A cow is too much trouble in Los Angeles

A flash flood wipes out Honorio's small, barren farm. At the urging of his brother Ambrose, he decides to move from Mexico to Los Angeles. Making the trip is his entire family -- his unwilling wife, Magdalena; his handsome early-twenties son, Jorge; his two teen-age daughters, romantic Constanza and sex-crazed Marucha; and his torpid younger son, Isidro. The family cow, missing after the flood, stays behind. When the group arrives in L.A., no one is impressed. They find the place crowded, dirty, noisy, and filled with soulless gringos. Still, they try to adjust. Honorio and his three older children quickly get jobs. His younger son enrolls in school. But, as they all seem to fear, their troubles are just beginning.