Back to another new school after my little getting to know where i live tour.
Strange school this one though although they did talk English here. The men had dresses on and collars round their necks. Yes it was to be my first foray into religion, that blessed comfort for some and the cause of turmoil and centuries of war for others. I myself am an atheist thank god, i talk to myself and give myself the answers may not be the right ones all the time, but it is what i have learnt to do thru little trust of others. So yes the school was a church one which religion i don't really know, not that that meant much to me , but there was lots of singing, praying and shushing to the noisy children by the men in black dresses. i can recall the beach and the sea out of the window so close to the classroom and yet so far away during lesson time. But hey the life of a child isn't meant to be all hard work is it. So when it was home time we couldn't get back to the children's home fast enough for tea. Why well, after your chores it was swimming trunks on and down to the beach for a swim, i can still recall it, the careers from the home all sat on their towels watching us, this group of children in front of them splashing around in the sea all excited. Even on the days we couldn't go to the beach we had another way of cooling down in the summer sunshine. We had our own tin bath in the garden filled with cold water. The type your great grandmother used to bath in every night in the house in front of the open fire. I had a photo of me in the tin bath my only one from my time in Hastings but unfortunately have lost it on my travels. From memory i can recall nice times in this home a feeling of belonging and really the first time i felt a part of a group, we all had meals together at the table and all had our own coloured napkins, plates and cutlery, plates and cups, which we had to look after or the fear of being put into the naughty book was threatened and that meant no swimming. So these small things became your pride and joy to look after. The carers were called sisters and i can only recall one man present in the house at all times but i think he was the main person of the house. As with many stories of children's homes that have come out thru the years since most have been closed i was too witness some abuse that was served upon some of the children by supposedly responsible adults and even my first witness of children abusing themselves. I was getting older now and i think i was beginning to realise that sometimes the way you think your life was quite normal as you put things you see to the back of your mind. When in fact it is really inst normal and shouldn't happen that way.
