American Mosaic | Vegas Seven | March 9-15, 2017

FREE March 9–15, 2017 « A SEARCH FOR GLOBAL GRUB / HOW TO JET–SET ON A BUDGET / BILL MAHER TALKS POLITICAL CLIMATE »

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ON THE COVER

Read Vegas Seven right-side up and then flip it over and start again with (7) SEVEN NIGHTS, featuring after-dark entertainment and the week’s nightlife happenings.

AMERICAN MOSAIC Illustration BEN WARD

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Original Concept JESSIE O’BRIEN

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARCH 9-15, 2017 TO DO

SPACES & PLACES

11 24/7

35 Cuba Rising

What to do around the clock in Las Vegas.

Seeing Havana through a Las Vegas photographer’s lens.

BY SHANNON MILLER

BY ERIK KABIK

12 Getting Real With Bill Maher

The TV host and comedian dishes on today’s political climate.

BY GENEVIE DURANO

FEATURE

CONVERSATIONS

39 Without Certainty

One refugee’s journey from Iran to Las Vegas.

BY JESSIE O’BRIEN

40 Ask a Native

16 Many Nations,

A reading list for newcomers.

One Home

BY JAMES P. REZA

The immigrants who make up Las Vegas.

42 Lucky No. 7

BY ZONEIL MAHARAJ

Our most exotic food choices.

A street in Havana, photograph by Erik Kabik

BY WENDOH STAFF

24 Upholding Heritage

Three cultural clubs reach to their roots.

ON THE FLIP SIDE

BY KRISTEN PETERSON

Seven Nights What to do after dark.

TASTE

27 Worldly Tastes

Speaking the universal language of food locally.

BY MARISA FINETTI

BY KIMBERLY DE LA CRUZ

Wet Turns 10 Remembering Wet Republic’s finest hours.

In Case You Missed It 2017 Top Docs party recap.

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

31 ¡Ay Dios Mío!

An import tax won’t be the only thing paying for the wall.

BY JESSIE O’BRIEN

32 Travel on the Cheap

Save money and see more in these international cities.

BY JASON R. LATHAM

33 ERA 2.0

One Mother of a Muse Teresa Suárez of Le Butcherettes traces a source of inspiration.

BY JESSIE O’BRIEN PLUS: Seven more bands to hear at Neon Reverb.

OUR SITES TO SEE

VegasSeven.com Meet the Artists of Level Up It took a village to complete the canvases at MGM Grand’s new gaming lounge. Get to know the faces behind the walls at vegasseven.com/levelup.

DTLV.com Le Thai II Le Thai partners Dan Coughlin, Shauna Dong and Puoy Premsrirut are largely responsible for raising the bar on the Downtown food scene. Now, they’re ready to expand to a second location.

Read about what’s in store for the new Le Thai on DTLV.com.

Nevada’s revival of the Equal Rights Amendment.

RunRebs.com

BY MICHAEL GREEN

Troy Baxter Against Fresno State It was another ugly loss, but Troy Baxter flashed potential that could make UNLV better in the future. Tyler Bischoff breaks down his performance at runrebs.com.

PLUS: Breaking down Sin City’s international tourists.

SpyOnVegas.com The Hookup Find upcoming events, see highlights from the hottest parties, meet the DJs and more.

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JOHN FOGERTY, American music legend and former Creedence

Clearwater Revival frontman, will call drivers to start their engines for the 267-lap Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, March 12. Stepping away from Fortunate Son in Concert, his engagement in March and May at Encore Theater, Fogerty will make his appearance on the third and final day of NASCAR Weekend. March 10–12, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, lvms.com

President Michael Skenandore Chief Financial Officer Sim Salzman Vice President, Marketing and Events Keith White Creative Director Sherwin Yumul Graphic Designer Javon Isaac Technical Director Herbert Akinyele Controller Jane Weigel

Letters and Story Ideas Comments@VegasSeven.com Advertising Sales@VegasSeven.com Distribution Distribution@VegasSeven.com

VEGAS SEVEN 701 Bridger Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101 702-798-7000 Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada. Š 2017 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

JOHN FOGERTY PHOTO BY DENISE TRUSCELLO/GETTY IMAGES FOR WYNN L AS VEGAS

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger

Publisher

Michael Skenandore Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Melinda Sheckells MANAGING EDITOR

Genevie Durano SENIOR EDITOR, LIFESTYLE

Jessi C. Acuña ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Mark Adams EDITOR AT LARGE

Lissa Townsend Rodgers EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Shannon Miller EDITORIAL INTERNS

Daphne-Jayne Corrales, Heather Peterson Senior Contributing Editor Xania Woodman (Beverage) Contributing Editors Michael Green (Politics), David G. Schwartz (Gaming/Hospitality) Art CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Benjamin Ward SENIOR DESIGNER

Cierra Pedro STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Krystal Ramirez VegasSeven.com DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT

Zoneil Maharaj EDITOR, DTLV.COM

Jessie O’Brien WEB EDITOR

Amber Sampson CONTRIBUTING WRITER, RUNREBS.COM

Tyler Bischoff Production/Distribution DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION

Marc Barrington ADVERTISING MANAGER

Jimmy Bearse Sales BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Christy Corda DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL SALES

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Brittany Quintana ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Robyn Weiss, Matt Iles DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION

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AMPLIFY

YOUR SUMMER!

200 S. 3rd Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 800.745.3000 Get your tickets now at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Box Office or ticketmaster.com.Â

TO DO

What to do around the clock in Las Vegas

By Shannon Miller

Valley of Fire photo by Paul Rosenberg

THURSDAY 9

FRIDAY 10

Get some insight into an infamous mobster from National Book Award winner Deirdre Bair, author of Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend, at an installment of The Mob Museum’s Wiseguy Speaker Series.

7 p.m., free for members or with museum admission ($10-$24), themobmuseum.org

If you’re not first, you’re last! PBR Rock Bar has NASCAR weekend covered with a watch party on its patio, featuring live music, comfort food and drink specials. Oh, and opportunities to ride the watering hole’s mechanical bull. Deals start at 8 a.m., inside Miracle Mile Shops, pbrrockbar.com

In the 2009 movie The Informant!, Matt Damon plays the Archer Daniels Midland executive responsible for uncovering the Fortune 500 company’s price-fixing scandal. Hear the real-life whistleblower, Dr. Mark Whitaker, talk about corporate ethics, greed and more at UNLV’s Sustainability Speaker Series. 2:30 p.m., Phillip J. Cohen Theatre at UNLV, unlv.edu

Nathan Adelson Hospice’s Flair for Care fashion show fundraiser lands at Wynn Las Vegas to showcase the designs of Yigal Azrouël. 10:30 a.m., $250, nah.org

Lobster ME gives you more reasons to love the deca-

dent crustacean with new menu items such as lobster knuckle sandwiches with brie, Gruyère, chives and Béchamel. Hours vary, inside Miracle Mile Shops and Grand Canal Shoppes, lobsterme.com Double Down Saloon hosts a screening of A Fat Wreck, a documentary about punk-rock record label Fat Wreck Chords, with free popcorn, tunes by DJ Fish and a live performance by The Sleights. 9 p.m., doubledownsaloon.com

