, everybody was still outside starring gormlessly at the explosion of sparkly lights. It was only me and Paolo in the bar, the others stayed to watch the fireworks and when they finished, they left to go back to the hostel. Paolo went to the bar and left me in charge of holding the seats, as soon as he left some girl swarmed over and sat next to the seat I was on, maybe she had been sitting here before, maybe not, all I can see is that if you leave the seats and nobody is watching them for you then they aren't your seats any more. I had put Paolo's bag on the seat next to me, the one she sat on, she pushed the bag into me and gave me a really harsh piercing stare, bitch! Some more of her friends arrived, they were toff wankers, it was so easy to see that they were looking down their noses at us, they were making me angry just by the way they were looking and what the bitch had done with the seat situation. I got to try a Busch beer, it didn't even taste like beer, I thought I was just drinking sparkling water. A couple of girls were hovering around looking for seats, we were leaving in a second after finishing our beers so I let them sit down. The bar was pretty cool looking with model boats everywhere, seafaring paraphernalia on the walls and a big fish tank next to where I was sitting, but I didn't like the clientèle. We left back to the hostel after that, I was still fuming from the fucking bitch being such a bitch about the seat situation, I felt like hitting her round the face, worse still she didn't smile once and kept on glancing over. Its quite obvious how much she pissed me off.

As it was so hot day, but was quite nice to be out, I decided I should go to central park to chill out rather than going back and doing nothing at the hostel. I took my book and my ipod and sat down reading in the shade, it was far too hot to be in the sunlight. I walked through Strawberry fields and saw the shrine thing for John Lennon, it was rubbish, I didn't know what to expect but this wasn't really it. Somebody had made the peace sign out of roses and laid it out over the shrine, it looked awful and was way too full of people taking photographs of it. I left shortly as I didn't want to stick around and watch some absolutely shit guitarist covering some Beatles songs. I found a shaded hill to sit on and ate some lunch and watch some random party going on. An area of the park had been cordoned off and there was a DJ and everybody was going round dancing on roller skates. Some guy went around the edge, circling it constantly carrying a big speaker blasting house music really loud. I went and sat on a bench and carried on reading, it was getting late, well not late, the sun was starting to set so I took is as a sign to go back to the hostel. I had to get back, sort my things out then head downtown to watch the fireworks from the banks of the Hudson river.

It was the 4th July and there was going to be a big fireworks display on the Hudson river put on by the Macy's department store. I had no idea what was going on and what to do for it so I checked online and it didn't really give me much info on it. I sat in the hostel common room and there were a couple of guys talking about there being some free concert in Battery park today because of the 4th July celebrations. It sounded like it might be worth going to so I asked if I could tag along. We were going to head out early afternoon, it was still morning at this point so I had a while. I got some ice tea and a subway and sat and ate, then had a shower soon enough it was time to go. We got the subway all the way down to the park and walked around a bit to try and find the entrance to the concert area. We ended up walking through a small gap in the fence to get in, past some organic ice cream stand that they wouldn't stop ranting and raving about. It was definitely a family affair, I felt really out of place being there, looking around it was just young couples with little kids running around. To make things even worse there was a woman dressed up as a clown chasing after and trying to find another woman dressed up as a baby. It was ridiculous, even the music was pretty poor, there was one bad that I sat through but then some guy came out, I had seen his face on billboard before this, I think he was some kind of TV show singer or something, he wasn't that great, it was like old folky Bob Dylan for kids. The only good thing about the concert was that there was a stand giving out free water bottles, the sports bottle sort, the ones with the funny top. I needed a bottle like that do made the most of it and got one. Then I left.

