Rio de Janeiro!

by Giada De Laurentiis

  “Yes, thank you,” Alfie said as he peered in his bowl. The broth was a bright yellowish-orange color filled with huge pieces of shrimp and colorful chunks of red and green pepper and tomato. A sprig of cilantro on top was the finishing touch.

  Señor Costa set the remaining bowls on the table, and Doña Costa lifted her wineglass in the air. Alfie, Emilia, and Miguel brought their glasses of fruit juice up to meet hers.

  “To new friends and the most successful Carnival yet,” Doña Costa said.

  “Cheers!” Señor Costa cried.

  “Cheers!” Alfie, Emilia, and Miguel added.

  “Now, please eat!” said Señor Costa. “But save room for dessert.”

  Alfie glanced at the clock hanging next to the refrigerator before taking his first bite. It was after nine thirty. And he’d hardly noticed how late it was this time—he was getting used to eating this late! Alfie lifted his spoon and the rich coconut broth coated his mouth with a sweet flavor. The shrimp were tender and juicy and made a nice contrast with the slightly crispy peppers and acidic tomato flavor. Before Zia had sent them on all their eating adventures, Alfie might have thought shrimp stew sounded gross. But now he was always willing to try new foods, and he was never disappointed!

  “Another wonderful meal,” Emilia said.

  Alfie stared into his nearly empty bowl. “I could eat like this every day!”

  Everybody laughed.

  “And don’t forget, there’s dessert,” Señor Costa said, getting up from the table.

  Miguel’s dad brought out a round yellow dessert. It looked a little bit like lemon Jell-O. He set five small plates on the table.

  “Yum, you made quindim!” Miguel said. “Have you guys ever had flan?” he asked Alfie and Emilia.

  They shook their heads. “I don’t think so,” Emilia said.

  “Well, flan is a baked custard dessert, kind of like a firm pudding. And quindim is like a coconut flan.”

  It took just one bite of the quindim, and Alfie and Emilia were hooked. “I love the shredded coconut on the bottom,” Emilia said, taking another big bite. “We should have Zia make this and the brigadeiros,” she said to Alfie.

  “Hey, wait a minute!” Miguel said. “Isn’t it your birthday, Emilia?”

  Emilia set down her spoon and smiled. “It is!” she said.

  “Happy birthday!” Doña Costa cried. “How nice of your parents to share you with us on your special day!”

  Emilia nodded. “We talked to them before the parade. We have a big celebration planned for when we get home. And we couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my birthday!”

  “Great!” Doña Costa said. “Now I think we should find a candle for this quindim so we can sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and you can make a wish!” She stood up from the table and searched a couple of kitchen drawers. “Here we go!”

  Miguel’s dad set the quindim in front of Emilia, and his mom added a candle. She lit the candle and they sang “Happy Birthday.” Then Emilia closed her eyes and smiled before blowing it out and making her wish.

  • • •

  As Alfie and Emilia got ready for bed that night, they laughed about Emilia getting to celebrate her birthday twice.

  “I wonder when we’ll be going back home,” Emilia said as she climbed into bed.

  “I don’t know,” Alfie said. “Maybe we have more food to try first!”

  “I really love it here,” Emilia continued. “This is a place we have to come back to. We should convince Mom, Dad, and Zia to bring us back for Carnival next year!”

  “Totally!” Alfie agreed.

  “You know what else?” Emilia said. “I think I want to start a journal.”

  “A journal?”

  “Yeah, to record all of these amazing adventures we’ve had. I don’t want to forget a single thing—like how it felt to dance in that parade tonight!”

  Alfie nodded. “That could be cool. We’ve definitely had some pretty fun adventures.” He got in bed and turned off the bedside lamp. As he lay in the dark, he thought about their time in Rio so far. They were having a great time and he wasn’t necessarily ready for it to end, but he couldn’t help but wonder how much longer they’d be in Rio.