The San Diego-based Queen Bee Market expands to our Valley, bringing over 60 vendors together at The Conference Center of Las Vegas. Peruse handcrafted items, from home decor and furniture to clothing and accessories, hand-picked by the market’s owners. Fri. 4 p.m.–9 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–4 p.m., $5, free for kids 12 and under and adults with military ID, 6590 Bermuda Rd., facebook.com/ thequeenbeemarket Experience a Chinese cultural performance featuring music, dance, acrobatics and more during Shen Yun at The Smith Center. 7:30 p.m., $70–$200, thesmithcenter.com SATURDAY 11

The Neon Museum hosts Aladdin’s March Magic, a program for preschoolers to third graders. The Neon Boneyard Genie will give a dramatic reading of

the traditional Aladdin folktale, and kids will have a chance to draw their own magic carpet to “fly” around the Neon Boneyard in search of Aladdin’s lamp. 5 p.m., $5 for individual adult and child, 770 Las Vegas Blvd. N., neonmuseum.org Spring Mountain Ranch State Park’s Paint with a Ranger program teaches the basics of creating

outdoor landscapes in watercolor. All supplies are provided, but spots are limited. 10 a.m., $7-$9 park entry fee, reservations required (702-875-4141), parks.nv.gov Support kids battling life-threatening cancer at Walk for Wishes at Town Square Las Vegas. Individuals and teams of runners and walkers alike can raise money for Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada by registering for the 1-mile walk or 5K. 7 a.m., $20–$30, snv.wish.org When the classical/neo-soul/R&B fusion quartet Sons of Serendip performed on Season 9 of America’s Got Talent, they earned unanimous approval from the judges. See them in UNLV’s Performing Arts Series. 8 p.m., $20–$55, Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, unlv.edu SUNDAY 12

A 1-mile guided hike at Valley of Fire leads participants to a petrified log collection, giving insight into the area’s ecological and geological history. Keep your eyes peeled for spring wildflowers! 1:30 p.m., $8–10 vehicle entrance fee, Valley of Fire Visitor Center, parks.nv.gov

Ma rch 9 -15 , 2017 vegasseven.com

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TO DO

24/7

Chill out to the reggae sounds of Tribal Seeds and Raging Fyah at Brooklyn Bowl. 7:30 p.m., $25–$35, brooklynbowl.com/las-vegas Browse candles, soaps, jewelry and decorative goods made by some of the finest arts and crafts vendors in the Valley. Shop for gifts and support local artisans at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino during the Artisan Craft Festival. 10 a.m., artisancraftfestival.com Enjoy the blues of Walter Waiters at Champagne’s Cafe. Noon, 3557 S. Maryland Pkwy., champagnescafe.vegas

Allow Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys to entertain you at The Dive

Telling It Like It Is

Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, Matilda, is the story of how an extraordinary girl takes a stand against the tyrannical adults in her life and finds acceptance. The tale has been adapted to both film and Broadway—and you can catch the stage show, Matilda The Musical, at The Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall this week. 7:30 p.m., $29–$127, thesmithcenter.com

Getting Real with Bill Maher

Bar, with support from Wayne “The Train” Hancock and locals Will & the Hi-Rollers and The Rhyolite Sound.

9 p.m., $15–$20, facebook.com/divebarlv

MONDAY 13

Sugar Factory’s new, two-story

restaurant and confectionary shop just opened at Fashion Show. Check out the indoor/outdoor carousel bar, enjoy wraparound views of the Strip from the Chocolate Lounge and explore the sculpture garden. Hours vary, sugarfactory.com

The Bargain DJ Collective spins into the wee hours of the morning for your listening pleasure at the charmingly grungy Double Down Saloon.

10 p.m., doubledownsaloon.com TUESDAY 14

Delano Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Fashion Council have partnered on a mannequin art exhibit, with each figure hand-painted by local artists to portray their personal journeys.

Check them out before LVFC auctions them off in May. Delano Las Vegas, delanolasvegas.com

WEDNESDAY 15

A week ago, Cream launched its Sundae of Champions, complete with a crumbled cookie and brownie and scoops of ice cream, all topped with an ice cream sandwich, a cookie, whipped cream and sprinkles.

Hours vary, $13, 10271 S. Eastern Ave. Suite 115, 1980 Festival Plaza Dr., creamnation.com Seattle-based band Maszer is set to release a new LP this year. The psychedelic indie rockers bring their experimental sound Downtown at The Bunkhouse Saloon. 8 p.m., $5, bunkhousedowntown.com Billy and Emily England of Absinthe’s “Skates of Hell” act swoop into Gold Spike for the pop-up roller rink party, Down & Derby. The event provides free skates; you provide smooth moves while rocking some sweet disco attire.

10 p.m., sk8party.com/las-vegas Looking for more stuff to do in Las Vegas? Check out vegasseven.com/calendar.

Matilda The Musical

By Genevie Durano The news out of the White House comes at us so fast and furious these days it’s dizzying.

While it might be disconcerting to the general population, it’s a gold mine for news comedy hosts such as Bill Maher, whose Real Time With Bill Maher on HBO is now in its 15th season. Maher, who does not shy away from eviscerating bullshit punditry from both sides of the aisle, brings his stand-up act to Las Vegas several times a year. Vegas Seven caught up with him to talk about politics-induced anxiety and how to break out of our social-media bubbles.

There has been a measurable rise in anxiety since the election. How do you cope? We’re all very anxious because we’re in

such uncharted territory. Most of us, at least the people I talk to, are terribly worried, and most of the world is terribly worried about what [Donald Trump] is capable of doing, especially when he feels threatened. He doesn’t see reality, he doesn’t believe in facts, he’s a narcissist and an egomaniac—and that’s a terrible combination at this time. I’m at the point where I want to [build] a bomb shelter, and, in case they do impeach him, have it converted into a wine cellar.

One of the most striking things about this administration is the brazenness of not just the president, but those closest to him. Facts have been routinely contorted or dismissed.

When the king is crazy, all the courtiers around the king have to say what the crazy king says. If the crazy king says the Easter Bunny is real, everyone starts looking for eggs. That’s what’s going on now: Easter Bunny syndrome. When the president says that he saw 3 to 5 million people voting illegally, even though we know factually that’s ridiculous, he has people go out there and say he’s right. His press secretary, Sean Spicer, when he was questioned about the size of the inaugural crowd—not that that should even matter, but of course it does with Donald Trump, because he’s insane—eventually just threw up his hands and said [something like], “This is what the president believes.” In other words: “You’re on your own, folks. This is what the crazy king believes, so we’re all going to pretend it’s true.”

This is a very frightening, unprecedented place we’re in.

with that. They used to say, at Thanksgiving, stay away from religion and politics. But that’s the only thing that’s on people’s minds these days. It’s very hard to deal with. And we’ve seen [that] friendships have dissolved because of this. Marriages have dissolved. People don’t want to go home for the holidays. I understand all that. It’s very hard for me to wrap my brain around sharing the country with people who wanted such a vulgar person to be their president. It seems like this man—I’m not even talking about the politician, I’m talking about the man—violates everything that I learned in kindergarten. How can I share the country [with people] who believe in a man who lies, boasts, makes fun of people, insults veterans and the handicapped, pretends he goes to church when he doesn’t, [and] is a racist? If so much of the country wants this guy to be their leader, maybe the U.N. has to step in, or, I don’t know, the United Federation of Planets.

