Week 11 in Brazil (Jonathon's Update)

 Week 11 in Brazil:

Not much happened this week. We have been working on the DNA sequencing part of our project, and we think we have a better idea about what is going wrong, so we ordered some supplies that we think will fix the problem. While waiting for them to come, we collected and froze some new samples. I actually did some collections this time! It was harder than I thought to stay underwater at exactly the right depth to get the samples, but I was able to get them in the end. We spent some time afterward working on my technique and diving down deep for fun. I am slowly improving, but I am still nowhere near Emilio's skill level.

The kids had a youth activity Saturday morning where they apparently got both of them to play soccer and had a water balloon fight. We got there on time, which means the activity didn't start for another half-hour, so we helped mop the church while we waited. They had a fun time and were talking up a storm about the things they did when we left.

While I waited for them, I helped the missionaries teach an English class where we paired an American and a Brazilian together to teach the first missionary lesson to each other in English. My partner was Leandro, who actually served as a missionary in the same mission as me (Porto Alegre Sul) 10 years after I returned home. We had a good time, but it has been a long time since I taught those lessons, and I have only taught them once or twice in English, so it was harder than I thought it would be.

That night, Sarah and I went to an activity for couples at the church. We thought we had figured out how start time really work here, so we planned to show up 30 minutes late to "be on time." However, we were still one of the first couples there. The next couple to come was a Portuguese professor at the University of Texas, Orlando, and his wife Tanya. They, too, had decided to show up 30 minutes late to not be the first ones there. They are here for a few weeks helping with a study abroad program for Texas Portuguese majors. We are all BYU grads, and Orlando and I could talk about life as professors, and Sarah and Tanya immediately hit it off talking about the challenges of not knowing the language where you are. They have been coming each year for 8 years, so they also had good advice for us...and they even gave our kids a jar of peanut butter. They were super kind, and we are glad we got to meet them.