Aahh! San Diego pupusas. And I mean San Diego, the Central American beach twenty-six klicks south of San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. ’Twas there I first ate that country’s national food, the pupusa, introduced ...

The Aztec drums echo through the barrio. Even at this distance, you can hear the dancers’ ankle rattles shaking with each foot stomp. Chicano Park on this Monday night tells you better than anywhere else ...

“We’re eating British tonight, alright?” says Annie in that voice of hers. It’s been a hard day. We’ve been working together. Both beat. She’s my friend. You’d think she was my wife. But hey, she’s ...

Alpine's Secret Valley Here we could raise animals and grow a garden, learn the old arts of canning, butchering, milking, and cheese-making. The '70s provided this back-earth movement, and our few neighbors, like my family, ...

“Och, dreich. Ye coulda picked a better night, sailor,” says Annie. “It’s chucking it down.” Annie’s my Scottish friend. She’s right about the rain. Says it takes her back to “Caledonia.” That’s the old name ...

I came for yak, the classic mountain meat from the Himalayas. I ended up with tikka masala, the classic Indian dish from, uh, Scotland? But I’m getting ahead of myself. It was the yak that ...

“Let me get this right,” I say to this fellow Jeff. “You’re offering me a shot of whiskey and a can of beer for $6. Six bucks?” “Yes, sir, that’s it,” says Jeff. He’s the ...

Apostolic Prayer Temple, house of exaltation I came here, to the Apostolic Prayer Temple, a storefront in between a nightclub and a fish market in Encanto, to see the Rev. Tom Shaw in the Gospel ...

“How to find the Salk Cafe?” replies this kindly professor type to my query. “And you’re walking? Ha! Head west on Gilman Drive. Turn right onto Mandeville Lane. Turn right onto Muir Lane. Turn left ...