Brazilian Portuguese

Ten years to the day after he came back to stay, Daniel tells Bia he wants to become Brazilian.

Bia opens the Federal Police website and reads Daniel the list of documents, which starts in a box in Chicago.

The birth certificate arrives from Chicago and goes to a sworn translator in the centre of Rio, who charges by the page and has a view on names.

Daniel calls the United States Consulate for his FBI record and discovers that the Brazilian police will take his fingerprints for the American police.

The notary's office, a ticket with a number, a clerk who has seen everything, and three copies that need to be certified.

Alice runs Daniel's first exam-prep session at the kitchen table, with a list, a timer and no mercy, and Bia reports it.

The oral part of the Portuguese exam, with an examiner who prefers the way people actually talk.

The interview at the Federal Police, where an officer checks the file, takes ten fingerprints and asks one question that isn't on the form.

Day a hundred and twenty of a hundred and eighty, and the cafe has two theories about what under review means.

Grandma Nena calls from the farm in Minas Gerais, turning ninety in October and wanting everyone there, and she has heard about the papers.

Three hours on the road to the farm, a sleeping child with a calendar, and the sign that says the cheese bread starts here.

The farm in Minas, Grandma Nena at the gate, Bia's cousin Livia with the room keys, and a step nobody has fixed in twelve years.

Bia's cousin Caio gives Daniel a lesson in the Portuguese of Minas, where things are trains, people are so, and every surprise is uai.

On the porch, Grandma Nena opens the one album the rain didn't take and shows Daniel the day she arrived at the farm, with a suitcase and a hen.

Livia and Daniel order the birthday cake at the bakery in town, three tiers, dulce de leche, and ninety real candles.

The morning of the party, Grandma Nena directs the farm from the porch, and insists on cooking the chicken herself.

The cake under the mango tree, ninety candles, and a speech of two minutes from the family's official speech-maker.

After the party, neither Daniel nor Grandma Nena can sleep, and on the porch she gives him two pieces of advice, one for the file and one for Chicago.

The morning after the party, Daniel's phone won't stop ringing, and the email from the Federal Police is one word long.

Leaving the farm, Grandma Nena gives Daniel the only photograph the rain left, and tells him when to come back.

Seu Jorge, the first person who ever gave Daniel directions in Rio, has news at the door.

The building calls a residents' meeting about Seu Jorge's farewell, and the manager, Seu Osmar, wants it done by the book.

Daniel brings Seu Jorge a coffee from the cafe and asks for one story out of thirty-two years, and gets the night Alice was born.

Seu Jorge trains his replacement, Wesley, on his first day, and the test is the question Daniel asked ten years ago.

Seu Jorge's last day, a party in the hall, a plaque on the door, and a six-year-old's goodbye.

The naturalisation ceremony at the Federal Police, with an officer who reads the oath and a family in the front row.

Three weeks a Brazilian, Daniel goes for his voter's card, and gives his fingerprints to a third institution.

Dinner at the cafe, and Rafael wants to know what changed when Daniel became a citizen.

Kevin calls from Chicago with news of his own, and Daniel decides how he will be met at the airport.

Six in the morning at the airport, a sign with three r's, and the first sentence of the course said to someone else.