PART 2 · LESSON 16 OF 30 · 33 MINUTES

Forty, Seven of Them in Brazil

Thursday the tenth of July, twenty thirty-one, Daniel's fortieth birthday, in the office by the river, the first birthday in seven years that finds him away from home. The team's surprise at ten, a rolled cake, the thinnest in Brazil, Edson's toast and the team's card. At noon, an email from the South, Gilmar accepts the middle ground on one condition, that Daniel signs in person, at his table, on the twenty-fifth, a Friday. At eight, three video calls, Chicago, where his father has practised the longest sentence of his life, Belo Horizonte, where his mother-in-law answers before he finishes, and his own kitchen, where his wife turns the signing into a weekend for two. Say "forty years old, seven of them in Brazil", "may forty more come, you hear?", "I write to confirm acceptance of the proposal, as proposed", "the signing in person, at my table", "I still remember the day you were born", "take my daughter, I'll stay with Alice" and "a weekend for two".

Audio instruction: English