Laos and Portugal in Basque Country (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Bakersfield, Calif. -- AT 10 minutes before noon on a Sunday it\'s a cattle call at the hotel-restaurant Noriega\'s here, with dozens of people crowded around the bar, drinking beer and greeting familiar faces. Red-faced cowboys mix with doughy city dwellers and families passing around babies, all surrounded by paintings of Basque men playing cards or handball.