School Days

For years I have wanted to share my grandmother’s story, but it took me forever to know where to begin. How do you begin to convey 88 years of feelings, smells, joy and heartbreak? The answer, you just start. It’s not wrapped up in a perfect bow, but neither is life. Life is little stories, memories and moments. Sometimes we don’t even know what moments will change our life until we reflect back decades later. However, each week as I turn on my tape recorder, write out these little stories and start to compile them; I know I am living one of those unforgettable little moments right now.   

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I Made the Whole Thing Up

Doing this project made me think a lot. I go back to certain memories, certain days. So I began thinking about my school. My first kindergarten was a German school. I only remember the smell of rubber erasers. I went from that school to a Catholic school. I remember the smell there too, a very clean smell. I went there for a year but I do remember being in a theater production they did for the town. I was never good at memorizing scripts or poems. I remember they gave me a part in this play and my mother made the costume. I was very nervous as there were a lot of people but I said my part and we went home. Everything went very smoothly, or so I thought, it wasn’t until later that I learned that the nun sitting next to my mom was holding her breath during my speech. I had made up my entire part, changed the lines, even changed the subject. Just made something up and went on with the show. The teacher breathed a sigh of relief when it was done because I had just made the whole thing up. 

After that a school opened up across the street from my house. It was supposed to only be for children of those who were American or British citizens that worked for the mines. But, since my dad was part of the government in the town, they allowed my brothers and I to go. They taught Spanish and English and most of the subjects were in English. On the weekends we had half days because we would have specials like music, gym and art. That’s how they did it then. I remember on one of my first days a tall blonde beautiful girl came to me and said “hello my name is Sonia will you be my friend” and I said “yes!”. And that started a friendship that has lasted for the rest of my life. It is funny how those things happen. You don’t know when you might meet someone that will stay forever, but that day I did. I haven't talked to her lately, but we still stay in touch. I have visited her in Spain and kept her as a dear friend for over 75 years now.  

I Was Expected to Teach These Animals 

After I completed regular school I was given a scholarship to study English in La Paz to become a teacher. I moved to La Paz so I could study and after 4 years I graduated at 18 and could teach English to beginners. I received a scholarship to study in the United States but I was not ready to leave my family. I taught first grade and kindergarten at a local school. By law I was also required to teach for 2 years at a government school inorder to get my title renewed. The first year of my placement was at an all boys school with all male teachers. Here I was at a school of all men and I was expected to teach these animals, that’s what they were, wild animals. So,I went in and I remember the principal was this short bald man who looked me up and down and asked “YOU came to teach HERE?” I said ‘yes’ and handed him my papers. He probably thought to himself this girl will last a week. It was a tough place to teach, especially for a woman, a girl. On the first day I was whistled at, called names, and yelled over and over. After going home that first day I remember how scared I was, but I didn’t want anyone to know, especially my father. So that night I prayed, and cried, and prayed some more. So I did the only thing I could do, I went in the next day and started teaching English to these wild kids. 

The first week teaching at the boys school was a blur. I had no idea if they were learning from me, let alone even listening to me at all. I told them that week that they were going to have a test. Oh, they got so upset. “I am sorry”, I said “I need to know how much you are learning and comprehending”. The school was an old big house with a patio in the middle and on the second floor there were corridors that went into classes. There were windows we would leave open. I remember going in and there was this smell and kids eyes were watering. There was this plant, a weed, that would make your skin itch and your eyes water. I knew they had brought it into the classroom to try to get out of this exam.

It is important to note that we also used to have a guy that would walk around with a whip, a guy names Mr. Ramirez. I don't think he ever whipped them, he was really a teddy bear, but he sure knew how to scare them. I looked around the room, and then I wrote 10 questions on the board. I ordered one boy to shut all the windows and another to go and get Mr. Ramirez. I told him to wait outside. I wrote the 10 questions on the board for the exam, went into the hall and shut the door. I stood outside and watched them sweat and cry all because of this plant that they brought in to torture me. Mr. Ramirez asked what was going on and I said just look at them. He stopped and smiled, beginning to understand. They were crying and sweating and well anyways, after not too long I went in and relieved them. I’m not THAT mean. I picked up all the papers and tore them up and I said “Everyone gets a 1!”, but that stopped them from ever disrespecting me again. After that they started learning. 

At the end of the year they threw me a party and all the staff and the principal were there to celebrate my last day. The principal would call me Benjamin. I asked why and he said because he was thinking of the bible and the youngest son of Solomon was Benjamin and I was the youngest teacher. He said he never expected me to last a week let alone the whole year. The government was going to send me to another school but this school wanted me so they went on strike until I was able to stay with them for another year. I finished out my two years of teaching with them. Once my second year was up I went on to get married so I left for good. 

 So that is a little interesting part of my life that really shaped me, it showed me what I was capable of.