When old is gold
I bumped into these photos as I was searching for some old documents in my deserted old boxes.
The occasion and the date of the photos go back to 1989, the year of my graduation from Schmidt’s Girls College , and the 100th Anniversary of the school.
We were well treated I believe, as we were the class that marked the 100th year of that school , and maybe the last years for a school administration that was phenomenal.
When looking at the photos a wide smile invaded my face, and a serious thought erupted my pleasure or searching in those memories… they were not monsters after all !!!!! If the photos reflect anything , they can only tell another story from the monstrous image we have as students : fun, loving, participatory, a lot of fun I would say and happy faces in all directions: students ( us) , teachers, and administration .
If this tells something , it tells the story of how we became the good people that we are . We grew up in such a healthy , proper, rich environment that gave us the most serious education and yet left us with so much love …. reflected as here…
On the photos I can see , remember , wonder of their whereabouts … some left the country , some left life , some will look into these photos and share with me the great feelings I am experiencing as I am looking at them.
Our teachers and school staff and administration : Miss Angel ( the most powerful woman in Jerusalem) Mother AngelinA ( the principal) sister Renate ( German teacher) sister Constansia( music and English teacher) , sister Redigundez (chemistry teacher)
Miss Anna ( maths in elementary ) miss Layla, miss Mimi ( Arabic), miss Ghada( kindergarten), Miss Rose( History), Miss Yvette (English), Mrs Giakaman, Sir Vahe with his Okordion and his wife, Miss Alice ( all from our elementary and prep years )
Ustaz Muhannad Beidas ( physics teacher)( also on the siso)
Ustaz George Harb ( arabic teacher ) (also on the siso)
Ustaz Basem Mheisen ( geography teacher )
My classmates and lifetime friends :Habiba Ghoul , Razan Husseini, Maissa Hidmi, Arda Batarseh, Layali Kaddoumi ,Huwaida Abdeen, Joumana Assaly,
The location was in Rafat , a monastery and a guesthouse ( maybe) that the school is affiliated with .
You bring up a great, and this day and age VERY important truth to keep in mind: perspective!
“they were not monsters after all !!!!! If the photos reflect anything , they can only tell another story from the monstrous image we have as students : fun, loving, participatory, a lot of fun I would say and happy faces in all directions: students ( us) , teachers, and administration.”
There is something about the passing of time (and hopefully the gaining of a little wisdom) that allows us to step out of the ground level emotion of the immediate and see things from a higher altitude.
It’s a good thing to remember! Thanks for the reminder :^)
You welcome… somehow, we tend to ‘grow’ wiser … for those lucky among us… we are often trapped into a whirlpool of one sided memory of events.