Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

tor, who surveyed the entire room from a balcony flanked by a rampand a staircase.We never had a moment's privacy. In study hall, for example,when a pupil went to the bathroom (a rather slow process, since wehad to go one by one), the proctor watched him until he went outthe door. Once in the corridor, the pupil found another priest, whokept an eye on him the entire length of the hallway, until he reacheda third priest stationed at the bathroom door.Yes, the Jesuits took great pains to make sure there was no contactamong us. We always walked double file with our arms crossed onour chests (which kept us from passing notes) and at least a yardbetween the lines. We marched to the courtyard for recess in twosilent columns, until a bell signaled permission to shout and run.Those were the rules~constant surveillance, no "dangerous" contact,total silencein study hall, in the chapel, even in the dining room.Firmly grounded in these rigorously enforced principles, our educationsproceeded apace. Religion had the lead role; we studiedapologetics, the catechism, the lives of the saints. We were fluentin Latin. Basically, the Jesuits used many of the same pedagogicaltechniques that had governed scholastic argumentation in the MiddleAges. The desafto, for instance. If I were so inspired, I could challengeany one of my classmates to a debate on any of the daily lessons. Iwould call his name, he would stand up, I would announce mychallenge and ask him a question. The language of these jousts wasstrictly medieval: "Contra te! Super te!" (Against you! Above you!)"Vzs cento?" (Do you want to bet a hundred?) "Volo!"(Yes!) At theend of the tourney, the professor designated a winner, and bothcombatants went back to their seats.I also remember my philosophy course where the professor, smilingwith pity and compassion, explained the doctrines of "poor"Kant, who was so lamentably deceived in his metaphysical reasoning.We took notes frantically, because in the next class the professoroften called on a student and demanded: "Refute Kant for me!" Ifthe student had learned his lesson well, he could do it in two minutes.