Bill Maher March 10–11, 10 p.m., $65–87, The Mirage, mirage.com. For more of our interview with Maher, log on to vegasseven.com/billmaher

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MATILDA PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

So much has been said about how we insulate ourselves in our own bubbles. Do you have any tips on how to talk to, say, relatives who may have a different point of view? Good luck

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ONE HOME The people who make Las Vegas

By Zoneil Maharaj Photography Krystal Ramirez

T

he bold, delectable flavors of Lotus of Siam are no secret. On any given night, the taxi line outside the Thai restaurant’s doors al-

most rivals McCarran International Airport’s. The lively restaurant brims with chatter, the hot-pot sizzle of tom yum soup,

clinking wineglasses and forks scraping up the last few grains of pineapple fried rice. Despite being hidden in the shadow of the Strip in a seemingly seedy location, Lotus boasts numerous accolades, from being listed on every city dining guide to chef-owner Saipin Chutima winning the coveted James Beard Award in 2011. It’s an unlikely success story, especially considering Chutima doesn’t even speak English and never took a formal cooking class. Born to a poor family, the 62-year-old restaurateur lived her life as a servant—cooking, cleaning and answering every beck and call of those she waited on until she finally gathered the courage to flee Thailand for a better life.

Thirty years and one of the most successful Las Vegas dining institutions later, that mission is well accomplished.

But as remarkable as her story is, Saipin is just one of more than 548,000 immigrants in Nevada, who’ve made similar sacrifices and faced untold challenges.

According to business coalition New American Economy, about one in five Nevadans is foreign-born. Unsurprisingly, that population has been an economic boon for the state, with immigrants possessing $10.3 billion in spending power in 2014. The American Immigration Council also reports that in 2010, more than 20 percent of Nevada business owners were foreign-born, comprising a net business income of $1.1 billion (which makes up 16.8 percent of all net business income in the state). “[Immigrants] help run this city,” says Bethany Khan, a spokesperson for Culinary Union 226, the largest immigrant organization in Nevada, which represents 57,000 members from 167 countries. “We work really hard. We just want the opportunity to provide for our families.”

As unique as the mob tales, world-class entertainers and neon lights that make up Las Vegas are these uncelebrated stories; those who’ve uprooted their lives to give their families better ones; those who’ve fled turmoil, crossed oceans and defied odds for happiness and freedom. While many visit Las Vegas casinos with the hope of hitting triple 7s on the slots, for many immigrants, just being here is the jackpot. Their names may have more syllables than Frank or Dean, but their impact is just as important.

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ASTRID SILVA

A Dreamer in a Nightmare Astrid Silva’s earliest memory is from when she was 4. She was going to see her father for the first time and was dressed for the grand occasion: a pouffy white dress with a purple sash and bow. He had sent over a Minnie Mouse T-shirt and acid-washed jean shorts for Astrid to wear, because that’s how Americans dressed, but her mother wanted her to look nice for her dad. Silva was afraid of getting her patent leather shoes muddy because her mother had always taught her to keep things tidy, but it was nearly impossible to do as she stood timidly on a riverbank.

Her mother picked her up and laid her down on a makeshift raft—a giant rubber inner tube with a piece of plywood on top. Someone across the river pulled a rope attached to it.

The 4-year-old thought she was on a water park ride. “I think about it now and I’m sure it was dangerous.

I’m sure it was scary,” Silva, now 29, reflects with a laugh. “I got off and I guess I was like, ‘Let’s do it again,’ because it was fun.” Her mother, however, was terrified. Had Silva known what she knows now, she would have been, too.

The truth was that Silva and her mother were crossing the Rio Grande and migrating to the U.S. illegally—something she didn’t learn until she was a teenager. She grew up American, went to a predominantly white school, dreamed of becoming an architect and was obsessed with norteño band Los Tigres del Norte’s socially aware ballads, which struck closer to home than Silva had realized at the time. “They talk about people dying in the desert and people not getting to see their kids grow up and leaving behind their parents.

I was like, ‘That’s so sad.’ I remember being 6 and 7 and I’d cry.”

Aside from cruel classmates teasing her about her lunch, she didn’t feel different from them. But she had a different type of boogeyman: la migra, who didn’t wait until dark to snatch up children and their families. “They knock on your door, and that was the big fear,” Silva says.

It wasn’t until Silva was almost 16 that her undocumented status hit her. She couldn’t get a driver’s license or a Nevada ID because she didn’t have a social security card. When she graduated from Advanced Technologies Academy and tried to apply

for UNLV, she panicked when she was asked to jot down her SSN. “I was like, ‘My dad has it.’ I left and didn’t come back.”

Her bright future was dimmed. “I withdrew from everybody because all my friends went off to UNLV. They joined sororities and fraternities and were driving. I couldn’t even go to the movie theater because I didn’t have an ID,” Silva says.

She eventually rose out of her slump, attending College of Southern Nevada (and, later, Nevada State College) where she got involved in politics.

After hearing Sen. Harry Reid at an immigration reform rally, Silva found a new purpose: helping others in the same plight as her. Silva began volunteering for Reid’s campaign, which pushed her into the national spotlight and got the attention of former President Barack Obama, whom she introduced during a 2014 Las Vegas visit. She even spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Following Donald Trump’s divisive joint session address on February 28, Silva was chosen to give a rebuttal on behalf of Democrats, which she delivered in Spanish.

“In this country, there is no space for discrimination, racial profiling or persecution,” she said during the televised speech.

Now, after working for a nonprofit for three years, she’s forming her own: DREAM Big Nevada, which provides guidance to others. It’s vital now more than ever, given the current administration’s stance toward immigration.

Silva’s own future is in question again. She remains in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a policy passed under the Obama administration that grants certain undocumented immigrants who grew up here a stay from deportation. “It could be taken away,” she says.

Now she’s back at square one, once again fearing “the knock.”

“I’m trying to make sure that people understand what their rights are,” Silva says. “The most important part for me is that I don’t want other people to go through what I went through.”

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WALLA DABBAGH Glowing From Within

Walla Dabbagh is so fair-skinned her friends call her “glow in the dark.”

Because of that and the fact that she doesn’t wear a hijab, many assume she’s a typical Caucasian. It’s almost like a cloak for the 28-year-old Syrian-American immigrant, freeing her from the ridicule that many Muslims in the United States have faced since 9/11.

“I’ve never experienced that because I don’t think I look like a typical Arab or Muslim,” she says.

Born in Al-Hasakah in the northeast corner of Syria, her parents came to the U.S. when she was 10 to give their three children a better education and future.

Dabbagh, the oldest, is currently working on her master’s in health care administration at UNLV, and she wants to pursue a Ph.D. after. “I followed the brown dream,” she jokes. “My brother’s in med school. I said I won’t be a doctor; I’ll just boss him around.”

In her 18 years in the U.S., she’s never been as perturbed about what’s happening in the country as she is now.

“I never grew up worried about Muslims. We never grew up thinking that Christians are not the same as us. It’s shocking to me that, now, stuff like that is brought up. You’d think that in 2017, we’d be more open-minded,” she says.

Regardless of the hysteria in the U.S., Dabbagh is hopeful that we’ll emerge a stronger, more united nation.

“I see more positivity coming out of this, like a few weeks ago when we had the protest at the airport [and saw] people uniting together,” she says.

“The majority of them were not Muslim. They were not Middle Eastern, they were not affected by the ban, but they were standing there defending their brothers and sisters.”

Dabbagh felt compelled to attend the gathering at McCarran International Airport in late January and let her voice be heard.

