Haggis On a Stick

What’s the Swedish word for "muck"? How do you say "too many people" in Greek? Do Native Americans have a phrase for "unbearably muggy"?

Recent rain transformed low-lying grounds at the Ethnic Enrichment Festival at Swope Park into a pungent swamp. Yet the crowd Saturday afternoon was the largest I’ve encountered at the annual event.

Many people are enamored of the festival’s cultural demonstrations. That’s nice, but I go for the food. While I was disappointed that the Cubans and Koreans were absent this year, the outstanding vegetable plate I bought from the Ethiopians almost compensated for their disappearance. Indonesia's rendang, a lightly curried beef, was a bit bland. Sweet breads from Norway made for a tasty dessert.

Sadly, all this eating left me too full to try Scotland’s haggis on a stick.