Hola!  Como esta usted? 

It's your amigo, Arturo Jiminez, of San Antonio, Texas!  Hope this finds y'all doin' good! 

Sorry for not writing in here; much has happened to me.  Let's see; here goes:

Mi madre y padre, they no longer work.  Their cantina folded.  Foreclosure:  they couldn't afford to maintain the rent every month, and business folded, plus new owners took over.  They are devastated, as you can very well imagine.

My cousin Pedro Garcia died in a bar fight back in September, around the 11th; he was only 19 years old.  Someone pulled a knife on him; he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Last I knew, la policia is still searching for the perpetrators. He died on the emergency room table; the doctors tried hard to save him, but to no avail. 

We had to move; we now live in a goverment housing development for low-income families.  Neighborhood where we live now is not the greatest; I've taken to carrying a knife with me, 'cause you never know when someone is gonna jump me, ya know?  Esepcially with all this hate stuff going on:  all the time I hear nothing but "Go back to Mexico, you stupid beaner!" or things that are ten times worse (they bear not repeating here).

Every day I get commented on about my brown skin, my dark hair, and my black eyes.  Every day I get picked on because I am not "like the gringo dudes".  Every day I have to battle with my heritage:  am I American, or am I Mexican??  Do I call myself Arturo, as I have done all my life, or do I "conform" to the American way of life and shorten my first name to "Artie" or "Art", so it doesn't sound so "foreign"?

I see no problem with being what I am:  it appears that a good part of the rest of the population (the ones who ain't Mexican or of Hispanic background) does.  This is the problem I am facing every day, and it's gettin' old pretty fast.

I am seriously thinking of dropping out of shcool; the teasing has always been bad, but it's only intensified.  I can't handle it too much longer, I am starting to suffer in my grades, and the stress is getting to me.  I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even think clearly half of the time.

Well, I have depressed myself again, so I will go.  I will write in here again another time; just say some prayers for me; I could really use 'em!  Muchos gracias!

~Tu amigo, Artie (Arturo) Jiminez.  :(

*To be continued.*