“Maybe it won’t change anything by being there, but at least I’m expressing my freedom of speech and the freedom of being a citizen, which is why my dad brought me to America.”

SAIPIN CHUTIMA No Risk, No Award

Foodies know Saipin Chutima for her Northern

they tried, Bill’s family couldn’t stop her from

ning menu that she has today, customers only

leaving. She saved her money for 10 years.

wanted the staples: pad thai and fried rice. It

In 1986, with little knowledge of the world

wasn’t until the family relocated to Las Vegas

outside of Chiang Mai, Saipin gathered the few

in 1999 to take over Lotus of Siam that people

belongings she owned and boarded her first

became more receptive to unfamiliar dishes.

airplane, flying more than 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean for a new start.

“If any other person were to do it, they would

You can check Lotus of Siam’s 4.7 Zagat rating—the dining guide’s highest-rated Thai restaurant in Las Vegas—its more than 3,500

Thai cuisine at Lotus of Siam. Few know the

not have gotten here on their own,” says Saip-

Yelp reviews or Saipin’s aforementioned James

odyssey she embarked on to put those spicy

in’s daughter Penny, who acts as her mother’s

Beard Foundation award for being the best

garlic prawns on your plate. Hers is a Cinderel-

translator and helps manage the restaurant.

chef in the Southwest in 2011 to see how the

la story of love and triumph.

“She doesn’t give up no matter what. All hell

rest played out for the Chutimas.

Born into poverty, Saipin worked as a maid and servant for a higher-class family in Chiang Mai since early adolescence. She and Bill Chutima, one of the boys she served, fell in love, but

was thrown at her, and she made it through.”

Getting here was only half of it. “Making it” was the other.

While it’s clear as glass noodles that Saipin

Even with all the success, Saipin remains humble and dedicated. She still comes to the restaurant every day. Each morning, she heads straight to the Buddha altar at the back of the restaurant

their relationship was forbidden. Bill left for the

has a gift for cooking, she never intended to

and prays. Then she makes many of the sauces

U.S. in 1976 to study and work. He planned to

open a restaurant. When Bill fell ill with kidney

for the dishes so they’re ready for the lunchtime

return home but saw the freedom and opportu-

stones and couldn’t work, Saipin took matters

rush. She rarely, if ever, takes a day off.

nity his new country offered, including starting

into her own hands once again, opening her

a family with Saipin, who was determined to

first restaurant in Northridge, California, in

join him, social classes be damned. Although

1990. Although she had the same award-win-

“She’s 62 and she’s still in the kitchen,” Penny says.

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VITAL GERMAINE Flying Free

If you’d bet against Vital Germaine as a child, you’d have had great odds.

He was sexually abused by his father. His mother was an alcoholic. At 7, he and his two brothers were placed in a group home.

“It was not as bad as Oliver Twist. We were allowed second helpings of porridge. It wasn’t much more glamorous than that,” says Germaine, who was born in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo and raised in London and Belgium.

“It was a very cold, sterile way to grow up. There were some very dysfunctional kids that lived there.

I witnessed teenage prostitution, attempted stabbings, a lot of verbal and physical violence.”

Despite the hurricane of hardships, Germaine, now a youthful 52, endured by keeping a positive mindset. “Regardless of what you encounter, regardless of what you’re going

through, whatever you’ve experienced, you have to dig deep and set the right attitude in order to overcome,” he says. “It’s easier said than done, but it can be done by anybody.”

Germaine is living proof. With a passion for theater and music, in 1991 he left Europe for New York City and the dream of dancing in Michael Jackson music videos. The King of Pop never came calling.

Instead, a friend tipped him off to an audition for some sort of circus that was looking for ethnic dancers with acrobatic experience.

“She couldn’t pronounce it; nobody could,” Germaine says of Cirque du Soleil. Unfamiliar with the production company, he thought, “A circus? Are you kidding me? I don’t want to clean up elephant dung and watch a midget be shot out of a cannon.”

He didn’t have anything to lose, either. During the audition, he was asked to perform weird, abstract movements. “‘Show me what a smiling seaweed is. How does the moon dance?’ Just some really absurd things.”

He nailed it but passed on the offer, certain it was a traditional circus. “I didn’t come to America to wear a red nose,” he thought. That same weekend, he witnessed his first Cirque production. “It literally was a spiritual revelation. It just made me

feel so much,” he says. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve just messed up the best opportunity ever.’”

Fortunately for Germaine, as he was about to return to Belgium defeated, he received another call from Cirque with an even better offer: a new show in Las Vegas called Mystère.

Germaine performed in Mystère for five years as an aerial acrobat, followed by a year with touring production Quidam before an injury halted his high-flying career at 37. Not one to wallow, he channeled his positivity again and now uses his story to motivate others. He’s written two memoirs—Flying Without a Net in 2014 and Flying Without a Net 2.0 last year—and gives speeches around the world.

Hearing Germaine speak is a shot of vitality. His words captivate and enrapture. His story pains and inspires. Overcoming the adversities he faced wasn’t easy, but it was a destiny he created for himself at an early age.

“Even as a child, I felt I had a sense of purpose,” he says. “As a child you always have a choice in the sense that you can get love and attention by being disruptive and dysfunctional, or you can get love and attention by becoming good at something and gaining respect. I think I made the better choice.”

card through the U.S. Diversity Immigrant

TSVETELINA STEFANOVA DIY Do-It-All

Someone needs to tell Tsvetelina Stefanova to slow down.

The 30-year-old Boulder City badass plays the keys and sings in indie-rock quintet Same Sex Mary, organizes concerts throughout the Valley via her Bad Moon Booking agency, serves as the entertainment director for Boulder City restaurant and bar The Dillinger and manages sponsorships for the Dam Short Film Festival. She also runs the social media accounts and assists with marketing for all of the above.

Despite obtaining a degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Northern Arizona University, Stefanova went a more bohemian route. “Now’s my time to try and be a rock star,” she told herself after college.

While she may not be selling out arenas, Las Vegas is a hell of a lot better because of her presence. But the Varna, Bulgaria, native’s contributions to the local arts community may not have happened if it wasn’t for sheer luck.

In 1995, Stefanova’s family won a green

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Visa program—a lottery system that provides permanent visas to applicants from countries with low immigration rates. Her mother applied and struck gold on her first try. Her father, a cab driver who moonlighted as a guitarist, knew another Bulgarian musician in Las Vegas, so they left their coastal town on the Black Sea for the desert when Stefanova was 8.

While her mother worked as a housekeeper and her dad continued to drive a cab, Stefanova got lost in music. A pianist since age 4, she auditioned for Las Vegas Academy on a whim and was accepted. There, she focused on piano, guitar and photography. That experience was a catalyst for her current creative pursuits.

On any given day, Stefanova’s juggling multiple gigs, but it doesn’t burn her out.

She still gets excited about booking shows and helping other indie artists. It’s a modest living and a meaningful gesture in a community that many claim is lacking culture. But Stefanova sees it everywhere.

“That’s one of the things I love about it,” she says. “People don’t think Vegas has much culture because of the Strip, but there are so many people who move here, and you get to experience all of it.” 7

TASTE

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UPHOLDING HERITAGE Three cultural clubs cling to their roots in Las VegaS

By Kristen Peterson Photography Krystal Ramirez

W

e celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Chinese New Year and St. Patrick’s Day. We devour gyros, sushi, plantains, arepas and tacos, Italian pastas and Polish sausages, even braving gelatinous lutefisk dinners. Thousands turn out for Greek and San Gennaro festivals, and millions seek their diverse heritage on ancestry.com.

