By Charles Cecil I remember the first time I ever entered a mosque. It was in the early 1960s. Columns decorated with colorful tiles depicting floral designs supported arches bordered with bands of floral decoration. I was transfixed by the sight as my shoeless feet sunk gently into a plush carpet covered with geometric patterns.…
San Miguel de Allende lies in the Eastern part of Mexico’s State of Guanajuato, about a three-hour journey from Mexico City. It’s a cobblestoned colonial town with pastel-colored buildings that has changed a lot over the past century yet remained remarkably the same. The city’s main square, or Jardin Principal, is canopied by trees. It’s a popular local hangout where Mariachi bands roam about awaiting paying customers. On the Northern corner stands the majestic Catholic church, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel.
By Teresa Bergen Jason Spoolstra stands with his back to a mural of Jesus welcoming Stanley Rother into heaven. He is introducing a tour group to more than 20 martyrs depicted on the mural. “We’re going to start on the right,” says Spoolstra, the Rother shrine’s director of pilgrimage. “The gentleman closest to Jesus, he’s…
By Teresa Bergen As I enter the Terror Ship, the captain tells me that he and his crew have been marooned here for fifty years and all of them have a terrible virus. I can just make out in the near darkness that something is very wrong with his face. Indeed, a closer look reveals…
By Tom Adkinson As I navigated the International African American Museum’s intellectually challenging artifacts and displays, a scene that lasted only a few moments captivated me. A Black man, perhaps in his 60s, stood at a floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out on Charleston Harbor. He was watching a hulking cargo ship approach, carrying who knows…
By Richard Varr Boiling water shoots through a glass flask and into an upper chamber that resembles a flask you might see in a chemistry lab. The water mixes with crushed Colombia coffee beans and begins to percolate. The complex beverage that soon will emerge represents coffee’s “fourth wave” movement. “We are brewing an amazing…
Southern California is renowned for picturesque beaches, iconic theme parks, Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and vibrant cultural scene. But visitors who travel from Los Angeles south toward Orange County will discover a rich tapestry of diverse Asian communities. America’s Asian population is growing both in numbers and spending power. A 2019 Pew Research Center study…
By John Gottberg Anderson A colossal figure in alabaster rising majestically from a hilltop outside Danang stares regally across an armada of fishing boats into the vastness of the South China Sea. She is Quan Âm, whom the Vietnamese call “the Lady Buddha.” In the mother temple of the Cao Đài religion near Tây…
In April 1904, Chinese Prince Pu Lun, the 32-year-old heir apparent to the throne of the Manchu Empire, sailed to the United States, the first member of the Qing Dynasty ever to cross the Pacific. He was a “Kodak fiend” fascinated by everything he saw and Americans readily embraced him. En route to the St. Louis World’s Fair, where he would serve as China’s Imperial Commissioner, he attended a banquet where the host provided a dish he hoped would remind the young prince of home. Pu Lun looked at the platter curiously and asked his host what it was. “Why, that’s chop suey, Prince,” said the American. Eager to discover something new and foreign, Pu Lun smiled at this revelation, nodded his head slowly, and asked, “What is…chop suey?”
By Byron Kennerly No joke, I’m embarking on a quest to perform an improv comedy show in every country in the world. First stop, Japan. Improv is a chaotic, spur-of-the-moment comedy form that relies on the audience yelling out suggestions. Japan is harmonious, well-planned, and exceedingly polite. What could go wrong? Show 1: Tokyo,…