Week 16 in Brazil (Jonathon's Update)

Now that my family has returned home, I am once again a single man. This mostly means that I go into workaholic mode, working in the lab all day and then working on other data analysis projects all night until I go to bed. I enjoy my work, but it can wear on me, and I have to find ways to take a break and get out. This week, I am grateful for my good friends that have helped me do that by sandwiching the week with good churrasco (barbecue).

Last Saturday, we had a party at the church for the Elder's Quorum (adult men). I gave my best unathletic-American effort at futsal (soccer on a basketball court), hit the winning three-pointer in basketball, and enjoyed some good barbecue. I also watched some serious domino playing and saw some great Brazilian ingenuity. One of the people bringing a grill never made it, so one of the men found a long galvanized metal duct that was open on one side that he was able to turn into an epic 6-foot-long grill. It was a great time with good people.

During the week, my time was split between DNA sequencing and preparing a research talk for Friday. The DNA sequencing finally started going well the last couple of weeks, so we got some of the longest sequencing reads we have gotten yet, and I finally feel like we have figured it out. Unfortunately, we do not have enough supplies left to really get enough data to assemble the entire genome, but we should get relatively close. I have learned so much about what to look for and how to extract DNA from difficult species. Now, we just need to make plans to finish the project after I return home. However, I am now officially finished with lab work and will spend the rest of my time looking at the data.

On Friday, I gave an hour-long research seminar to the program. And, because that is apparently not hard enough, I gave the whole thing in Portuguese. I mainly focus on the genetics of how the heart forms, with an emphasis on identifying the causes of heart defects. However, the program here is more oriented toward biodiversity, ecology, and evolution. So, they asked me to try to tie the two together. I ended up creating a talk where I talked about my research but highlighted lessons we have learned from evolution and ecology that help us in our research. We have a great project in the lab, led by Maliha Tasnim, to look at the evolution of some proteins in the zebrafish that affect how the heart forms, so I used that project to draw the connections. When Maliha or I talk about her project in my department at BYU, which is very human biology focused, the professors often ask us how fish protein evolution relates to humans, so we have learned to emphasize the crossover. After doing that here, one of the first questions from the audience was about why I am so focused on humans instead of just being curious about an interesting biological process in another species...I guess I need to be more mindful of my specific audience : ) At least that means they understood what I was saying!

On Saturday, some of the professors and I went to a Churrascaria called Sal e Brasa. I served my mission in Brazil's version of Texas--a land of cowboys and barbecue where they have more state pride than national pride. It is also where the famous Brazilian Barbecue you can find in the United States comes from. I had mentioned a while back that I had not yet gone to a Churrascaria in Salvador, so my hosts, because they are awesome, set up for us to go. It was so delicious! I love good meat, and they had several cuts here that I never find at home, included cupim (a beef cut from the hump), contra-file (another beef cut), beef ribs, and several cuts of lamb. I forgot to take a picture, but the salad bar was twice as big as it is in the restaurants back home, too. We stayed for three hours eating and talking and having a good time.

On the way home, we drove along the beach for a while. I sat in the back seat looking out at the ocean trying to find a whale. I had been trying to see one for several weeks since Fernanda, who was in the car, told me that you can see them from land, but I had yet to succeed. Suddenly, right as the road turned inland, I saw one jump. After I told everyone what I had seen, Emilio went around the block and parked at a gas station, so we could watch. We stayed for 15-20 minutes watching a very excited humpback whale jump over and over again. It was such a great sight! What amazing creatures. Fernanda commented how most people don't look, so they never even realize what a treasure their hometown has, and she was right. While we stood there watching, dozens of people walked by, but not a single one looked out over the ocean to see the amazing show. I wonder how many things we all miss just because we aren't looking.

Now things are winding down as I finish my work here and prepare to go home. I am excited to see my family and friends at home, but I am going to miss the many wonderful people I have gotten to know here. They have been wonderful hosts and are universally kind and loving. I look forward to our last week together before I have to leave.