  Alfie woke up in the morning with a start. He’d been having a weird dream. He was down at the beach playing soccer in the sand and a woman in a butterfly costume kept running into the middle of the game, crying and shouting. But as Alfie wiped the sleep from his eyes, he realized he really did hear some sort of commotion. He looked over at Emilia and saw that she was awake and heard it, too.

  “What’s going on?” Alfie asked his sister.

  Emilia sat up and shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe we should get dressed and go see.”

  When Alfie and Emilia appeared in the living room, Doña Costa was pacing the rug while Miguel and Señor Costa sat on the couch, looking unsure of what to do.

  “Good morning,” Miguel said, getting up and coming over to them.

  “Is everything okay?” Emilia asked quietly.

  Miguel shook his head. “Three of my mother’s top performers have dropped out of the parade. And it’s tonight! There’s no time to find replacements.”

  “What happened?” Alfie asked.

  “Two of them caught some sort of stomach bug, and the other one broke his ankle dancing during a street party.”

  “Oh no!” Emilia said, covering her mouth. “How awful.”

  “My mother doesn’t know what to do. They were all going to be on the first float of the procession.”

  “Can you bring any of your second-tier people up to the float?” Señor Costa asked gently.

  “No!” Doña Costa cried, throwing her hands in the air. “They’re too big. This float’s spaces are very small, and Luiza, Daniel, and Pedro were a perfect fit.”

  Doña Costa sank into a chair.

  “Maybe we should go,” Alfie said.

  “Yeah,” Emilia agreed. “We can get our things and head back to our parents’ hotel.”

  Alfie and Emilia turned to leave the room when Miguel shouted, “Wait! I have an idea!”

  Miguel rushed over to Doña Costa’s chair. “Let me, Alfie, and Emilia do it.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Let us replace your performers. We’re small—we can fit on the float.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Señor Costa said.

  “But you’d have to learn our song. And the routine is totally different,” Doña Costa said. “You would have to practice all day. The parade is tonight!”

  “I already know the song and the routine by heart—word for word and step for step,” Miguel said confidently. And Alfie knew he was right. He’d seen how hard Miguel concentrated when they visited Doña Costa’s rehearsal earlier that week.

  “We can do it!” Alfie jumped in.

  Emilia gave Alfie an uncertain look.

  “I know we can do it,” Alfie told her. “We just have to work hard today and give it everything we’ve got.” Alfie wanted one more chance to prove how committed he was. “And besides, we need some way to thank you for making our stay in Rio so great!”

  Miguel took his mom’s hand. “You heard Alfie, Mom. We’ve got this!”

  Doña Costa stood up. “All right! I trust you and I know you’ll do a great job—especially after seeing you in the children’s parade last night.”

  “We will,” Alfie said. “I promise.”

  Doña Costa bustled around the room grabbing bags, folders, and props. “Let me get down to the rehearsal hall and start making arrangements. You kids eat a quick breakfast and meet me there. We’ve got a lot of work to do!”

  Señor Costa hurried into the kitchen and served up bowls of yogurt blended with açaí and bananas and topped with granola. They ate quickly and Alfie led the way out of the apartment
and to the rehearsal space. He couldn’t wait to get to practice!

  Alfie, Emilia, and Miguel practiced the entire afternoon. They barely took a single break except to have Daniel’s, Pedro’s, and Luiza’s costumes fitted for them.

  Emilia twirled in a circle, looking in the mirror at her dazzling butterfly outfit. It was even bolder and more elaborate than her costume for the children’s parade, with extra swirls of color hand-painted onto the fabric. “I love it!” she cried.

  Alfie’s and Miguel’s bird costumes were also more detailed. “Look at all these feathers!” Alfie marveled.

  The other float performers rallied around their new teammates and showed them how they needed to stand, dance, drum, and move on the float. Once they had the routine down, they practiced keeping their footing on a moving platform since the float would be making its way down the parade route as they performed!

  “The key is to not think too hard about the fact that you’re moving,” one performer told them as they wobbled on the platform. “Just keep your focus out in front of you and on your rhythm.”

