Hello and welcome once again to beautiful Rio De Janeiro, where the beaches are beautiful 24 hours a day! First up, the beans have somewhat of a family reunion with their black bean cousins at a local Pão de Açúcar (translation: "Sugar Loaf") grocery store in the Copacabana district. Black beans are the national dish of Brazil - "Feijoada Completa", its called. The modern feijoada completa is an elaborate version of a simple dish of beans flavored with meat. The sliced meats are displayed on a large platter, accompanied by the semi-liquid beans, rice, toasted farofa (manioc meal), sliced oranges, sliced onions, cooked collard greens, and a piquant hot-pepper sauce. (Stop it, you're making me hungry...) The beans are glad to hang out in such good company - true worldwide Ambassadors. Now, if some of these beans would like to come back to the States for a visit, I'm sure it can be arranged - for a price.

And of course, what goes better with beans than...banana pizza? Here, the frijoles stop off for a little snack at an outdoor cafe in the Copacabana district. Now, while banana pizza may seem a little unusual to some, washed down with a few of those cold beverages, I'm sure they tasted pretty good. The beans had a great time in Copacabana, and they even had a chance to dance with Lola the Showgirl...

The other exciting stop the beans made while in Rio was at a restaurant called "Porcao" (big pig), where they met up with Brazilian soccer champ Ronaldo ("Ronaldinho", affectionately to Brazilians). Ronaldo was one of international soccer's biggest stars of the 1990s and Brazil's biggest soccer hero since Pele. He was named FIFA's World Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1997, becoming both the youngest player to win the award and the only player to win the award in consecutive years. He also starred in the 1998 World Cup, scoring four goals in leading Brazil to the Cup finals, and leading Brazil to the World Cup championship in 2002. He won the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer (with 8 goals) and scored both goals in Brazil's 2-0 final game win over Germany. Plus, Ronaldo is a pretty nice guy -- he gave all of his World Cup winnings to charity, including part to a children's cancer hospital and part to a foundation set up by his soccer mates for poor boys who show promise in the game. So, as you can tell, Ronaldo is cool beyond words, and it's with great honor that we sincerely thank him for posing with our humbled beans. Now, if he could score the beans some killer seats for the 2006 World Cup, we'd be eternally grateful...