I met Stephanie years ago in New York City when her first book, AROUND THE BLOC, came out. It was the first book of my monthly Latina Book Club. She came and spoke to our group, and blew us away. I have never met a more charismatic person. I wanted to follow her on her adventures right then and there, but I couldn't -- life, love, work, no dinero . So now I join Stephanie's adventures from my armchair. ---mcf Q: Tell us about yourself. Where are you from? How are you getting all these grants to travel and write? I am from Corpus Christi, Texas (or, as I prefer to call it, Corpitos), but much of my life has been spent on the road. (My great-great Uncle Jake was a hobo who saw America with his legs dangling over the edge of a freight train, so wanderlust is encoded in my DNA!) My journey began in 1992, when I attended a high school journalism conference in Washington DC that featured a keynote by a rockstar foreign correspo...