59 



the girls were asked which languages had contributed to 

 English, when, and "what kinds of words; there was dis- 

 cussion of fourteenth century England, of Chaucer and 

 the individuality of characters in the "Canterbury Tales. * 



The French class was Sor Alicia's own, so she took it 

 over, -he girls had a better accent than in the English ; 

 class. There were dialogues, discussions of late media- 

 val writers, and conversation. 



Next was a class in shorthand. A business letter was 

 read aloud by the teacher and transcribed in sections on 

 the blackboard by the students and then read back at 

 good speed. The teacher gave advice on types of letters, 

 among which was a recommendation of short ones for the 

 United States! 



In the class in Spanish there was dictation and a dis- 

 cussion of punctuation. On the blackboard were some words, 

 "zigzag", !1 transparent e — trasparente" , ff observo — oser- 

 vo n , H simul — seme jante n . There was discussion as to 

 when the alternate forms were to be used. 



The gymnastics class was held in a paved yard, equipped 

 with baskets; when they arrived the class was getting up 

 from the ground and then marched in fours. The teacher 

 wore the full nan costume, the girls were in white blouses 

 inside full black skirts, with black shoes and stockings. 

 Girls in the class rooms wore striped blue and white smock 

 aprons, piped around collar, cuffs and pockets with blue, 

 over dresses and sweaters. 



They visited two classes of chiquitas; both were in 

 navy coats and caps ready to go out; both stood in the 

 aisles and sang to the visitors. One class sang a song 

 about evercises, with appropriate arm movements, clap- 

 ping, hops, etc. The second sang about "el pobrecito, 

 sin los ojos como puede mirar, sin los oldos eomo puede 

 o'r, etc., etc. The second class filled in blanks in 

 sentences on the blackboard - !I La vaca come pasto n , n La 

 naranja es buena !I , "No cor ran en la calle ?, # 



All. of the classes were held on the first floor; on 

 the second floor was an eye clinic and a dental clinic 

 for the internadas . There were dormitories, clean and 

 light, nothing but rows of hospital beds, each with a 

 chair and a bath towel over the back of the chair; two 

 or more large rooms and several smaller ones with ten or 

 twelve beds each made up the sleeping arrangements for 

 the boarding pupils. There were clean new lavatories 

 down both sides of the halls. In the dining room were 

 long narrow tables with white linen cloth, two white rolls 

 at each place with a scanty saucer of cooked fruit. At 

 one side was a stack of large soup plates and some silver 

 goblets. There was a chapel with a large elaborate altar 

 there were two or three girls praying in corners and ten 



