When out with friends or colleagues, conversations often go into memories, childhood dreams and experiences people have gone through. I feel unsure on what reaction I should have in those situations, as for good or bad, most of my memories between 1990 and 2004 are gone. I do have clear memories of my pre-school years, as well as some random memories from Kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school. However I have to recognize that given the clear and concise memories I have from when I was 4 years old, I seem to have forgotten most of my childhood and teenager years.
I remember in pre-school, first in Sprendlingen in Germany, and then at "La Hormiguita". I first went to a Kinder in Sprendlingen, Germany. I only went there for about 2 months, when my family was planning on moving back to Germany before I started school, so me and my sister didn't have to change school afterwards and go through the whole leaving friends behind, and so on. I went to the same kinder my older cousin Vanessa visited, she was in her last pre school year and I was allowed to go in her class because I didn't speak German, and she spoke a bit Spanish. We used to play most of the time, and I loved playing in some sorts of tunnels twhere I would hide. ne boy used to make fun of me, and hit me, and I remember one day before school that I told my mom, and she screamed at the boy in Spanish. He never came close to me again. In school we used to take naps, and sometimes paint as well. I was one of the smallest kids in the class, if not the smallest and youngest, and Vanessa often protected me from older kids. After school we used to go home, and then in the afternoons my mom would take me and my sister to the park, where my sister and I would play (and of course scream). We lived back then at my grandmas', and she lived in a last floor. I would always go up the stairs jumping, which caused continuous jelling from my grandmother, as this was disturbing for the neighbors. After some weeks, Vanessa also learnt to jump up the stairs. I must recognize her mother was not pleased at all on the influence I was having in her well educated, quiet, German kid.
After about 2 months my parents decided to go back to Colombia, dad was going to stay some more years in Colombia as an expat, which meant I would start school in Bogota.
Once we got back to Bogota, I started going to "La Hormiguita". I must have been 3 and a half when I first went to la Hosrmiguita, and I remember the girls I always played with, and the doll house in the garden: We were 3 groups of girls who always wanted to play in the house, and we ran when the teahcers opened the door to get it, or try to. The boys used to climb on the outside for the sake of it, while we girls pretended to go grocery shopping (sand!) and to cook and such.
Every morning we would stand behind our chairs and pray, We would oray to the Guardian Angel, and to Virgin Mary.
I also remember I I had difficulties holding the pencil right, so the teacher always put a special rubber form in my pencil, to make me hold it correctly. I remember the day we learnt the days of the week, and some other words related to time. The teacher gave each of us papers where whe had put symbols. Mondays we normally had 'sports' so Monday was represented by a boy who loved to play ball. Wednesdays was arts day, I remember I was representing 'alternating', as my week was alternating between German with Connie and La Hormiguita.
I only went to the Hormiguita 3 times a week, the other 2 days I had German lessons with Connie, Tuesdays my parents drove me to Cota, and Fridays class was in a house in Bogota.
My 4th birthday was celebrated in the Hormiguita, I had a green dress, and my pre-school classmates were all there. The motive for the party was "guri guri", and I got a stuffed guri guri as a present. My neighour, who lived in the 4th floor of the building I lived in, was also there. We never walked together to school, but we often saw talked there. She was a bit older than me, and was sick. I often wonder now if she survived. I was too little to understand why she always wore a hat and seemed not to have hair. As I grew older I understood she had cancer.
I remember a day or two that my sister went with me to the Hormiguita. She had to stay with the younger kids, I was not yet 4, and she was barely 2.
All together I went to the Hormiguita for one year only: School year 88/89. While I was in the Hormiguita I had my admission test to the "Big School": I went 2 days to the Andino, where I was put with other kids I didn't know, and we had people talking to us, time to paint and play, etc. I remember an older man asking me what my drawing was, and watching me put a kids jigsaw together.
I also remember I had Blackberry juice in my lunch box, and I made a mess of my clothes with it. My lunchbox was pink, and the motive was "My little Pony". The classroom in the big school where I was for theh test was the Rabbit, and the teacher's name was Ingrid. The old guy's name was Jorge (Years later I figured out he was the school's psychologist).
After the school year ended we went to Germany for the summer, and once summer vacation was over I started to visit the "big school", the Colegio Andino, where I was a student until I finished High School.
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