Mystery Solved

A couple nights ago Kim and I were sitting in our room reading, when suddenly we heard a bunch of screams coming from outside. It sounded like half the neighborhood was about to start a riot or something. Then we heard several loud bangs. The screaming continued for a minute or two, but pretty soon everything was quiet again.

About 20 minutes later the exact same thing happened: lots of screaming and several loud bangs. The screams didn’t sound particularly threatening, and the bangs didn’t sound like gunfire, but still—it was a little unsettling.

A few minutes later we got sick of reading and decided to turn on the TV. We couldn’t find anything to watch, so we settled on a soccer game. The game was almost over, and São Paulo was winning 2–0.

Mystery solved. What better way to celebrate a goal than to yell at the top of your lungs and light off firecrackers?

A day at the office

I’ve been keeping busy. My employer, Read Naturally, has been kind enough to let me continue working while I’m in Brazil. Most days I just work at the kitchen table, but on Tuesday I spent part of the day sitting by our comedically tiny swimming pool. Not that I have anything against my cubicle in Minnesota, but the swimming pool is a little more inspiring.

Kim started classes this week, so she has been busy too—and she’s already involved in an extracurricular activity! Apparently her school is notoriously bad at sports, so the director of her program encouraged all the exchange students to get involved. Kim took them up on their offer and joined the volleyball team. Communication with her teammates is a little difficult, but she’s super-excited to be playing.