Educational problems

I believe it was in seventh grade when I met Isabel Mendoza, the best literature teacher that the city of Oruro ever had. The lady had complete mastery of the Spanish language; not a comma, not an accent, nothing escaped her. She was an absolute guardian of the language.

She didn't teach with an iron fist, but she did use the rod. No one escaped a hit with chalk, a ruler, or a slap on the head if they deserved it. One morning when everyone in the city seemed to be in a bad mood, indicating that nothing was going well for them, Isabel, grumbling, took the list of students and then asked for the summaries of the book "Corazón" by Edmundo de Amicis.

When our classmate, Mayra Rodríguez, said she hadn't brought it, we all turned pale, knowing that we would witness some form of pedagogical violence. However, Isabel gave her a chance and asked for the reason for the absence. "We had problems at home over the weekend," was the timid response.

"Problems? We all have problems! This world is full of them! Do you want to know how I solve my problems? I start washing clothes with cold water until my hands split from pain. But I love it because that's how I feel alive, that's how I realize that problems don't exist. You are from a generation of hugs and pampering; you will never understand what real problems are," she said, and surprisingly, she didn't hit her.

I think that was the first time I received a cold dose of family reality. It took me years to realize that the teacher and the student were the same person. Sometimes, for fun, I wash a T-shirt or some socks with cold water in my bathroom sink, and I like to imagine that eventually, their lives had happy endings, just like in Edmundo de Amicis's book.