Dear Bono,
I write to thank you. U2’s songs help me learn English. My teacher, John, and I study English together every week. We meet in a Mexican restaurant in Decatur, Georgia, and share margaritas. Sometimes the margaritas help, but they are strong. John can only drink one.
I want to give an example of how the songs help me. From the song “Hawkmoon 269” I learned how the word like helps compare one thing to another.
I need your love …
Like drums in the night
Like sweet soul music
Like sunlight.
What is a “hawkmoon”? My teacher does not know.
We Mexicans are like the Irish. We came to the United States to make money for ourselves and for our families. But sometimes we are not welcome. My friends sometimes feel like they are invisible. In Atlanta, since I came from Reynosa, México, in 2005, I tell John I feel tranquila, at home, but my family in México worries. Not many Latinos here like U2. I do not always understand the words, but I know all the words in English. John is teaching me more about the words. He teaches me about Aung San Suu Kyi, Ireland and The Psalms. I feel free when the band plays, especially at live concerts. I feel like I am driving on an empty road.
From the U2 website John learned that the band in 2011 will play three shows in México City. I am from Veracruz, the city of Poza Rica, to the east, but I visited México City as a girl. I returned in 1997 to see U2 in concert for the first time, at the Autodromo. I first heard a U2 song in México when I was 14. I wish you a lovely visit to my country. Be careful if you go shopping on Alameda Central. It is dangerous.
I saw U2 twice in Atlanta, on the Vertigo and 360° tours. I want to see the band in Miami in June 2011. In Atlanta, someone stole my U2 albums from my car, but John is helping me replace them.
My favorite song is “Kite.” You sing the song to your father; my father died, like yours. I think that I am like a kite. I want a life that is free and happy. Who knows where the wind will take me?
Un abrazo,
Karla
Karla's letters to Bono 