Making memelas: keeping traditions while forging a new path in a new country

In the year 2000, according to the California Department of Finance, 217,576 immigrants were admitted as legal residents.  Maricruz Cabrera's family is part of that number.Like many families that immigrated from Mexico, the Cabreras looked for jobs in agriculture -- every family member over 16 has worked as a grape picker.  There are Mexican traditions to keep, says Maricruz.  The women make memelas, fried sope, made with corn masa, and pinched at the borders to be filled with sour cream, queso fresco, and salsa. But the younger generation is encouraged to go to school,  a way out of the hard physical labor of fieldwork, and a peek into the elusive American Dream.Read the story at Coachella Unincorporated.