And in Las Vegas, a town with a global workforce, cultural groups abound. Populations share the diverse traditions and heritages that make up America—Ethiopian, Korean, Honduran, Iranian, Albanian, Chinese, Greek and dozens more.

Sons of Norway: Vegas Viking Lodge

Discrimination toward Scandinavians in Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel Main Street almost word-for-word matches the hostility directed at minority groups today.

Founded in the 19th century to offer insurance to Norwegian immigrants who were otherwise denied it (similar to Chinese immigrants), the Sons of Norway still thrives. In Las Vegas, its presence comes in lutefisk dinners, annual holiday bazaars, festivals and a Viking ship popular in local parades.

They drink aquavit spirits, make lefse (a traditional flatbread), have a schol-

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arship fund, feature performers playing music from Norwegian composers and host meetings. The group famously brought a giant Swedish Dala horse to the Las Vegas opening of Scandinavian chain IKEA, humorously asserting that they stole it from the Swedes during a raid and are not about to give it back.

“The main reason we exist is to extol the virtue of Norway, preach the gospel,” says former Vegas Viking Lodge counselor Erik Pappa.

The Vegas Viking Lodge, celebrating 25 years, has 120 members and shares the Valley with the Henderson Sons of Norway chapter, Desert Troll Lodge.

Pappa, whose mother is from Norway (and is present in full Norwegian dress at events), says half of his family still lives there.

“It’s important to know where we came from,” Pappa says. “The lodge in Minneapolis is surrounded by so many Scandinavians. We get people who are interested in the camaraderie. Some people want their kids to learn Norwegian, but we don’t have that.”

And as descendants of Vikings, it’s in their nature to infiltrate other events such as the St. Patrick’s Day Festival, where the Sons of Norway snuck in a Viking ship.

They have plans to invade other parades, too. As for the Dala horse, he says, “It’s in a discreet location, hidden from the Swedes.”

Japan America Society of Nevada

When Kathleen Blakely first moved to Las Vegas from Portland, she and her husband found themselves making several weekend trips to Los Angeles. Born in Japan to an American father and living in a blended family, Blakely says she missed seeing Japanese people in Las Vegas, which had a small population compared to L.A. in the ’90s.

Now an honorary consul general of Japan, she found community in the Japan American Society of Southern Nevada. The group was incorporated in Las Vegas in 1995 to represent Japan in a global destination city connected through travel, business and the expectation of trade, as well as provide community cultural events.

“Our whole premise is to raise the profile of Japan in the Valley [and] promote the relationship with Nevada and Japan culturally and [in] business,” she says.

Classes, festivals and luncheons are part of the group’s activities. Courses for children from Japan through Las Vegas Gakuen Japanese Saturday school help ensure students don’t fall behind when returning to their home country. U.S.-born children also learn to speak and write Japanese in weekend immersion classes.

Japanese fall and spring festivals offer food, dance and music, where tea is an experience complete with bento lunches and Japanese dolls. Festivals open to the community at large include cosplay performances, folk dances, singing, drumming and martial arts.

Blakely says that without the groups there would be a void in her life: “You can’t always put your finger on it, but you miss something. Once in awhile, you just want to be Japanese, be somewhere where the sounds and smells are familiar.

It’s important to feel like you belong. It adds another dimension to the quality of life.”

Opposite Page: Sons of Norway members atop their ship; This Page from left to right, Lollo Sivert, Erik and Katherine Pappa and Rick Senzig

Polish American Social Club of Las Vegas

When Iwona Podzorski was invited to discuss Polish resistance at the Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resource Center this February, she was well versed. Established in 1968, The Polish American Social Club of Las Vegas, of which she is president, has presented exhibits on the Warsaw Uprising and given lectures on the country’s history, some of it unavailable during communist rule.

This social club, with performances, choirs, dance groups, art exhibits, lectures, parties and beginner language courses, celebrates all things Poland—from Polish Christmas carol concerts to Herody, a nativity play recorded and shared with friends back home. They support other Polish groups and raise funds for Mam Marzenie, similar to Make-A-Wish Foundation, and for a Polish child who needed medical treatment in the U.S. On April 29, it joins other groups in the Henderson Libraries’ monthlong International Festival, where they’ll present a pierogi cooking demo.

Members are from Poland or are second- or third-generation Polish-Americans, says Podzorski, who left her home country in 1991 for the Chicago area in before settling in Las Vegas. Some members want to pass their culture and customs onto their children. Retirees and others moving from elsewhere call to inquire about a club, a church, Polish stores or even information about buying a house.

“If there is a Polish community, it’s easier to connect with people. You feel welcome, but when transplanted in a different environment, you miss things,” she says. “We have the same background, grew up in the same environment under communism, went to the same movies, shared the same histories and customs.” 7

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MARCH HOOPS FREE VIEWING PARTIES ARTIES MARCH 16-19 12th Floor Detroit Ballroom Doors open at 8am • Stadium-style food and drinks available for purchase • Live casino sports betting, craps and blackjack just steps away • Flat-screen TVs with top of the line sound system • Private Mancaves including all you can eat and drink available for purchase For pricing and availability, please contact the sales department at 702.388.2200 or sales@thed.com.

800.274.5825 | thed.com 301 Fremont Street | Las Vegas, NV 89101

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There is a proverb that states: “He who has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world.” Ask around and many would claim, that while Mom’s dishes hold a special place in their hearts (and tummies), a very real beauty of traveling is the food.

Las Vegas has a temporary remedy to dispel the yearning desire to travel, but still feed the soul with authentic foods of the world.

Take a trip to these countries to experience the essence, flavors and aromas of each.

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BULGARIA Forte European Tapas Bar and Bistro 4180 S. Rainbow Blvd., barforte.com

Chef Nina Manchev’s eclectic hangout specializes in Bulgarian cuisine that delights the palate with some of the greatest traditional dishes in southeastern Europe. The offerings are lovingly made and heightened with the finest and freshest ingredients. Must-tries are the refreshing Shopska salad, created with tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, green onions, roasted peppers and topped with a flurry of imported shaved Bulgarian feta cheese; the slowroasted Bulgarian Easter lamb with arugula mashed potatoes drizzled with lamb au jus; and the Bulgarian mixed grill with three types of pork sausages, served with a bean relish, potato salad and liuteniza, a bright Bulgarian relish.

Finally, the Sofisk Baniza—feta cheese rolled in handmade filo dough and baked to perfection—is best enjoyed morning, day and night.

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By Marisa Finetti Photography Cierra Pedro

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TASTE

RUSSIA Café Mayakovsky 1775 E. Tropicana Ave., cafemayakovsky.com

From Russia with love come foods that are essential to the cuisine such as cabbage, meat and sour cream.

Café Mayakovsky features dishes that bring Moscow to Tropicana Avenue. Start the experience with a bowl of borscht, a lively tart soup of beets and sour cream, and potato or cabbage-filled perozkis. Move on to Stolichniy, a chopped chicken salad tossed with cooked vegetables and dressed with mayonnaise and spices. A must is the comforting beef Stroganoff, served over rice or mashed potatoes, and the chicken Kiev, which features a generously breaded chicken breast cooked to crispy perfection.