  After that, they practiced their specific parts until they knew them by heart—Alfie’s and Miguel’s different percussion parts and Emilia’s special butterfly dance.

  Alfie listened to the Borboleta theme song over and over, letting the heavy beat sink into his brain. For a while he just tapped his drumsticks against his leg, but soon he was ready to practice with his drum and add the steps to it as well. Miguel watched Alfie run through the song one final time. He clapped and cheered as Alfie performed without missing a beat.

  “I think you’re ready,” Miguel told him. And Alfie had to agree.

  If Alfie felt nervous before the children’s parade, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. He could hardly keep still as the costume designer put a few finishing touches on his costume to make it stand out even more. After all, the children’s parade had been just for fun. But this—this was a fierce competition, and he didn’t want to let down Miguel and his family.

  “The parade lasts for over an hour,” Miguel told Alfie and Emilia as they took their places on the float. “So just try to keep your energy up the entire time. We want the people at the end of the parade route to feel like they’re getting as big of a show as the people at the beginning.”

  Alfie nodded, taking deep breaths to try to slow his heart. He was beginning to think that the rhythm of his heart was the same as Borboleta’s samba song! Alfie stole a quick glance at Emilia, who was on a small platform above where he stood. If she was nervous, he definitely couldn’t tell. She smiled and spread her butterfly wings as wide as they would go. It was hard for Alfie to believe that back home Emilia could sometimes be shy. She was a lot more confident now, thanks to all their adventures.

  The float they were on was amazing. Several drummers stood on platforms that looked like flowers. In the middle was a taller platform that looked like a beautiful tropical plant. And on that platform stood Emilia! Alfie knew she was excited—especially since she was also in charge of raining glitter down over the float as she danced.

  “Okay,” Miguel said. “It’s time!”

  Just then, an explosion of fireworks burst over their heads. Bright sparks in a million colors lit up the night sky and the lead drummers pounded out the beginning beat. The float started to move and they were on their way.

  Alfie picked up the beat at the exact right moment and shuffled his feet in rhythm on the tiny platform of the float. He took one more deep breath and smiled. He knew he had worked hard that day. And now, with each new beat, he began to feel confident, too.

  Alfie looked out at the masses of people lining the stands of the Sambadrome. People cheered and whistled, waved flags representing the different samba schools, and danced in place. He glanced at Miguel and watched his strong and steady drumming. Miguel nodded his head and smiled. Alfie smiled back and drummed even harder. He was proud to be part of such a big, important festival for the Costas and for Rio.

  Alfie thought it would feel like the parade lasted a long time, but it didn’t. It was over before he knew it. He was able to turn and watch Emilia dance a few times, and he could tell she was just as surprised when their float reached the end of the Sambadrome and turned off to the side. As soon as the float stopped, Miguel, Alfie, and Emilia jumped down and hugged each other. They jumped in an excited circle, knowing they’d given a great performance. Then they hopped back up onto the edge of the float and watched the rest of the Borboleta samba school make their way to the end. Everybody looked amazing. Their costumes dazzled, their music was strong, and their dance steps were perfect.

  Before long, Señor and Doña Costa found them in the celebratory crowd.

  “My baby!” Doña Costa cried. “You were magnificent!”

  Miguel smiled from ear to ear. Alfie knew how much it meant to him to make his mother proud.

  “You are going to make the best Carnival designer Rio de Janeiro has ever seen!” Doña Costa gushed. “And you two,” she continued, looking at Alfie and Emilia with tears in her eyes. “You did such a wonderful job. Emilia, you were like a dream up there. And Alfie, your beat and rhythm were perfect. I’m so proud of all three of you.”

  “Thank you!” Emilia said. “I think I was born to dance at Carnival!”

  Everybody laughed and Doña Costa said, “I think you’re right. You must come back and dance with my samba school again.”

  Miguel nudged Alfie with his elbow. “Nice job. I watched you a bunch and you were great!”

