RE: Reflections!!

2013-DEC-23-1813Hrs

Errol. I had to put my two-cents worth. I hope it meets with your approval. I thought it might be a bit lengthy but as an attachment, it would not make a difference.

"REFLECTIONS!!!!!

As a member of class of ‘67 – ‘69, I identify with Scratch and Hazel in their comments. Permit me to share something of my life at Mausica starting with the first week.  The experience of that first week was so unpleasant that for weeks after I like many other First Year Students harboured strong feelings of dislike against our Second Year perpetrators. Thankfully time heals all wounds and those feelings have long left us. In my case I had heard nothing about what to expect and so the events took me completely by surprise. Having to return to my hostel room after assembly and meeting the bed stripped was a shocker, to put it mildly. In retrospect I am thankful that my roommate was Judith Suite who was my friend, both of us having come from Princes Town and having worked at the same institution before coming to Mausica. It was a source of consolation that we were both in it together. But having to try to sleep on strips of board was no fun. We switched from the ‘mattress-less’ bed to under the desk all in an effort to find a ‘comfortable’ spot but to no avail. And when we finally got a minute sleep, the door burst open and in stormed Irma Clarke (Sanowar) and Carol Burnette (Cook) to disturb the peace that we were trying to find. 

I believe I was targeted by Irma for special treatment because we were both from South and both attended Naparima Girls’ High School and Naparima College. To add insult to injury, Irma knew my brother who was and still is one of those persons you cannot help but like. And so her comment was – ‘Because George Mulrain is yuh brother, yuh feel yuh special!’ She and Carol, of course among others, worked to make our lives a living hell. I was so hurt that I told my other brother who used to take me back to Campus every Sunday, about the two whom he had known and he hated them with a passion (I am his only sister so he was very protective of me). To be honest I regretted telling him because even after I had forgiven them, having come to the understanding of what the exercises were all about, he just could not let it go. I went to great lengths to explain the scenario to him and eventually he was able to forgive them as I was. Let me hasten to let Irma know that I have absolutely no hard feelings against her. As a matter of fact I was happy when my son and hers met at Naps and became friends and are still friends. Thankfully Carol and I became friends once more and I don’t have feelings of remorse now that she is no longer here.

I must point out that there was one person who shielded me from many onslaughts and I don’t think he realized that he did it.  In fact I am sure of it because a few years ago I met him and he had no recollection of who I was. There was no motive behind his actions so I call him ‘my guardian angel’. I am speaking of Ralph Precilla and for the first time I want to thank him.

Matron (Mrs. Una Martin) was my biggest source of comfort.  I was so glad that I had known her before. We both were from the same church. We were neighbours. Her husband was the ‘headmaster’ of the Primary School I attended. I was so happy ever so often to steal across to her house to hear her words of consolation. God knows I needed them. I remember an incident when the Alumni Choir went to Jamaica and attended a cinema show and she accompanied us. Mr. Williams warned us to keep together to ensure that we did not get lost. Matron retorted, ‘I have been to London and to Paris and I didn’t get lost. Is little Jamaica I would lose in? Steups!’

There were two shows that morning and we attended the first one. My brother who at that time was studying at UTCWI came to meet myself and Agnes Howell to take us to lunch so we hustled out with him after the first show. The other choir members left in groups as advised by Fitzie. We were told to vacate the cinema speedily to leave room for patrons for the second show. Nobody remembered Matron in the cinema. 

When my brother dropped off Agnes and myself later in the evening to the camp site, before I could open my mouth one of the choir members approached me at the door with fingers on lips. Matron who had been to London and Paris and did not get lost had slept through both cinema shows and when she awoke had to find her way to a Police Station for directions to where we were staying. She blamed me of all persons for leaving her in the cinema. Needless to say she was cold with me for days after.

Coming back to the orientation exercises, I think what hurt us most as first years, was the fact that we got no support from the Administration and especially the Principal. We could not at the time understand their role in the situation. I remember one night in particular we were out in the cold with only our duster coats on (and underwear, of course) as specified by the Second Years, while our perpetrators were warmly clad.  They formed us into a ring and they had us playing a game passing a live frog round the circle. The frog was passed to us and put in our duster pockets and we had to take it out and pass it to the next person. If we dropped the frog we had to take it up and pass it again. The song was ‘I lost my frog on Saturday night and found it Sunday morning.’ It was disgusting. And then when we went to assembly, sleepy and tired like anything else, Harry Joe read a poem to us ‘Even this shall pass away.’ It was like ‘pushing his finger into our wound.’

The highlight of that week to me was the closing ceremony when we had two beautiful songs which were characteristic of us as early Mausicans. I don’t know if the later brothers and sisters were taught them. They were – ‘Departure’ and ‘Lead Kindly Light.’ Somehow that ceremony brought us together as a Mausican family. The line from ‘Lead Kindly Light’ which was very meaningful given the circumstances was - ‘The night is dark and I am far from home.’  We identified with it in the candle light procession which was part of the evening’s proceedings. Sadly, ‘Departure’ took on new meaning for class ‘67 – ‘69, when it was sung at the funerals of Cheryl Gittens and Horatio Hospedales who departed this life as a result of a road accident early in the New Year as they were returning from an ‘after- Christmas’  house lime in San Juan. Ironically it was a Battoo taxi which was bringing them and a few others home after they had been experiencing transportation difficulties. The others suffered injuries. If my memory serves me right, subject to correction, Maria Mora, Nicolin Redman, Janice Noel and Noel T. Duncan were the others. I cannot remember whether Orman Fournillier was with them.  Incidentally I was supposed to have attended that fete which was held at my relatives’ home but I did not go only because I was not feeling to leave the hostel that night. As an aside, I remember going to Teaching Practice sitting next to Cheryl on the bus and she was admiring the houses along the way and telling me which ones she would have liked to build when she began to work after she graduated. That was never to be because a few months after she was gone!

In closing I must say that our experiences at Mausica and including those at the Orientation exercises helped to bind us together so that it matters not what group we belonged to we are a family. I am sure that I am not singular when I say that it always warms my heart to meet another Mausican. I make bold to say that despite all the criticisms leveled against the institution called Mausica, it is one of the greatest if not the greatest thing that has ever happened to Teacher-Training in the history of Trinidad and Tobago.

To my Mausican brothers and sisters, I say ‘Compliments of the Season’ and all God’s blessings to you and your family for the year 2014!

Pearl Yvonne Mulrain – ’67 – ‘69"