First impressions

After what seemed liked a few minutes sleep, Tracy and I were collected on Monday morning from our little flat, just off the Avenido del Doctor Fleming and driven to the Colegio Divina Pastora. It’s a pink building, the colour of Germolene in the shape of a capital F. If I have understood the Spanish correctly, it seems to be a former Franciscan convent, transformed in 1949 into a school for children aged 3 to 18, from Kindergarten to Baccalaureate, comprising 800 pupils.

The Principal, Ana and academic mentors took us into a side room to give us an overview of the school and assign our mission ( which of course we chose to accept!). A tour of the school followed, which was a bit like wandering through Hogwarts, a labyrinth of marbled corridors and wrought-iron stairways, rooms large and small, underground canteens and upper chapels. It soon became obvious that the school operates like one big noisy, tactile family with everyone on first name terms. After the social distancing excesses of Covid -19, it feels a little unusual to be hugged and manhandled by strangers, but there is no doubting the warmth and sincerity of the welcome.

I have been assigned to the primary school children, teaching youngsters aged 6 to 12. As an object of interest from the outset I was asked one hundred questions with varying degrees of fluency and accuracy, but there is no denying the enthusiasm of the students... “How old are you?”, “Where you come from?” “Do you have brother or sister?” “What is your favourite food?” “Do you have a pet?”   The morning flew by, a blur of faces, questions and classrooms. Many of the students are taking Trinity exams, which involve speaking to an external examiner, so I spent the morning practising discussion topics with small groups and helping them refine their conversation.

Lunch in the canteen was an assault on the senses, a cacophony of noise, the smells of freshly cooked food and frantic waving from children who recognised me from the morning’s classes.

 The short sojourn in the park in the sunshine on the walk home was a welcome respite from the busy morning, but the first impressions have been very positive. I have the feeling that the time here is going to fly by!