Let's Update!

Time is winding down and sooooo much has happened thus far! Now, I have been very focused and taking classes here in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I feel that GOD has really blessed and helped me along the way, I never imagined that I would be that kid who was highly doubted and is now in a foreign country taking 'hard'classes in another language. Aside from that, my research has been going great and I was able to get very good data that makes sense, I really feel prepared as a scientist to enter the future. In other words, I really learned a lot from this experience: the TRUE seriousness of research, how to present myself and most importantly; how to allow people to treat me. I am having such a positive experience and met some great friends. I really feel that God put me here for a reason that science cannot explain. I am very greatful to be able to be here not only to be a nerd but to be a useful nerd (hahaha). My second volunteering experience was at an auction for foster kids. I was happy to have one of my friends Caio to actually to help with the preparations for the auction. It was a great success and I had a great time during the auction with my homegirl Chelsea and my other friends.


In the Laboratory


At the Les Nubians Concert


Me and my boys Reg and Victor


On a boat


Me and my boy Caio


Me and Part of the Volunteering Crew


My Program Director, Dr. Riveros and his wife.

Lab, Birthday, and Classes

Research has been research and it's been great. I have been doing experiments after experiment...I LOVE IT!!!! It has been a great joy to make mistakes, and come up with a way to fix it or make new innovations to an experiment. So far my experimental goal was to take cells from a rat and mice tails and measure the cell vitality under cell culturing. This study is interesting because it is a known fact rats and mice live longer under calorie restriction than they do under ad libitum (eating as much as wanted). The question that is posed states: "Will the cells of the rat or mice under calorie restriction live longer than those that are not?" So far, I have only worked on control cells in order to get a feel of the experiment and what to expect as a whole in terms of collecting data and following additional procedures. I was able to present my research at the University of Campinas which is only an hour away from São Paulo. Here are some pictures below:


Research presentation in Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil and I am with Susanna Torresi, who is one of the program coordinators in Brasil.


Cutting up the tails into very smalls pieces helps collegenase take the cells from the tails.

Aside from that I managed to celebrate my 21th birthday day in Brasil and it was great!!! I managed to celebrate it with my labmates and later with my church family. On my birthday itself, I managed to go to the Praça da Sé and took pictures with my friends from church (João Carlos and Priscila) in front of a big church there. They really helped me to enjoy Brasil and they really play a good role in my life.

This is the lab celebration.



This is the church celebration.


At the Praça da Sé with João Carlos and Priscila

Now, I have started classes at USP, where I am taking Biochemistry and Molecular Biology along with the research. I am working hard and doing well here. Pray for me as I continue this journey.

Serviço Comunitário

Brazil is great, I am managing to enjoy it in many ways such as going to the club, doing research and COMMUNITY SERVICE. My friend who works at Vida Jovem, an orphanage that houses kids who come from very broken homes, hosted an Arriá (pronounced Ah-i-a). An Arriá is a charity event to raise money. I had a great time with the kids, meeting them and showing them that others care for them and the way they can go is up from now on. Also, I want to thank my friends Blair and Rafael for showing up to this event because I know the kids need to see older men in a positive light, doing positive things and my friends helped the kids see that. Also, I am very greatful for my fellow buckeye, Chelsea for telling us about this event and creating a bond between us and the kids like no other. The kids were very nice, they called all the adults uncle (o tio [chee-oo]in portuguese) and auntie (tia [chee-a] in portuguese). The experience was great because we gotten to see the kids smile and play. Later that day, we (Chelsea, Norair, and I) went to the Independence Park of Brazil and gotten to enjoy the landscape and take fun pictures. The day was great and I really thank god for this experience and having me to get one step further within my for being in Brazil: Understanding the culture to learn about the people through dedication, hardwork, and fun. Additionally, to do research and obtain data that will blow away anyone who sees my work along with praising the Lord!


Rafael the carioca and I


Blair and Rafael


Chelsea


Norair, I was impressed to know that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up!


The Kids are Dancing!

A quick summary and some pictures of what I have been doing

My first day was great!!!! I am so happy about this experience and I really enjoy my lab partners and the work we are trying to accomplish. In this lab we are working on the cell mitochondria, so the research is focused on the proteins within the cells. In one lab, my grad student makes cells that are to be tested for it's concentration under a spectrophotometer (more info on that process will be given later). In the other lab, fat is being separated from proteins and it's absorption is tested in order to find it's concentration for determine it's mitochondrial strength. This is what I have been doing so far, I cannot wait to work with animals!!!! Here are some sample pictures, if you want to see more, feel free to visit my facebook; you can find my profile by clicking the "altalho do facebook" section, which is on the right-hand side of the page above the section about me.











This is one of my lab rooms











This is the block where my lab is located.













This is where the fat goes after it is located.












In this photo, we are separating the fat from the proteins in order to measure a specific concentration used for the experiment.

I am so happy

First of all, I want to give thanks for all the people in my life that have helped me to get far, I love you all. Now, I want to give special recognition to the faculty at the University of Florida for accepting me to go to Brazil, I have gained so much confidence in my abilities and I know that I will get a Ph.D and make it very far in my life. It's been such a blessing on my life to have you all around and I really appreciate you all and hope that my work will shine some good light on a lot of people. It's been so hard, to get to where I am but God has blessed me with great people and I love you all for being that blessing. I want to thank my friend for helping me stay happy and helping me to keep my head together because a strong mind is a balanced mind. So far Brazil has been great, I visited the Ibauqueira Park in São Paulo, which is big and beautiful and also gotten to take pictures, play frisbee and walk around. We ate some pizza at a pizza buffet. Today, we went to the to the Pride parade, where I was bored out of my mind because we stood at one spot, and some of my other friends and I got to go to a Brazilian mall where I ate brazilian cuisine (pretty much soul food) and go grocery shopping, I had a blast and hope for more fun times, these times would bring great memories.