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INDIA

Urban Turban

3900 Paradise Road, urbanturbanlv.com

Dig into delicacies from all areas of the subcontinent, as Chef Tarun Kapoor delivers elevated Indian cuisine, from vibrant street food and curries to tandoor. The minty and herbal Pani Puri is a crunchy potato puff with an open center in which to pour spiced water just before popping it into your mouth.

Another classic is the Bombay Bhel, made of seasoned puffed rice, which is often found wrapped in paper and eaten on the go. Butter Chicken Royale is a signature dish made with cream and cheese tikka in butter sauce and sprinkled with edible pure silver leaf for a cooling effect. The slow-simmered black lentil stew Dal Makhani with garlic or butter naan is heaven on a plate.

PHILIPPINES

Clockwise from top: Café Mayakovsky’s chicken Kiev, borscht and a variety of perozkis; Fiesta Filipina’s lumpia and chicken adobo

Fiesta Filipina Cuisine

3310 S. Jones Blvd., 8545 W. Warm Springs Rd., 2980 St. Rose Pkwy. in Henderson, fiestafilipinacuisine.net There are many things we can thank the Philippines for—namely lumpia, adobo and lechón. Lechón is pork basting in its own juices and seasonings, then deep-fried until the skin becomes unbelievably crispy.

Often called the national dish of the Philippines, adobo is prepared with chicken, beef or pork, simmered over low heat to absorb the garlicky and peppery vinegar–soy sauce and served with rice. Lumpia, the Philippines’ answer to the egg roll, is best known in its deep-fried iteration, filled primarily with vegetables. Other variations include the smaller, crispier lumpiang Shanghai, which is packed with meat, water chestnuts, onions and carrots; lumpiang Sariwa or fresh lumpia, which is not fried and served on egg crepes with ingredients such as chestnuts, jicama and lettuce, and garnished with a sweet sauce.

VENEZUELA Viva Las Arepas

1616 Las Vegas Blvd. South, vivalasarepas.com Fully capable of taking hearts by storm is the arepa, Venezuela’s culinary attaché to the U.S., Viva Las Arepas chef and owner Felix Arellano handcrafts his with Venezuelan corn flour that is made into a masa, then mesquite-fire grilled. There are 13 different fillings—the two most popular are the wood-fired beef and Reina Pepiada, a creamy mix of chicken breast, avocado, mayo and cilantro. Empanadas are also served fresh daily and come with shredded chicken or black bean and cheese fillings. Opt for the mixed grill, which includes a generous selection of chicken, beef, pork ribs and sausage, along with a choice of sides such as plantains and black beans.

For dessert, try the Pastelitos, a deepfried confection that combines sweet and savory flavors of fruit such as guava and coconut with cheese. 7

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

¡Ay, Dios mío!

THE PRESIDENT. THE WALL. THE PROPOSED 20 PERCENT IMPORT TARIFF. THINGS WE LOVE FROM MEXICO MIGHT BE GETTING A PRICE HIKE.

By Jessie O’Brien

Illustrations Cierra Pedro

Mexican Booze

Fresh Produce

Cars

Hot Sauce

In order for tequila to be tequila and mezcal to be mezcal, they have to be made in designated Mexican states. So there’s no way around the price increase other than to load up on these agave spirits while you can. And say goodbye to cheap Corona, Tecate and Modelo.

We know guac is extra at Chipotle, but now we appreciate the warning.

Mexico is our second top supplier of agricultural goods after Canada. Imagine an additional 20 percent tacked on to already pricey avocados, and that’s one expensive dip!

Our top import from Mexico is cars. Due to inexpensive labor costs, whips like the Toyota Tacoma and Fiat 500, among others, are assembled just south of the border.

Prepare to be ballin’ in order to drive a Ford Fiesta.

A true romance, Mrs. Cholula is Mr. Tapatío’s wife, and we must keep them together in our refrigerators and cabinets. So, we might have to fork over a little more dough on the hot mama, since she’s made in Chapala, Jalisco.

Medical and Optical Equipment Another major import are medical and optical equipment. If they’re too expensive, that may deter hospitals from buying new products. Nothing instills confidence like an outdated life support system. 7

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SOCIAL INFLUENCE

SAVE MONEY AND SEE MORE IN THESE INTERNATIONAL CITIES The most expensive vacations don’t always translate into the most memorable experiences. When planning your next international getaway, look for something affordable that’s rich in culture. Here are five locales with favorable exchange rates, hotel rooms that can be found for less than $100 per night and neighborhoods that are ripe for exploration.

Budapest, Hungary

St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Great Market Hall indoor market rank among the most popular attractions in this Central European city. Travelers also give it high marks for its self-service bike rental system and reasonably priced cuisine.

Cairo, Egypt

You can spend a couple of hours walking around Las Vegas’ Luxor resort, or you can go see the real thing. Cairo’s ancient landmarks and diverse nightlife scene will keep you exploring 24/7. Plus, you’ll already be used to the heat.

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Hong Kong

Travel light to Hong Kong, because your bags may be stuffed on the return trip.

The city is teeming with shops and is so compact that you won’t have to go far between destinations. Bonus: Everything except alcohol and tobacco is tax-free.

Medellín, Colombia

Colombia’s second-largest city is winning awards for urban innovation and attracting new generations of tourists eager to explore its museums and library parks, which are exactly what they sound like— libraries surrounded by green space.

Travelers give Medellín high rankings for its walkability and a cable car system that lets you see the city from above.

Mérida, Yucatán

Of all the affordable destinations in Mexico, Mérida makes the list for its cuisine, beaches and proximity to ancient Mayan ruins. If there’s a drawback, it’s the number of stops the flight makes on the way there. But once you arrive, you’re golden. 7

Clockwise from left: Hong Kong; Budapest; Mérida, Yucatán

Where Are You From?

International Tourists in Las Vegas

By Jason R. Latham *All data comes from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s international visitation estimates for 2014 vs. 2015.

South Koreans led the surge in overseas visitors to Las Vegas, a 26.9 percent increase, followed by a 25.8 percent increase in tourists from Ireland and a 20.9 percent increase from Hong Kong.

The largest decrease in international travelers came from Russia, with 15.1 percent fewer Slavs visiting Sin City.

47.3 percent of international travelers come from our North American neighbors, Canada and Mexico (53 percent overseas).

The United Kingdom makes up 12.5 percent of international visitors—the highest percentage of overseas travelers.

HONG KONG BY TUNG CHEUNG/SHUTTERSTOCK; MÉRIDA BY STEFANO EMBER/SHUTTERSTOCK

Travel on the Cheap

By Jason R. Latham

POLITICS

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

By Michael Green

ERA 2.0

NEVADA’S REVIVAL OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMMENDMENT IS MORE ABOUT THE PRESENT THAN THE PAST

M

y mother explained she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment on the logical grounds that enshrining gender equality in the Constitution would elevate a man to a woman’s level. But some menfolk in Nevada and beyond need a little elevating, especially those who don’t pick up on why the ERA mattered then, matters now—and wound up being voted on in the Nevada legislature 35 years after the clock supposedly ran out on its passage.

History is involved and, as usual, it’s multi-layered. The current arguments of lawmakers and witnesses against the state senate resolution resembled those used in the 1970s when Congress sent the amendment to the states: Women would lose their “advantages” and could be drafted, and the family unit will suffer. Also, State Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson says the Fourteenth Amendment grants women equal rights already, and wouldn’t it be nice if his fellow Republicans saw the Fourteenth that expansively?

