As meninas

In case anyone was searching for one word to refer to Becca and I by, we found it. As meninas; it doesn't matter if there are other girls in the room or not, if we just met someone for the first time or not, as meninas (the girls) always refers to Becca and I. Reminds me a bit of how Ryan and Nick are always 'the boys'. Since we're becoming the same person, having one name helps.

Good news: I've been able to go running! Don't worry, I was told it is safe to run in the neighborhood here in the morning, and I always tell Becca where I'm running and how long to wait before being worried (even if she is asleep when I leave...) so we're all good on the safe side. I think it helps me remember Portuguese better, at least that's what I keep telling myself.



Our favorite girls in Assis on our last Sunday! We'll be returning, but we're not sure when and for how long... still... mostly because Becca and I can't make up our mind. Big surprise there.



We went out to lunch and felt like pasta... bad idea. The man just kept talking to us and telling us all these different things we could put on it, when all we wanted was a simple gnocci!! Ended up with a 'free' dollar bill  - no matter how many times we told him we didn't want that deal.



This girl is ADORABLE! and no, sorry Becs, I'm not talking about you. She's also built up my confidence with babies that Vivian has smashed down a couple times :)



Went collecting on campus in Sao Carlos and saw this beautiful boa constrictor! Actually, Becs almost stepped on it. Super cool.



These plants will never get old. In the words of Dr. Johnson, if there are some plants nearby, we have some friends :)



This spot used to be a perfect habitat for Hetaerina on campus, but some engineers decided it would be better to cut down all the grass, dam up the water, and clean out the trough. Can you believe it? Engineers ruin everything.



Isn't she beautiful?? I've been spending a lot of time practicing identifying damselflies, especially Hetaerina species. (This one is Hetaerina longipes, as I'm sure you were all just dying to know.)



Tried acai for the first time with these wonderful people! So grateful to have such great mentors and friends.



Practiced the sanding skills I learned over the summer when helping build aquariums.



The first time Becs took out her ukulele Davi ran away screaming, but look at him now!



This family is wonderful, we met Junior through Matt Lipps, and they had us over for dinner last Sunday. Delicious food, great company, and, again, grateful for the amazing friendships we've made so quickly.



Since every friend Becca and I know in Provo is either engaged or started dating someone, we responded by finding some guys of our own. I forgot their names.... but meet our Brazilian boyfriends! (Angie, mine is the one on the left.)



This was a very sad evening for me.... I was not able to finish my dinner. I'm not sure what is happening to my stomach, but it is very upsetting. What we are holding up is only half of our dinner, and I couldn't even finish one. Becs finished hers. I probably should run more or something.

Well that's a little update on our lives! Our Portuguese has slowed a bit, but we are learning much more about dragonflies, their behavior and taxonomy, about chironomids, and a lot of other random things. Biology is great, you should all study it.