He said he was supposed to be finished by now so I gave him a bell, he didn't pick up but then I got a call back from him about five minutes later, he said that he had finished and where was I. I told him, he gave me a place to meet up so I went there to wait. After we met he just said how hungry he was, I was a little bit hungry but couldn't be bothered to get any food. We walked around looking for a bar to go in, found a few but they all looked really expensive. The place we went in was just that, it was really expensive, they had some draught beer for $3 a pint so I got one of those but Paolo in his infinite wisdom went for a special lemonade and some satay chicken skewers. The special lemonade cost him $12 and tasted like sweets, it was supposed to be heavy in licor but I couldn't taste the slightest bit of alcohol. I could see how pissed off he was with his decision to by some shit, expensive drink and some chicken skewers, there only being about four tiny ones. He managed to spend his whole days tip in one bar on two things. Not a good start to a night at all, we went to find some cheaper food as he was hungrier now he had just had a taste of food. There was a Sicilian pizza place that had really bad pizza, it was nothing like I remember it being in Sicily, the only thing that was good about the place was the fact that the staff were talking Sicilian with one another, I hadn't heard that for ages, my grandparents and parents always talk it but I haven't really heard it since I have been away. Now he was full he was in a little bit of a better mood, its amazing how hunger can make people so grouchy, it does it to me to. We couldn't make up our minds of what to do and where to go. So we cut our losses and went back to the hostel, save our money and drown our sorrows with cheap 24oz beers. I went to bed soon after we got back, I bought two cans and only finished one then went to sleep.

When I got downtown I still had some time to kill so I went for a walk looking for bars, I ended up getting a little bit lost in the village as there is no grid system down there so you need to know where you are going or at least have a brief idea of the street names and locations. I had neither so ended up roaming around not doing much or getting anywhere. When I overheard a couple of rich type city women discussing sex and the city, they were talking about the street that one of the characters lives down. It was right opposite where we were standing. I walked down the street, it was a really beautiful place, all the house looked old and well looked after, the pavement had trees all down it, it just looked very picturesque. Even better, right at the end of the road was the Hudson river. I made a turning on one side street and got lost again, I ended up finding some bar called 'the Slaughtered Lamb' after the film 'an American Werewolf in London', it is the pub the characters go to the night they are attacked by a werewolf. The bar seemed okay, I only stuck around for one as I was put off by the $6 a pint price. I had a nice long chat with the bar maid about differing topics, mainly the fact that I'm trying to do a lot of writing and she was a struggling actress. It was soon time to go and meet Paolo so I paid up, left the bar and went in search of the wine cellar Paolo worked in. I couldn't find it for the life of me but remembered him saying that there was a huge Apple store opposite so I went and sat on a chair outside there reading my book until he called me.

The guys from Leeds left this morning, they were heading towards Miami to continue there trip around the states. I was alone once again, I had booked to stay for a few more days so wasn't too bothered with it. I'm pretty sure I would meet some people, whether or not they would be as fun as everybody else I don't know but we will see. I had pror arrangements to meet up with Paolo after he finished work, he had just got a job as a delivery boy for some wine cellar downtown somewhere. I wanted to have another night out in the village somewhere so I proposed the idea of me meeting him at his job after work and then going out drinking in some bar around there. I didn't have anything planned for the day so I just got some lunch ready and headed for central park to take it easy, reading, listening to music and watching all the people go by. I found a spot on the great lawn and sat there for a bit. I just couldn't get comfortable on the grass and it was in direct sunlight so I opted to go to a bench in the shade for a bit. I stayed there for a while and then decided to go for a walk around the park. Central park is a little bit bigger and better than I remembered last time, last time I was here lots of sections were closed off, some areas were missing grass and worst of all it was raining. I probably stayed there for a few hours then walked through to get the subway more downtown at Columbus circle.

Back at the hostel I just chilled, had a little nap, I was making a habit of having an early evening nap. It was nice and when you woke up at night, you were refreshed and ready for a possible night out. I didn't do anything that night, Fabian had to pack for his flight to Singapore for his work placement. I think the guys from Leeds went out to see some comedy show or something, I just watched TV and wondered around and pretty much had a lazy evening. I went to bed early (I say early, I mean before midnight) for the first time in a while, since I had been in the states pretty much.

