Chapter 2 - Across Canada - I discover a new talent

Winnipeg is a nice city even though it’s hot, flat and full of bugs. There are some beautiful old buildings, wide streets and flowers everywhere. And this is where the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is. I really wanted to see them because I kind of want to learn ballet but Mom says they don’t perform in the summer. I don’t trust her though; she said that without even looking it up anywhere. But she did say I could take ballet lessons in the Fall, so that’s okay.

We all got to go off on our own today and I had the best time just walking around. I tried to get myself lost so that I could use a streetmap. I love that feeling of getting lost and then trying to find my way using a map. I do it all the time at home. ‘Fakira the brave’ is always able to find her way. But here the streets run straight in both directions and it’s so flat you can see the main buildings almost all the time so it’s too easy.

At least I thought so. When we met up for lunch I was the third one there, or the second one if you count Dad and Uncle Bert as one person which I do. They sit together all the time just smoking and reading the newspaper and not saying anything much. They were both reading a newspaper article about the royal family. Dad loves the royal family. So does Uncle Bert I guess. Dad’s favourite royal is Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. I’ve seen a picture of her. Not exactly exciting. So not exactly surprising. Had Dad and Uncle Bert even moved an inch all morning? I bet they were still reading the same page.

Mom arrived twenty minutes late, all breathless, with about a dozen shopping bags. She was wearing a new pair of hotpants. Whose mother wears hotpants? How embarrassing. Especially orange ones with big daisies all over them. She always tries to dress like she’s a teenager. Sidney and Sam arrived together a full half an hour later and said they had got lost. I thought they were lying to make an excuse for being late, but they were real quiet all through lunch. Afterwards they asked if they could come with me in the afternoon because they hadn’t seen any of the stuff I saw and told everyone about while we were eating. I was surprised at that. Sam doesn't often want to be with me and Sidney never does. They are mostly together and whenever I walk into a room where they are laughing or whispering they stop and say to me: “What are you looking at?” “Yeah, what are you looking at?” “Leave us alone.” But this afternoon they stayed beside me and I always had to point them in the right direction. I got to thinking maybe they really had been lost this morning. Does this mean that maybe I can do something they can’t? This would be cool.