My Latin Heart by Mario Garcia and Of Cholos and Surfers by Jack Lopez For my essay I chose to follow the idea that not everything in California it's what it seems like. The truth behind the California idea and the things you can accomplish. What is hidden are the struggles and failures of some people when they arrive in California. The connections in two stories, one of which is “My Latino Heart” by Mario Garcia. The next story will be “Of Cholos and Surfers” by Jack Lopez. The connection in these two stories is that in Mr. Lopez's story a boy is troubled because he isn't sure what it means to be a "Mexican," and this connects to what the image of California is really trying to say. The next story "Of Cholos and Surfers" is also a depiction of a young boy, but he has difficulty trying to break out of the tradition of being a normal "Mexican" and do what feels most comfortable to him. This story ties into the fact that California is also not as liberal as the state claims to be. The idea that California is the state where your dreams come true is a very real thing. Newspaper, magazine, and even book writers also have a tendency to write about the bright side of the good things and then tend to leave some of the bad things to chance. Some writers have called California the fading dream. The myth of California as a good and bad area dates back to the days of the Gold Rush and the Dust Bowl. The Gold Rush is an example of the California myth because people found gold. There was a problem with people finding gold. People came to California for the gold, but found that once they got here, there wasn't as much gold as they hoped to find. When people found gold it wasn't enough to sustain any kind of promised life. People wanted to have the luxurious life that went along with the search for this mineral. Gold wasn't the high price everyone thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, some people have done well in finding this mineral, but not much. Another incident that California is a myth about is the Dust Bowl.