Thank you Miss Boland

Me: How many tests do we have to do?
Bernie: Only nine.
Me: And how many of them involve learning the latin names for stuff?
Bernie: Most of them.
Me: Speechless.
Yes it’s back to school to learn the names of all of the living components of a coral reef. I knew this was part of the programme, but I was ill-prepared for my return to the learning process. Admittedly, I got off to a poor start by falling asleep in the first lecture. In my defence, I had been travelling for over 48 hours, so I think my tiredness was understandable.
Over the next several days, I gradually got my head – and tongue – round Seriatopora hystrix, Protoreaster nodosus and Chaetomorpha. Who could have guessed that all that dreary Latin my teacher tried hard to drum into me at school would be so useful 40 years on. Granted, it also came in handy when reading the Harry Potter books, but it has otherwise not helped me much until now.
Two weeks later and I have got pretty much all of the names under my belt. I still have some difficulty identifying the really tiny algae, but that’s because they are too small to see properly, not because my Latin is inadequate.
So, Miss Boland, it’s probably too late for you to hear this, but please accept a belated thank you from a less than diligent student.