I dunno why but this morning I thought about her on my way to work. She was the principal of my school and she was one of the wisest women I've ever known. She ruled a school of 1500 children, "The Assumption of the Virgin Mary", and she did a fine work. She was tall, slim, she had grey hair and a constant serious look, and she was supposed to be the Devil's twin sister. She scarcely left her office and most of the kids didn't even know her, so her only mention was enough to scare the hell out of us.

My school was a private one and really strict rules applied. We had to wear a navy blue uniform with a white polo, navy socks and navy jacket, all of which had to remain immaculate from the very beginning to the very end of the day, our hair had to be always tied up with blue or white elastics (loose hair was supposed to be lusty), our navy shoes had to be always shiny (hard task when it came to playground affairs), we couldn't wear any jewelry, we weren't allowed to eat chewing gum or to talk at c-lass, we had to remain quiet during c-lass breaks and never laugh, we couldn't run at all inside school facilities (not even at the playground), we had to enter and leave the school by a precise door (the school had loads of doors, different playrooms were set for the different courses, every door having a Saint Name and depending on our age, we were assigned one door or the other), we had to keep the blackboard and the c-lassroom cleaned (yeah, we had to broom and to dust and to empty the dumpsters and so on...), we had to keep our desk and locker in order (lockers so to speak, they had no lock at all for their checking), we couldn't attach any single pic to our school folders (not to mention the lockers), we had to be always on time to reach every morning's prayer by P.A. system, we had to attend the mass and visit the confessional booth once a week, we had to attend spiritual exercises once a year, we had to bring flowers to the Virgin every May, we had to drink our milk and take some fluorine for our teeth daily, we weren't allowed to bring any money, we had to collect at least one book per week from the library and sign on for 2 sport teams...just to mention some.

As you can imagine, most of the above rules were broken on a daily basis, but the punishments weren't really hard. Most of the times some telling off used to do, other times we had to bring some cash for the missions (yeah right), and the others we suffered the usual standing up against the wall, copying some lesson half a dozen of times and stuff like that. But the worst punishment ever was to go and visit the principal's office. We didn't know of anyone who had (you had to do really wrong to be granted one ticket to hell).

I wasn't a bad girl, but I was mischievous and stubborn with a tendency to get into trouble. But I was sincere as well, and I always reckoned my own pranks. Despite that, I was suddenly charged with the ones others concealed. It was the first time I was charged unjustly, and I stood up for myself to the point that I lost my nerves I ended up slapping the teacher (yeah I know, I have quite a temper). Guess what? I was sent directly to the principal's office, and which was a 2 minute way took me like 20 minutes. I was feeling sick, my knees were trembling, I was convinced she was gonna kick the sh*t out of me. So I knocked at the door and waited for my fate.

What I found couldn't have surprised me more. She knew me by my name and not only because the teacher had reported me in advance, but also because she knew of my previous pranks. She even laughed at some of them (yeah :shock: ) especially when I accessed the nuns' laundry and hung their underwear from the hallway lamps (yeah :lol: ). She truly believed I was telling the truth, because so far I had always confessed all my mischiefs, so she asked me to forgive the teacher and apologize to her and stuff. She offered me something to eat and we chatted for a while. Then she lead me to the back of her office, which had direct access to the room were all the educational material was kept. All the geographical and political maps, the anatomy ones with the bones, muscles, digestive, reproductive, excretory, respiratory and circulatory systems and all that stuff. So my punishment consisted of studying with her all those maps, which was kinda fun. She gave me a hug before I left and asked me to keep my visit a secret (she knew her reputation kept everyone in their senses) and to behave. Which of course I did like for like one week or so, when I discovered whose fault it really was :wink:

I was a celebrity, because rumour spread that I had survived to the principal's tortures, but just as I was asked, I kept my visit a secret. And surprisingly enough, I started to be sent to her office for every minimal fault, like running, or chewing gum or having a button unbuttoned and so on. I didn't care at all because I really enjoyed her company and it took me a while to understand that she enjoyed mine as well. She loved children, but her position prevented her for being close to them, so she asked my teachers to report me to her with any small issue I may be involved in. She perfectly knew I would be reported usually, and after I realized what was really going on, I started to gain my own reporting tickets willingly. After a couple of months, I just needn't do no wrong. I just told the teachers she asked me to go and I left the c-lassroom trotting happily. She used to told me off a bit for leaving the c-lassroom but she received me happily and although I was considered a complete weirdo, I didn't care then as I don't care now.

So I missed a lot of c-lasses, which was great, but I learned the rivers and mountains and capitals and human body inners by heart. I had more knowledge than my own grade was required, so after that ground was covered, Mother Teresa started to take me for walks. My school had enormous fields around. There were lots of playgrounds, a soccer field, 2 tennis fields, 3 basketball fields and then loads of green surfaces. There was this avenue leading to the nuns' cemetery. The trees on the sides entwined their branches on top, so it was cool and shady in summer. I loved going there with her.

In these little outings, we had nice conversations, and she taught me the basics of French language, pointing at things and making me repeat those words. I also repeated incessantly random sentences until she considered I pronounced them right. I won't ever forget: "Les poissons nagent sous le pont". According to her, I never quite mastered that one. Then she taught me French songs I still perfectly recall: "En passant par la Lorraine", "Sur le Pont D'Avignon", "Frère Jacques", "Au Milieu des Grands Bois", "On dit que les Chats aiment les Raisins"...We were a funny couple, singing aloud and feeding birds some bread. 

But all good things come to and end. There are "The Assumption of the Virgin Mary" schools all around the world, and she was asked to leave mine and join another. I cried and cried like a baby, even if I was 13 by then. She gave me a little wooden cross as a present, which smelled like olives. And then we got Mother Irene as a principal, which was the real Devil's twin sister (I could tell enough for another blog). I couldn't stand her and she couldn't stand me. Three years after that, I buried my little wooden cross in the nuns' cemetery, sang "Sur le Pont D'Avingnon" between tears and although I hadn't finished my studies there, I left "The Assumption of the Virgin Mary" forever.