"The intertwining of religion and state is a thing best avoided"
My vocabulary consisted of the words: boy, girl, apple, and orange. We had come to Ireland from Iran for my Mum to study for her PhD. That first week, her supervisor was good enough to take us to the school where we were to register. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we got lost en route to the school. But on arrival we were welcomed warmly and registered on the spot. We were even given our green uniforms and some books. The next day we were ready to go to school.
Later in the week, however, my Mum’s supervisor got a call. It was from a school principal wondering where her new pupils were. Somehow, between the supervisor’s benevolence and our language capacity, we had ended up at a different school from the one where we were supposed to have registered.
