troublemaker

Hi Henry! Como estás? That means "How are you?" in Spanish. I learned that and many other things over the weekend because Erik took me to Los Angeles, one of the biggest cities in the world! It stretches from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the San Gabriel mountains--400 square miles of buildings, roads, cars, people and NOISE!

I learned you have to speak up in the city to compete with sirens and traffic. I also learned you have to watch out because pigeons are always nearby, ready to land on your head!


The most important thing I learned, though, was not to misbehave around Erik. Boy, he can get hopping mad! I don't know why, but I was in a silly mood. Maybe the colors and sounds made me excited. Or maybe I ate too much for breakfast!

Come to think of it, I didn't even eat breakfast! Sometimes I forget I'm only a piece of paper...

Anyway, after we left Erik's apartment, we drove on the freeway for about 50 miles, found a place to park and walked over to Chinatown, just north of downtown LA. A lot of Chinese people live there, but many others visit every day to eat lunch or shop and find a good bargain. You can buy everything in Chinatown, from groceries to goldfish.

We spent a few minutes talking to this happy gentleman. He told us that "new" Chinatown was founded by the state of California in 1938, with the help of Hollywood, to make "old" Chinatown more of a tourist attraction. Then he said if we rubbed his tummy we would have "good luck." But Erik stepped away and said, "We need to catch a bus."

Later when I asked Erik if we really needed to catch a bus, he said he was just being polite.

We headed over to Central Plaza. We saw amazing buildings and sculptures on the way, and it's true, Chinatown is just like a movie set!

We saw at least a hundred shops filled with souvenirs--paper dragons, wood-carved animals, plastic toys... You name it!

It was about this time that I had my crazy idea. "Let's play hide and seek!" I said. Before Erik could answer, I slipped between his fingers and ran! Sometimes being a thin piece of paper has its advantages!

Erik started to look for me right away. I don' t even think he counted to 10! But I wasn't hidden under the shoes.

And I wasn't behind the toys.

I wasn't hidden inside this box of ginger root!

Or behind the Banzai trees or bamboo plants!

Or inside these boxes of tea, even though they smelled so good!

I sure didn't hide in the newstand, either! I can't read Chinese!

I guess Erik is really bad at hide and seek. He got so frustrated, I could see him turning red! He asked the shopkeepers to help look for me, but some of them didn't speak English. Then one of the women listened intently and pointed in the direction of the paper lanterns.

When he found me, Erik picked me up and said, "Don't ever do that again! What would Henry and his teacher think if they knew I almost lost you in Chinatown?"

I sort of laughed, but he said he was serious. He made me take a timeout and sit and think about what I'd done.

I sat and thought all right. I thought, "Erik puts on a brave face, but the city makes him anxious!" And the day wasn't even over yet. We had many other places to go, and it was only morning!

A few minutes later we walked a couple blocks to the south, and suddenly it seemed like we entered a different country! We saw so many new people.

Olvera Street is the oldest street in Los Angeles. It's where the earliest residents came to shop and trade. Many of them were Spanish and Mexican, and their heritage is celebrated here in the way people dress, the music they play, and the language they speak.

Here is the oldest house in Los Angeles.

We went inside for a tour.

However, much of the house is outside, including the kitchen! A lot of adobe houses a long time ago had courtyards because at night, the family needed a place to cool off. Didn't they ever hear of air conditioning?

Look at all the cactus plants!


After we stepped back onto Olvera Street, I thought, "Well, Erik seems like he's in a better mood now. I bet I could get him to play hide and seek with me here! The people are so friendly." So I shouted, "Let's play!" and before he could count to "uno," I disappeared.

Now I suppose I was being a bad guest, and I should have known better by then, but I just got caught up in the moment. Our friend Erik had to try to find me all over again!

But I wasn't hidden behind the dresses.


Or behind the colorful guitars.


I wasn't standing under the sombreros!


Or behind the belts and blankets!


After a while, Erik got so angry, he cried out, "That's enough, Flat Stanley! Henry's mom is going to be terrified if I mail back an empty envelope! Where did you go?"

So I said, "Hola, Señor Erik!"

I was hanging out with the marionettes!

Erik jumped and picked me up and said, "Es usted loco?!?" which means, "Are you crazy?" in Spanish. Then he said, "You really need to behave! You're going to sit down and think about why IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA TO RUN OFF BY YOURSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BIG CITY!"

So I sat down on the stairs, and he got even madder! I don't know if I'll ever figure out why.

Well, that was half my adventure this weekend. Later we went to meet one of Erik's old friends. I'll tell you about that in another entry...

That is if I manage to stay out of trouble.

Your friend,

Flat Stanley