A beautiful game you can play with people you love!

Listen to this story at the TP Podcast

When I was a teenager, at high school, I was very lucky, because I discovered a game I love, “Si fuera…”. In those days, Franco had just died and high schools were wonderful places, at least my high school was, a public school where teachers were putting into practice what they couldn’t do during the dictatorship. High schools were better places than today because they were not prisons for teachers and students. During the break we could simply walk out of the school to go to a nearby bakery to buy our morning snack, “una palmera, un cuerno de chocolate”. When a teacher was ill, he or she had the right to stay home and get his or her salary anyway (not like today), and we, the students, had the chance to have a free hour! We learned/learnt to be free in this way! We could move around the premises: stay in class if we did not get loud (otherwise the floor janitor would send us out to the playground), go to the library to catch up with overdue work, go to the cafeteria to play cards or learn to play cards and socialize, go to the playground to play basketball, or just sit and have “pipas” (roast and salted sunflower seeds) and a good talk with classmates and friends…

And one thing we did was play games, like talking games, like games that allowed us spend time together and learn about each other. I still remember playing “Si fuera…”.

This is the Game. One person leaves the group. The group chooses one person in the group. When the person who left comes back, he or she asks things like, “Si fuera música, ¿qué música sería esa persona?”, “Si fuera un periodo histórico, ¿qué perido sería?”, “Si fuera un objeto de la casa…” “Si fuera un animal…”, “Si fuera un color… un olor… una fase del día…”, “Si fuera una palabra…”, “Si fuera…” Imagination to power! (I love the internet: I have found it! Click here!)

This game is beautiful in several ways. It develops your creativity, it helps you learn about yourself and others, it helps you learn about how others see you, it helps you learn to relate to people and love and value people, it allows you to share unforgettable moments with them. Whatever your age is, try to play it with people you love — friends, family…

As a teacher, I can only use this game when I have to teach Second Conditionals AND the group has a good dynamic (If that person WERE [subjunctive]/WAS [indicative]…, what would that person be?) I can only use it towards the end of the course, because it is more beautiful when people know each other. That’s why I recommend you play it with friends and family.

The most beautiful thing I heard while playing this game, when I was 17, still too young to be someone, was this:

• “If this person were an object in the house, what would this person be?”
• And a classmate replied, “A window with a broken handle” ❤ ❤ ❤

I will always remember this. At that time, I didn’t know who I was. And this image was important. It told me something I could be, my potential. It was like a guiding star.

Perhaps I’m a weirdo, but I have to say that this is one of my favorite/favourite memories. When I feel that the world is upside down and hostile (like teenagers often feel, I think), this memory gives me strength and hope. The strength of beautiful things happening every day, everywhere, and the hope that some day we’ll be able to understand each other.

I’m going to record this for the TP Podcast because it’s been a while since I last posted a story there. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂 ❤

Post Script: The original thing Pablo said was: “A window that cannot close (well)” “Una ventana que no cierra” — I just remembered. Can you draw it?