Ah, memories. When Bill Clinton supported members of the LGBT community serving in the military, opponents invoked almost the same language used in the late 1940s when Harry Truman ordered military units desegregated: Our defenses would suffer if previously isolated groups served together.

Opponents of ERA, like opponents of gay marriage (often the same people) who make such arguments, don’t seem to have much faith in the strength of families and marriages, or they might not be so fearful for their future.

As for feminine “advantages,” this debate has been around even longer than Wayne Newton. In 1908, in Muller v. Oregon, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld restrictions on how many hours women could work. It seemed like a great idea: The state had a right to protect its citizens, and women had fewer protections than men. But as Justice David Brewer, who would have been perfect for Trump’s cabinet if he weren’t dead (and Senate Republicans would confirm him anyway if nominated) wrote for the court, “That woman’s physical structure and the performance of maternal functions place her at a disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious.”

Such thinking has remained at the heart of the battle over women’s rights: Men and women are different, and not just in terms of who can have their own email server. Feminists have disagreed over whether women should have special protections and, if so, what they should be. Anti-feminists have worried those protections will disappear, instead of suggesting that all of us should have safer working conditions, equal pay and family leave.

It’s also redolent of the previous ERA debate in Nevada. Women’s rights advocates like Republican-turned-Democrat Jean Ford and lifelong Republican Sue Wagner supported it. Conservative women, especially from religious communities—the Mormon Church was especially vocal—disagreed with it.

And it became a political hot potato.

The ERA passed the state assembly twice and failed in the state Senate.

In 1977, the Senate voted 10—8 against it, but Lt. Gov. Bob Rose, a Democrat about to run for governor, announced that the two absent senators counted as “yes” votes, creating a tie, which he broke by voting in favor of the ERA. It then died in the assembly. Rose’s ambitions didn’t survive either: Republicans blistered him for backing the ERA and the maneuver that enabled him to vote, he lost his race, and an advisory question on the 1978 ballot led to a 2—1 margin against the ERA. Wagner tried to bring it back, but it was over.

For the time being, anyway. Now we’re at another historical moment. The day after the inauguration, millions of women (and many men) marched for their rights—including about 15,000 in Las Vegas and 10,000 in Reno. Organizers and participants have been trying to maintain the momentum. That’s part of what this vote on ERA is designed to do.

Yes, it’s a long shot. Although Congress specified the amendment would be dead if not approved by 1982, the Supreme Court has said Congress can change the deadline. This Republican Congress is unlikely to do so, unless Vladimir Putin can be persuaded to support it. Still, the legislature is reminding activists of where their elected officials stand and how misogynistic some of them sound. That can be useful, but also dangerous politically. Not all women back the ERA, and some could be driven to support its opponents even more strongly.

Political calculus can change on a dime. My moderately conservative mother might not have supported the ERA back then, but today she might think differently. Let’s just say I wouldn’t have wanted to be the man or the candidate who said he was going to grab her …. 7 Michael Green is an associate professor of history at UNLV.

Such thinking has remained at the heart of the battle over women’s rights: Men and women are different, and not just in terms of who can have their own email server.

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AWAY MESSAGE

CUBA RISING “Cuba is a place filled with more questions than answers. One person decries the government while the next praises it. The upside and downside of socialism are in your face. Yet the human spirit still shines. The people are intelligent, welcoming and hopeful. As American tourists now flock to this island nation, it’s important to remember this time-warp culture exists only because of the price its people paid.”

– Local photographer

ERIK KABIK,

on his collection of images and impressions

from his recent trip to Cuba

SPACES & PLACES

SPACES & PLACES

AWAY MESSAGE

PREVIOUS PAGE, LEFT: A man fishes off the base of Castillo del Morro with the city of Havana in the background.

RIGHT: “I was shooting from afar when this woman on the streets of Old Havana locked her eyes into my lens and gave me this look,” Kabik says.

BOTTOM: The sun sets behind El Capitolio. “I spent a few evenings taking in sunsets from this vantage point while sipping on a Cuba Libre with the tastiest rum I ever had!”

THIS PAGE, TOP: Entrance to the Havana Bay tunnel guarded by the Castillo del Morro; Parisien Cabaret dancers depict the history of Cuba at their show in the historic Hotel Nacional de Cuba.

SECOND ROW: A dog napping in front of the Hotel Raquel, located in the Jewish quarter; anti-American propaganda displayed at the Museo de la Revolución, which is housed in what was once the presidential palace, whose last inhabitant, President Batista, was ousted during a Castro-led revolution in 1959; “Fruit and vegetable food carts are plentiful,” Kabik says. “Although the market appears to have a bounty of food, it is rationed to Cuban citizens. You can only purchase your allotment during periods of availability.”

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PREVIOUS PAGE, THIRD ROW: An old textile factory. “Although the decay is interesting to see, the story behind it is filled with false promises of hope, meddling from foreign powers and corrupt leadership,” Kabik says.

BOTTOM: “You cannot talk about Cuba without mentioning Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. In Cuba, you see them only as revered and celebrated,” he says; A taxi line by the harbor. “If Havana is anything, it’s colorful.”

THIS PAGE, TOP: Organopónico Vivero Alamar is a beaming example of Cuba’s sustainable organic farming, which was mandated after the collapse of the Soviet Union; a doorway in Old Havana: “I became obsessed with shooting doorways and joked with my travel companion that it would be a cool coffee table book, The Doorways of Old Havana,” Kabik says; a man in a market shows off the meat display.

SECOND ROW: The sunset behind the José Martí Memorial at Plaza de la Revolución in the Vedado area of Havana; “Food is not the star during a trip through Cuba, as ingredients and seasonings are scant,” he says.

“I was happy to find some nice seafood at a beachside restaurant in Alamar just outside of Havana,”; inside the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana: “I did not expect such world-class art museums.

You can fill a day or two visiting them.”

THIRD ROW: All U.S. auto imports were off-limits after the Communist Party gained control in 1959. “The embargo forced Cubans to maintain these vehicles well beyond their normal lifespan,” Kabik says. “The best of them are now taxis.”

BOTTOM: “I always visit cemeteries when I am documenting my travels,” he says. “The Cólon Cemetery in Vedado is the most dramatic and impressive one I have ever seen.”

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CONVERSATIONS

Without Certainty

From Iran to Las Vegas, one refugee’s story.

A

ccepted but not embraced. A new home chosen with limited control. Refugees have to make a difficult choice: escaping their past for an uncertain future. For Mina Abdollahi, making a new life in Las Vegas meant leaving her family and financial security behind for her faith.

Born in Kerman, Iran, Abdollahi and her three sisters were raised in the Islamic faith. She never considered religion to be a choice. But in 2006, when she moved to Shiraz in southwest Iran to pursue electrical engineering at Shiraz University, curiosity got the best of her.

By Jessie O’Brien

Photography Krystal Ramirez

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CONVERSATIONS

Students at Catholic Charities English language program

ASK A NATIVE

By James P. Reza

Don’t Know Much About History

“[At] university, you have more access to information, and you can research and study,” she says. “I was far from my family. ... It was a good opportunity for me to learn and decide what I want to be.”