I was pretty hungry now, all we had to eat were some bar snacks in a bowl, like nuts and crisps and other things along those lines. I needed real food, or just something a little or filling. I knew that there was a Wendy's somewhere on 5th Avenue but the exact location had slipped my mind. I had gone there with the Danish guy Chris the other day. All I knew was that if we walked up 5th Ave from 14th St we wouldn't miss it, we were bound to cross it before we got to Times Square. We ended walking along 5th for bloody ages, so long in fact that we had to take two toilet breaks along the way. Unfortunately NYC doesn't have any facilities for pissing when on the move and they are ridiculously strict about urinating on the street. They need to get there act together and have some urinals or something. We had to go in a subway and I felt really guilty so I bought a six inch of the cheapest they had. I was starving so it wasn't a complete waste. We walked a bit further and there it was, shining in the evening sun like it was being pointed out to us from up above. The Wendy's was on 33rd and 5th right opposite the Empire State building so I doubt I will ever forget that. Wendy's you beautiful fast food place, a place where you can buy a deluxe value meal for $2.99 plus tax, this includes an okay sized burger, regular fries and a regular drink. Perfect for people on budgets and don't really care much about watching their weight. I went for the burger twice well two meals I mean so I could eat something a little later when I was bound to get hungry. I don't know what happened but my order took forever, when I finally got it, it wasn't my order at least it wasn't what I paid for. I got one extra burgers, my burgers that I ordered, two regular fries, two regular drinks and two packs of chicken nuggets. I wasn't sure how to react at first but then I realised that I had all this food and only paid about $7 for two meals. Great this meant that I had nearly a whole meal to eat later on. After we had stuffed our faces with our deluxe value meals we left to go to the hostel. Fabian was saying that he needed to pack so we left quickly and got the subway back to the hostel.

Somehow we left and got back to the hostel, I have no idea, all I know is that I woke up in my bed in the morning completely covered in sand. I have no idea why there was sand on me and all over my bed, it didn't and doesn't make any sense, I can't figure it out at all. I keep on moaning about this, it is really annoying, I never did anything to sort it out in any way though. I questioned some people in my room, I interrogated the girl in the bed above me and nothing came up, I was looking for any sort of clue. The girl above me sort of admitted it but I couldn't make any sense of her confession and I couldn't understand why there would be sand on my bed. This is something that I think is above me and there is no way I can get to the bottom of it, it will just make me mad.
There was another football game on this afternoon, of course there was as it was the quarter finals of the world cup and the Netherlands had beaten Brazil and knocked them out of the world cup this morning. Spain were playing Portugal and we wanted to watch it in a bar somewhere downtown, maybe in Greenwich village or something. We had some time to burn as the game wasn't going to start for another few hours. Fabian wanted to have a look around Wall St and see if he could somehow get a tour or something around the New York stock exchange. When we got there I was starving so opted to get some lamb over rice off one of the street vendors and eat it sitting on some road block thing for Wall St. There was to be no way of getting in the NYSE as they had some privater VIP only party going on today and if you did want to go in you had to reserve a place before 11.00am on the same day. We had not and it was already the afternoon. After looking around at the not very spectacular financial district and ground zero we headed off in search of a bar showing the game. We knew of an area with lots of bars called Bleaker St so headed in that direction. Most of the streets around the area had boutiques, restaurants and cafés, nothing resembling a bar that would be showing the football. We walked for a while and found nothing, a couple of restaurants with TV screens but that was too awkward to watch the football in without buying any food. Eventually we accidentally stumbled upon Bleaker St and walked about two minutes and found plenty of bars. One of which had an advertising board outside saying about showing games and had a list of prices. One of these prices took my attention and I was drawn in, the sign said $7 pitchers. We straight away went in and ordered one, it was for domestic beer like Coors light or Bud light so not great beer but it was outrageously cheap. The bar was called 'Wicked Willies' it looked pretty small on the outside but inside was huge. The bar was pretty long and in the middle they had beer pong tables. The beer pong tables were more professional than the bar the other night, they had holes for the cups in and had lights underneath where the cups go. It all looked pretty cool. We found out way to a seated area at the back with sofas and tables and a big fold down projector screen for when they showed sports. The game was under way, I have to be brutally honest here and say that it had to be one of the worst games I have ever seen. It was so boring, so much so that I nodded off for a brief moment, well ten minutes or so. Spain won with a lucky goal but both teams looked shockingly poor. After the game we had to have a game of beer pong, we promised ourselves that we would only have one pitchers worth. We ended up playing there nearly all afternoon/early evening. That one game led to us having about five more pitchers and playing against two random guys who we beat nearly every time. We did best of five and they only won once, need I say more. We had about half a pitcher of beer left and were challenged to another game by a different group of people, we reluctantly refused as we were about to leave any way.

