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Swedes, Spaniards, even South Africans and Indians. The most numerous and lively group was that of the Americans. I was the only Italian.

Since I was single and did not have a specialized program to follow, I was housed where there was more room, that is, in the pavilion of the "little ones," between the ages of 12 and 15. But because I knew English, the Americans ended up accepting me in their group and often came to see me, in turn, in my room.

From them I discovered that even when you were very young you could smoke, dye your nails and even have a boy-friend. That you could have your own money and do business: in fact they sold each other clothes and objects, bought sweets and comic newspapers, I also discovered that you could have more than two parents - they were often daughters of divorcees - and that it was preferable to look for and befriend the richest one.

For the Easter holidays the boarding school organized a trip to Paris but my mother preferred that I stay in Brillantmont to study. And so I found myself alone in the empty boarding school. Not quite empty actually: there was another girl left. French, from Paris. She did not receive much sympathy because she was almost always secluded. She put on airs, the girls argued. She was the daughter of a "countess" they stressed with a contempt that was incomprehensible to me.

Meeting her while she was walking in the garden, I barely greeted her but began to recognize that she was really pretty. Not tall, well proportioned, long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, doe eyes. We found ourselves reading on the same bench and I told her my name was Adriana and she said her name was Monique and asked me what my book was about and I immediately decided that her French was melodious, very different from that of the Swiss mademoiselles. Then one day we began to discuss about Moliere and Napoleon and another about Delacroix...