A boy came home from school looking miserable. He dropped his backpack by the door and sat at the kitchen table with a long face.

His mother noticed immediately. “What happened?”

“I got a zero on my geography exam,” he said.

“A zero?” she asked, shocked. “Why?”

“The teacher asked me a question about Portugal, and I didn’t know the answer.”

His mother frowned. “What was the question?”

The boy sighed. “She asked, ‘Where is Portugal?’”

His mother slammed her hand on the table. “That teacher is ridiculous! Giving you a zero for something like that? I’m calling the principal.”

Then she paused and said, “But first, we’ll find Portugal ourselves.”

She pulled out a map of the state and spread it across the table. They searched carefully, but Portugal was nowhere to be found.

“Strange,” she muttered.

Then she found a map of the region. Still nothing.

Finally, she unfolded a large map of the city and checked every street, neighborhood, and corner.

After a long silence, she shook her head and said:

“I swear, Portugal can’t be far from here.”

The boy looked up. “Why?”

His mother replied:

“Because our maid is from Portugal, and she comes here to work every day on her bicycle.”