  Alfie grinned. He hadn’t messed up once, and it felt amazing. He’d had a great time in the parade, but all he could think about now was getting home to practice for his drum solo in the spring concert. He couldn’t wait to make his parents as proud as Señor and Doña Costa were of Miguel.

  By the time they’d finished watching the rest of the samba-school parades, it was practically the middle of the night! It reminded Alfie of when they stayed up for the New Year’s festivities in Hong Kong, but it was even later this time and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. Once it was finally time to announce the judges’ decision, though, Alfie felt wide awake again—and ready to hear how Borboleta had performed.

  The head judge began to announce how each samba school had placed. He started with twelfth place and made his way up the list. He announced tenth, and then ninth, and eighth. Alfie knew that Doña Costa’s school had come in tenth last year, so he wasn’t sure how many places they might move up this year. The list continued and Emilia clenched Alfie’s arm as the judge read out seventh, sixth, and fifth place.

  “And Borboleta is our fourth-place samba school this year!” the judge finally shouted. All of Borboleta’s fans and performers erupted into cheers and shouting. Alfie and Emilia danced in place while Miguel swung his mother into the air in a tight hug. Tears streamed down Doña Costa’s face as she took the fourth-place spot on the stage next to the other Carnival designers.

  The judge finished announcing the top three schools, and the stands exploded into a new round of celebration. Once things finally started to die down and Doña Costa worked her way through the sea of Carnival revelers and back over to her family, Miguel explained the announcement to Alfie and Emilia. “Now Borboleta gets to perform in the Champion’s Parade next week!”

  “I wish we could dance in that parade, too!” Emilia said.

  “I wish you could, too, darling,” Doña Costa replied. “I can’t thank you and Alfie enough for coming to the rescue. You and Miguel saved our parade!”

  “I’m just so happy we could help,” Alfie said, feeling very proud.

  “And now it’s time to celebrate!” Señor Costa shouted. “What do you say, kids—do you have a little bit of energy left in you?”

  Alfie still felt tired and part of him was pretty ready to go home at this point, but the announcement of Doña Costa’s samba school making it to fo
urth place had definitely reenergized him. Not to mention that he’d just realized how hungry he was! “Let’s go!” he said.

  The family made their way to Señor Costa’s restaurant. The entire dining room was decorated in Borboleta’s colors of green and white, and the samba school’s theme song played out over the speakers. Señor Costa and the other chefs had prepared a smorgasbord of tasty Brazilian foods for the family and their friends. Alfie loaded up a plate with skewers of Brazilian-style grilled beef and chicken, crispy yucca fries, a couple of different salads, and an interesting snack called Romeo and Juliet. It was a hunk of sweet guava paste sandwiched between two slices of firm, mellow white cheese.

  “It’s like a little sweet-and-salty sandwich,” Emilia said after taking a bite.

  There was a passion fruit mousse for dessert, as well as several different flavors of brigadeiros. Emilia couldn’t get enough of those, while Alfie couldn’t get enough of the yucca fries.

  Miguel found Alfie and Emilia in the crowd. “What do you think of the food?” he asked.

  “Delicious!” Alfie said with his mouth full of grilled beef.

  “I love this sauce,” Emilia said, pointing to the green chunky sauce that accompanied the skewers.

  “It’s called chimichurri sauce,” Miguel told her. “It’s actually from Argentina, but we like it, too, especially on steak!”

  “Argentina, huh?” Alfie said, looking at Emilia. “Maybe we should go there next!”

  Emilia laughed. “We’ll have to tell Zia.”

  “Is that your aunt?” Miguel asked.

  “She’s our great-aunt,” said Alfie. “She’s taken us to a lot of the places we’ve traveled.”

  “Well, you’ll have to bring her back here next year for Carnival. And we’ll have to meet your parents next time!”

  “Next time, for sure,” Emilia said, winking at Alfie.

  “You’ll probably be heading back to your parents’ hotel now that Carnival is over,” Miguel said.