Dear Abuela,
My Family has been living in New York for sometime now and let me tell you, we love it here. The only downside i can come up with off the top of the head is the wintertime cold. To describe it, one can say it is blistering cold during this time. But besides that, the family is individually succeeding, and with that being said, as a family we all succeed. We miss you dearly Abuela and we cant wait to see you again. We live in the Bronx, New York, a place that i have become accustomed to rather quickly, and it has helped mold me into the young man i have become. Some outsiders believe the Bronx is full of poor people and infested with dirty people and criminals. But that's not all true. I have graduated from All Hallows High School and i am now enrolled as a freshman in Baruch College. It is truly an amazing feeling to be in such a great school. The first person i will thank when i graduate is you Abuela. You have paved the road for all of your descendants.
The college i am currently attending is in the middle of downtown Manhattan, and i assure you that is is everything you dreamed of and more. The lights, the people, the sound, the magnitude of the entire city is true. I promise one day we'll take you there and you will be amazed. There are people of every single race. Its just not just black nor white, there may even be some races that you may have never heard of. There are so many different languages being spoken in New York that anyone can live here. There is even a part of Manhattan that is as close to the Dominican Republic as it gets without actually being there. The area is called Washington Heights. Abuela, I promise that if you spend one day over there you will find someone from your own hometown in the Dominican Republic. The food is the same, the way people talk sounds exactly the same, they even have the same slang. Even the way people dress is the same. Well only during the summertime.
As i said before the winter is like something you've never experienced before. Nobody and I mean nobody i their right mind wants to be outside during the wintertime. During the season my entire neighborhood here in the Bronx becomes a wasteland. You would honestly pass by and think the area is extinct. The temperature goes to as low as 30 degrees at times. And it feels ten times worse when your used to the heat of the Dominican Republic. I urge you to come during the summertime, you will be perfectly fine. If we don't have a vehicle in our possession we can very easily take the subway. The New York subway will take us anywhere you want to in New York. It is a very fast and efficient way to travel around the city. Sometimes, taking the subway is better than driving because of the traffic and finding parking. There is a subway in the Dominican Republic, but i highly doubt it is anywhere near as advanced as ours over here in the big apple. But until then Abuela, we all love you and miss you dearly and i ask that you tell all of my friends and loved ones that i have recently left behind that i miss them also, and I hope to return sometime soon. I will be waiting for a reply Abuela, so don't leave me hanging :).
Sincerely Yours,
Raymond De La Cruz
