The Second Exodus – Egypt – CXXVII. My Education – (3 of 13)
Date Posted: June 21st, 2012
Kindergarten
On Rue Tour Sina, within walking distance of my paternal grandparents, was a school, L’Ecole Keyroub. This school started with kindergarten. And that it were I was sent early in 1943 at the age of 6. The idea was to introduce me gradually to the school system, for by October 1943, I was expected to begin school in earnest. But, to no one’s surprise, things didn’t work well at all.
At the beginning, I cried everyday. More than once, the school’s janitor had to take me back to my grandparents. On one occasion, I wouldn’t go with the janitor, and my grandfather had to come down and fetch me. I am told that a month went by before I calmed down. However, that didn’t mean that I made peace with the school system; when I was asked if I liked school, I responded with a frightening passion that I hated it. What was happening in kindergarten was a harbinger of things to come.
I was given origami paper, it came in different colors, and the teacher showed us what we could do with it. Other kids embraced the concept, but not me; I found it frustrating and the origami sessions resulted in tears and hysteria. (Origami is an ancient Japanese art of folding paper. You can make a paper plane, a boat, birds, etc. Origami paper comes in different colors and is fairly thin to facilitate folding).
Playdough? I found it boring and refused to use it. Paper and colored pencils? Yes, I loved it, but the signs were clear, I would never be an artist! Story time? My favorite. The teacher was also partial to this activity for she had a pliant class. Sing-song? I could live with it, but here again, it was clear that a career in music was totally out of the question!
Most of that period was spent by my grandparents. Early in June, I was shipped to Alexandria. Thus, for most of 1943, my parents were given a reprieve. But the question hang in the air: What would happen in October? (Because Egypt is a hot country, summer vacation runs from the end of June to the end of September. School resumes in October. Same thing for university).
