Two Parts of Los Angeles

This weekend was spent in two distinct parts of Los Angeles. Saturday night I saw the U2-3D movie at the Arclight in Hollywood. This area used to be an area of prostitutes and such, but over the last few years has seen a gentrification. There is a high-end apartment complex called Sunset + Vine. The Arclight is a high-end theatre where ticket prices are $14. There I was watching a number of young people walking by, dressed in the hippest fashion. People out on dates were there to impress their potential significant other.

On Sunday afternoon, I spent time in East Los Angeles at a place called El Mercado del Este de Los Angeles. It is a multi-floor complex. The bottom three floors are various stores and food venders. The top floor is dedicated to the El Tarasco Restaurante. There weren't very many people there out to impress anyone -- though perhaps I'm mistaken as the definition of dressing up may vary between the two areas. The people there were nearly all Latino. Counting myself, there were a total of 3 non-Latinos in the El Mercado. That may not seem unusual if you're talking about a place that was only semi-full, but this place must have had a few thousand people inside.

In a way, I felt out of place in both locations. I felt like I fit in more with the people at the Arclight, but at the same time I felt totally inappropriately dressed. At the El Mercado, I was in a different social-economic status. I am rather sure that most of the people there were in the poor status while I am in the upper middle class. A very interesting interaction occurred at a bakery at the El Mercado. Two people in front of me had their bake goods. The person at the counter talked to both in English. I was a bit worried that perhaps she didn't speak English and was prepared to just hand over five dollars and get change. When I got there, she said in perfect English, "Fifty cents."

Either way, it was a great weekend, experiencing two parts of Los Angeles.

Notes from Vivace