The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: March twenty-second, looking into America's ethnic enclaves.

In baggy pants, plastic flip flops and a wide-brimmed straw hat, an old Vietnamese woman peddles unfamiliar produce from a cart, while two doe-eyed children sip a green pumpkin drink from dented, alumnimum cans. The street scene might be straight out of Saigon or Hanoi, but this is Houston. It could as easily be San Diego or Chicago.

Thanks to the largest wave of immigration since before World War One, ethnic enclaves are thriving all across America. And they're not just Chinatowns or Little Italys. There are Little Jamaicas, Little Bosnias and Little Athens. Rather than clusters of ethnic restaurants and stores, the best are real, functioning communities, microcosms of homelands their residents left behind in body, but not in spirit.

New York City, for example, has an enclave for just about any ethnic group you can name. Rather than Manhattan, most are situated in the city's other boroughs. Brooklyn's Greenpoint has a Polish community, Brighton Beach is Little Odessa, and Atlantic Avenue in the Cobble Hill area seems like an Arabian bazaar. Chicago has Pilsen and Little Village, home to America's second largest Mexican community, and Los Angeles has Koreatown.

The list of ethnic enclaves is long and varied. For adventurous travelers, these neighborhoods can add an extra dimension to the American urban experience, a chance to taste foreign cultures and life styles without going abroad. While best to plan a first visit for a weekday afternoon, once you know where to go, night time can also be a great time for a visit.

The March issue of National Geographic Traveler, a supporter of our program, samples the ethnic delights of several cities. Listeners can register for a free copy on our home page.

FMI For an on-line guide to ethnic neighborhoods, visit nationalgeographic.com/traveler/0103/neighborhoods.html