THINKING GLOBALLY; CONTENDING LOCALLY

June 15, 2010 By Kamala Lopez

Sitting on the murky floor at the Belvedere Park front office in East L.A., tethered to the one outlet I can find through which to charge my overworked iPhone, I wonder to myself "What the hell am I doing here??"

The girls are late. Again. I lean up against the Out-of-Order Pepsi machine and call them. Again. The girl I am chauffeuring is secretly pleased the other ones seem to be flaking -- she's dying to get out of there -- after all it is a Friday night, she graduates high school in less than a week and she has major adolescent intrigue to chase. Interviewing someone's uncle, the soccer player, is just not as immediately appealing. When I call yet again, the robotic voicemail voice doesn't even bely whether I have been given the right number. In the end two of the girls -- the ones with the camera equipment -- never show up." READ MORE