Dear students,
I started teaching English in March 2010. I did not know that teaching English to you would change my life.
I cannot speak for 306 million people in the United States. That is Barack Obama’s job. But I say thank you. I thank you for your courage (valor). All immigrants leave home and enter a new world. It is frightening (espantoso). My ancestors (antepasados) left Ireland and Scotland in the 1700s. They were like you: they did not know the future.
With your families and your energy and your faith (fe), you make Atlanta a better place. I thank you for your hard work. I thank you for rising early in the morning to make bread, to clean houses, to take care of children, to sell diapers (pañales), and to work in clubs and restaurants.
If people do not speak to you or say hello, I am sorry. I learned that everyone in the world is equal (igual). My parents (padres) taught me this lesson (lección). The Declaration of Independence (1776) also says, “All people are created equal.” Everyone is a child of God (hijo de Dios). This is the ideal. Because I am white, a man and an American, I am not better than anyone else.
The summer was a sad time in my life. I have worries (preocupaciónes). I know that you have worries, too. I learn from you. I learn from you every Thursday. I learn to have joy (alegría) in life. I learn to love. I learn to risk (arriesgar). I learn how to live in a family. I remember the poem we read together:
todos en la familia
nos dedicamos a cuidar
los sueños de cada quien
I thank you for cooking food—quesadillas, tamales, pozol, taquitos—and for bringing food to class. I thank you for sharing cerveza and mescal. You teach me hospitality. I thank you for the rides (paseos) from the MARTA station. I thank you for bringing your children to class. I love your children very much, even more than blue Volkswagens. You make the classroom a family. I thank you for listening to me talk about fútbol. I thank you for sharing your pictures and your stories (cuentos) of Guerrero, Michoacán, Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca, México City, of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
I thank you for being my students.
I will think of each of you on Thursday, on Thanksgiving. I will thank God that each of you is in my life.
Always your friend,
John
Karla's letters to Bono 