Feliz Natal!

Feliz Natal (Merry Christmas) to all!

It seems odd to be uttering the phrase as I sit here in 88 degree weather (with lows around 77), but as our lab Christmas party today reminded me, it is indeed nearly Christmas. I wanted to wish all of my friends and family back in the US a Merry Christmas in this season of remembering Christ's birth.

This week has been quite busy as I finished up some lab work on Monday and Tuesday, also celebrating my 25th birthday on Tuesday with dinner at a Mexican restaurant with friends. Tonight I'll be packing because tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) I will fly out of Fortaleza on a flight to São Paulo, where I'll board a flight at some time around midnight bound for Washington D.C. I'll be spending the next two weeks in the US while our lab is closed for Christmas, spending time with family and also spending some time back in Charlottesville planning for my fourth year of medical school and getting some supplies together for my research projects in the second half of the year.

Again, I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, and hope to see some of you all while I am visiting the US!