While Jonathon was at UFBA in Salvador doing research for his Fulbright Scholarship, Emilio Lanna was his host. Emilio and his wife, Fernanda, made Jonathon feel so welcome in their lab, took our family out to dinner a couple of times, took Jonathon scuba diving, and just made the whole experience very rewarding.
Fast forward to this October... Emilio got to come to BYU to work in Jonathon's lab for 2 weeks. After all their work on sequencing the genome of the fire sponge last summer, they were hoping to take what they learned and sequence two more species.
Since the plane ticket to the U.S. was expensive, and money was tight, we decided to host Emilio at our house so that he wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. To be perfectly honest, I was very nervous about having him here for 2 weeks. I didn't know him very well, and I didn't know what to expect. I had all the typical questions when hosting someone... What does he like to eat? How do we entertain him for 2 weeks? Are our kids going to drive him crazy?
I needn't have worried, however. Emilio was the perfect guest. He was friendly, kind, helpful, and fun to have around. He willingly ate whatever I fixed, helped clean up after meals, joined in our conversations, and played games and went to activities with our family.
Jonathon and Emilio took Hyrum to choir or band every morning on their way to work, and then they would work all day and get back home around 6:00 for dinner. After dinner, we would play a game, watch football, read a book. We tried to do some fun things on the weekends, but I wasn't stressed about making sure he had something to do at all times because he seemed totally happy to just hang out with our family.
The experiments in the lab went extremely well, and everything worked the first time. That never happens in science, so we were thrilled! Jonathon and Emilio were able to get lots of good data for both of the sponge species and will be able to complete the work remotely to publish the genome. Emilio also gave a guest lecture, and then he and Jonathon made a short video about their collaboration for the department presentation. I'm hoping to see it when it finally comes out. When Jonathon was busy with meetings, Emilio would walk around BYU campus and learn everything he could. He came home telling us about random things he had found (ex: the BYU sports hall of fame and special animated films that celebrated the awesome animation department). I thought it was hilarious that in some ways he knew more about campus than I did. It was two full weeks of work for them, but it all came together nicely, and all their goals were accomplished.
When they weren't working, we tried to give Emilio a taste of life in Provo. During the fall, that means lots of BYU football! Our team is having an amazing season this year, so football is the talk of the town. We had tickets to both home games while he was here, so he got the chance to see two awesome games. I happily gave up my ticket so that he could experience some fun college football. The games he went to just happened to both be extremely close and extremely exciting. In fact, BYU vs Oklahoma State ended up coming down to the last drive where BYU scored with about 10 seconds to go. Jonathon said that Emilio was screaming and cheering for BYU just like any other crazy fan in the stadium. He even bought a BYU shirt and two hats so he could wear them to the games. When the boys got home, we analyzed all the plays and talked about the games for the rest of the week. It's funny that Emilio is into football, but apparently he gave up on soccer years ago and started watching American football on ESPN. He knew all the rules and didn't seem too annoyed that we talked about it incessantly. I think they all had a great time at the games!
The second Saturday that he was here, Jonathon and some other members of his lab took Emilio down to Moab to see Arches National Park. The weather didn't look very good that morning, so I passed on going, but it ended up being a perfect trip. Jonathon said the weather was great for hiking, and the crowds were lower than usual. They got to hike to see dinosaur footprints, some petroglyphs, and a couple of arches, including delicate arch. The pictures were spectacular. I'm glad that they got to go see that because it is such a unique place to visit.
During his stay, we taught Emilio a couple of card games, including Skull King and Reign of Dragoness. Our whole family played together, and Emilio joined right in. The boys bickered occasionally, and definitely used a lot of their funny teenage slang, but Emilio didn't seem to mind. He even started using some of their words, which was hilarious. He commented on Hyrum's attempts to look "rizzy" and said that BYU was "cooking" during their football game.
The other thing I was a little nervous about was how to handle church, prayers, etc. I knew that we would go about our lives as usual in that regard, but I hoped that it wouldn't bother Emilio. He isn't very religious, so I just didn't know what to expect. We said lots of prayers on the food, and he always bowed his head and participated. He didn't go to church with us on Sundays, but when we arrived home, we found him raking our leaves. It just goes to show that there is so much good in people of all religions and all walks of life. We were very grateful for the service he did for our family. During his stay, Jonathon and the boys also helped someone in the ward move, and Emilio volunteered to go and was there to lift furniture and help clean out their house.
On Emilio's last night in the U.S. we all went bowling at BYU. We had terrible scores, but we had a great time and shared lots of laughs. It was a lovely way to end his trip. That night he gave us all gifts... BYU shirts for the boys and flowers for me. Those were in addition to the gifts that he brought at the beginning of his trip from Brazil (doce de leite for Jonathon, goibada cascão for me, seite bello for Hyrum, paçoca for Andrew, and bom boms for all of us). We definitely felt spoiled. I am grateful that we all got a chance to know Emilio better and am grateful that our paths intersected through many small miracles (a member of Jonathon's lab at Columbia went to a conference with Emilio and recommended him on a Facebook post when Jonathon was looking for a possible opportunity in Brazil.) We look forward to spending more time with Emilio and Fernanda next Summer back in Brazil.
After Emilio left, we received this text that was so touching:
"Dear Sarah, Hyrum, Andrew, and Jonathon,
I have no words to express my gratitude with your hospitality in the last two weeks. I had a wonderful time. I had a real life experience. I can tell everyone now that I was an American for a couple of weeks. I could see how you live.
I already had a deep respect for Jonathon. Now I have for his family. I loved to share the hours around the table, eating delicious foods, playing wonderful games and analyzing every bit of the last and next football games. Cleaning the leaves, playing football with the boys, helping Sarah in the kitchen! These were great experiences! Please, be sure that I will remember every second of these weeks.
I’m sorry if I misbehaved at some point. It was not my intention. Sorry for spending so much of your time, for being around every time. I just felt that it was a worse behavior to be locked in the bedroom. I hope I was not so annoying.
I’m not the most religious person of the world, but it was great to pray with you before we eat. I appreciate even more your way of life, serving the community and getting together whenever possible. I was not brave enough to ask to say the prayings around the table, but I prayed with you every time!
Last, but not least, thanks for letting me be part of your family during these days. I felt like I was a not-so-distant relative, maybe even the older son. I really appreciated how you guys are always doing things together and supporting each other!
Muito obrigado por todos esses dias! I wait for you in Salvador with lots of expectations. I hope I can return at least 10% of all you gave me all these days! Thank you so much!"
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