Paolo had agreed to take us out somewhere on the upper West side tonight, he said if we waited for him to finish work and have some beers and stuff he would show us some cool, cheap bars. He knocked off at 22.00 so we had some beers waiting for him. I had done a massive poo so felt a whole lot better than before and I had eaten some food, that massive burrito, so was feeling pretty much normal. Of course I had a couple of 24oz cans, its become a sort of ritual before we go out here. I had no idea where we were going or what it was going to be like but I was in the mood for something quite lively. I had felt like shit all day and now I was slightly better I thought I might as well have a big night. We sat around watching TV, drinking, chatting and generally socialising with the other people at the hostel. Paolo finally finished and he got ready, we sat around and had some more beers and headed out on our way. We got the subway to 86th St the walked to around 76th or something around there. The street was full of bars, we walked past a couple then went in one that looked pretty full and lively. We weren't in there for very long, we had a few beers and if you tipped the bar man a dollar he gave you a shot of whatever you wanted so for some reason I kept on getting shots of Jameson's. Keep in mind that I have now had about five 24oz Coors cans and now a pint and a shot. We stayed in this bar for about three drinks then headed out to another bar, it seemed to die out and get really quiet really quick. The next bar we went in had quite a large selection of beer, nothing like that of the pub in Philly but still quite a lot for a standard NYC bar. We had all had pints each, then realised the bar had beer pong tables and served pitchers. We started a game of beer pong with our pints. The teams were the guys from Leeds versus Fabian and myself. If you are unfamiliar with the rules its quite simple; basically you have a long table, ten plastic cups filled with beer, and either one or two ping pong balls, the cups are placed in the ten pin bowling formation (a triangle). The aim of the game is to throw the ping pong ball into your opponents cups and make them drink all their beer. They do the same to you. It gets relatively harder the more cups they drink and the more pissed you all get. The other guys watched us, the game was meant to be quick but for some reason it seemed we were on the table for about three hours or so. The other guys got bored and left around 1.30am and we carried on playing for ages. Fabian and myself won every game, it was like the guys from Leeds weren't even trying but they clearly were. As the games went on we got louder and louder and became very rowdy. It all went horribly wrong in our last game, I was downing a beer and I could feel my gag reflexes not wanting me to finish. I felt as though I needed to be sick but couldn't be bothered to and so instead I downed the rest of my beer and straight away it all came back up. I vomited all over the floor next to our beer pong table. I tried to resolve the situation by finding a mop and bucket but I had no luck so I was forced to ask the bar staff. I felt so much better now, I had needed that for a while. When the guy came over with the mop I thought he was going to give it to me to clean my mess but instead he threw us all out and barred us, we got barred, unbelievable. This is the second time I have been thrown out and barred in the states, there must be something wrong with that.

Basically we walked around for about twenty minutes with no luck in finding any suitable places or the kind of place we sort of had in mind. Another thing was that there was another game set to start in about an hour so we had to find somewhere soon that was going to show the football as USA had crashed out and it seemed that the whole of the states had lost interest in the world cup. On our was out of the village we got caught up in the parade and had to wait ages for one of the smaller processions to go past. It was pretty funny but stupidly hot, a flat bed truck passed by at a snails pace playing pounding techno music and full of both men, women and those in-between dancing on it. About five or so of these went past with people dancing behind and between them. As soon as it passed we scrambled to the other side and out onto the open street where we could once again walk freely without rubbing shoulder to shoulder with some sweaty individual. We headed in the rough direction of midtown and found an Irish pub tucked around a corner. I usually avoid Irish pubs as they are full of clichés but this one seemed pretty normal, the only exception were a few posters and the fact that the bar man was Irish. The bar served okay beer and had $10 pitchers so it wasn't all bad, I didn't know what I wanted so I waited until I could make up a decision. In the end it took me till near the end of the game before I bought a drink, then after the game we left anyway. Fabian left us during the game and didn't stick around to have a beer. He went to watch a women's NBA game at Madison Square Gardens. It must have been amazing!