While in school, she became involved with the Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant Christian denomination. Drawn to the faith through investigation, she decided to dedicate herself fully.

In 2012, Abdollahi and her husband, Mohammad Manzari, traveled to Armenia on a 21-day visa with their two friends to be baptized. It was during that trip that their place of worship in Shiraz was raided on the Sabbath. Members and nonmembers—some who were there to observe for the first time—were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the Iranian armed forces known as the Sepah whose role is to protect the Islamic system from foreign interference.

Islamic principals guide Iranian government policy, and even though its constitution recognizes minority religions such as Judaism and Christianity and their practices, the government’s actions often contradict constitutional language.

Abdollahi and her husband later learned the government swept the Shiraz church leader’s home and obtained information about its members. “If we went back [to Iran], we were going to get arrested,” she says. After the request for an extended visa in Armenia was rejected, she and the group traveled by bus through Georgia to Turkey to buy time in order to decide whether or not to return home.

“It was hard to make the right decision, because if we went back home, we didn’t know how it was going to be, how they were going to treat us,” she says. “We would have to spend the rest of our lives in jail, or we would have to lie and say we are not going to be Christian again and [convert] to Islam.”

Abdollahi and her husband claimed refugee status in Turkey in 2013, where they stayed for a year and a half through the vetting and relocation process.

In 2014, they touched down at McCarran International Airport and spent their first night in Las Vegas at Palace Station as Catholic Charities prepared their home. A nonprofit, Catholic Charities is federally recognized as Nevada’s refugee office overseeing resettlement. It accepted 3,000 refugees in 2016.

Abdollahi found a position packing vitamins for ProCaps Laboratories through a workforce agency. Her managers took notice of her work ethic and offered her a full-time, in-house position. But when she mentioned her I-94 visa, which allows for employment anywhere in the United States, on her

résumé, the company said they could not hire her.

According to Abdollahi, her counselor at Catholic Charities printed documents to inform the employer of her work eligibility, but it didn’t make a difference.

“I felt so bad,” she says. “I was like, ‘OK, we are not going to be happy in this country.’”

She later found work—a series of odd jobs, including positions at White Castle and The Cosmopolitan— but has since been unemployed. After sending out more than 100 résumés in her field of study, she says she’s only received about 10 interviews. “It is hard to find a job. It’s hard to prove yourself. They always look at you or judge you as an immigrant, as a person who came here without any knowledge,” she says.

“I’d probably have a good life financially [in Iran]. I’d probably be an engineer and living in my country by my family and my friends. ... It doesn’t matter how hard it is going to be financially [here], my spirit is going to grow.”

To find employment, Abdollahi is trying to enroll

“It doesn’t matter how hard it is going to be finacially [here], my spirit is going to grow.”

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in a master’s program for engineering at UNLV. She is hoping to be accepted into the student-teacher work program so she can avoid taking out loans. Her second option? Become a truck driver.

“I was telling my husband I want to be a truck driver for a while. I don’t want to be around people, especially with what’s happening now,” she says, laughing, referring to the current administration’s intent to suspend refugee immigration. “When people ask, ‘Where are you from?’ it’s hard to say ‘I’m from Iran—I’m Persian,’” Abdollahi says. She believes it was a good decision to become refugees, but she misses the closeness of community and kinship in her home country.

Abdollahi compares the way people in Iran disagree with their government to the way some U.S. citizens disagree with their own. “The government is totally separate from the people. I am one of the people of Iran ... but the thing about my country is, nobody can say we disagree.” 7

I’m moving to Las Vegas soon and want to hit the ground running. What five books would you suggest?

Smart idea. Those who come to Las Vegas to quietly and self-sufficiently disappear (retirees, for example) often discover exactly what they expected.

But those who land in town chasing dreams or escaping transgressions often haven’t read the manual—and what they find here does little to sort their bank account or soothe their wounds, but rather exposes a harsh reality.

There are hundreds of books about Las Vegas, dozens of them on my own library shelf. Here are five essential reads, plus a couple of bonus volumes: Neon Metropolis (Hal Rothman, 2003): This broad history of Las Vegas through the 20th century, written by late respected UNLV history professor Rothman, combines facts and anecdotes to draw a solid picture of the development of Las Vegas, hitting all the obvious touchstones and upending a few others.

Sun, Sin & Suburbia (Geoff Schumacher, 2010): Whereas Rothman gives us a general history of Las Vegas as mythic El Dorado, author and journalist Schumacher leans heavily on New Vegas, the post-mob version of Sin City that emerged in the 1990s. This is essentially the city you’ll be moving to, so consider this book the most valuable.

The First 100: Portraits of the Men and Women Who Shaped Las Vegas (A.D. Hopkins & K.J. Evans, 2000): This essential compilation of brief biographies offers an accessible overview of those dreamers and doers critical to building Las Vegas, from explorers and entertainers to gamblers and good old boys. Understand the people and you’ll understand the city.

Water and the West (Norris Hundley, Jr, 2009): Focusing on the Colorado River Compact, Hundley explains the political struggles controlling our most valuable resource and the congressional instrument that delineates its allocation.

Have time? Add Cadillac Desert (Marc Reisner, 1993). You’ll need to settle in for the long haul—both are textbook-style reading.

Chronicles of Old Las Vegas (James Roman, 2011): After all that heavy lifting, it’s time for something lighter. Roman’s easy, Everyman take explores the city with history, anecdotes, photos and maps, creating a guidebook to the Las Vegas you may have heard about. Add Dick Odessky’s Fly on the Wall for firsthand tales of the city in its mobbed-up Rat Pack heyday.

Have a question or comment about Las Vegas past, present or future? Send them to askanative@vegasseven.com

CONVERSATIONS

LUCKY NO. 7

We asked the WENDOH Media staff:

What is the most exotic thing you’ve eaten in Las Vegas?

Wasabi grated by Nobu Matsuhisa himself. It tasted nothing like the horseradish stuff you typically get at a sushi joint, which burns your sinuses and makes your eyes water. Real wasabi is herbaceous and smooth. It starts out spicy and tastes almost sweet at the end. Who knew?! —Genevie Durano, managing editor

The Bird Nest in Coconut soup at Phoenix inside Lucky Dragon was a psychologically difficult dish to sample, but it was quite tasty. Here’s to some fancy-ass bird spit soup!

—Cierra Pedro, senior designer

The seared monkfish liver at Estiatorio Milos inside The Cosmopolitan. Absolutely amazing! —Jane Weigel, controller I tried the chapulines (grasshoppers) from El Dorado Cantina. Vegas Seven shot them for an article a couple of years ago, and a box of them made its way back to the office. Not bad! —Haley Obata, executive assistant

Brian Howard, former chef of Comme Ça inside The Cosmopolitan, loved to serve me Rocky Mountain oysters— otherwise known as bull testicles—as a special treat. The adage “tastes like chicken” did not apply. —Melinda Sheckells, editor-in-chief

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Ma rch 9 -15 , 2017 vegasseven.com

Fat choy, or black moss, which I had during a Chinese New Year dinner at Hakkasan.

I’d liken it to an even more pungent spinach. I’ll stick with Popeye’s favorite treat.

—Mark Adams, arts & entertainment editor

The scorpion shot at Nacho Daddy. It tasted like tequila that didn’t want to be swallowed, as the little legs tried to hold onto my throat on the way down.

—Jessie O’Brien, editor, DTLV.com

Photography Krystal Ramirez

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