Sunday, January 31, 2010

Colegio Anglo - The Original Premises

The building of the Colegio Anglo was a rambling old colonial residence, converted into classrooms. A heavily timbered doorway opened onto a large patio on to which the classrooms opened. It was a two storied edifice, with a balcony around the patio on the second story. The primary department occupied the ground floor and the ‘medi’ or the high school section the upper floor. A wide stairway led from the street entrance to the second floor. The offices of the Director and secretary overlooked the Plaza. A small back staircase led from the high school department to a little back yard, which was designated ‘el estadio’ or stadium. This was the high school playground. The primary department used the large patio. Halfway up the small winding staircase was a broom cupboard, known as the ‘calabozo’, in which particularly bad boys were locked up. There was a hole in the door where a knot had been knocked out. It was about eye height. One could tell whether or not the calabozo was occupied or not by the gleam of the recreants eye. The whole building reeked of petroleum, which the caretaker liberally applied to the floors to keep down the fleas. I was soon to learn how necessary this precaution was. After a brief inspection of the premises I was convinced that there was a vast difference between schools in Peru and schools in New Zealand. I had yet to learn that it is not the building that makes the school but the teachers.