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CHAPTER NINTH - The painful price of hope - I left Corleone in the summer of 1946 and went back to Fallo. In order to continue my studies I had to go to Lanciano where I completed my fifth year of the Ginnasio. My mother and I lived in a rented room in Via Garibaldi during the 1946-1947 academic year. Meanwhile we began to receive letters from my father through the Swiss Red Cross which would forward them to us. My father also began sending parcels to us as soon as the postal service from the United States was restored. He would send us articles such as shoes, clothes, soap, razor blades, shirt, sugar, coffee, chocolate, a leather jacket, and many more things which we really appreciated. These were articles that either were unavailable or extremely expensive in Italy at this time. Our room was in an old building in the old section of Lanciano. It was adjacent to a "collegio femminile", a private girl boarding school, managed by strict nuns. The girls in this institution attended public schools with us , but wore uniforms and were led to and from school by a nun. These girls were not allowed to interact with boys out of school. Occasionally some of the girls used to wave from the balcony adjacent to mine, but invariably an invisible nun pulled them in immediately. |  |
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My studies in Lanciano were very extensive since we had to prepare and pass a special examination to "graduate" from the Ginnasio and to be admitted to the Liceo. This examination consisted of a series of examinations, written and oral, in every major subject and covering the material studied during the five years of Ginnasio. These examinations lasted about eight days. The results of the examinations and the grades, as well as the year grades, were posted for the public to see on the bulletin board of the school "lobby". At this time one had to pass all subjects in order to continue to the next level. If a student failed one or two subjects he had the opportunity to take a make-up examination in these subjects in September , if he failed again he had to repeat the whole year. Preparing for these comprehensive examinations was a grueling experience. During this last year of Ginnasio, beside studying for our regular classes, we had to review for these examinations at the end of the year. As usually, we often studied in groups of two or three, and occasionally some girls, those with more understanding "landlords", would join us. This general review which we started right after the Christmas recess often led to stimulating conversation, exchange of ideas, and developing good research habits. For the sake of efficiency, the time consuming researches were divided among us and later shared and explained when we met in groups. I had some excellent teachers this year in Lanciano. The study of literature was particularly interesting. In our long analysis and discussions of literary works we began to discover new ideas and at the same time to understand |
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