Be careful with the coffee, don't drink so much, it's bad for you...! My mother used to say every time we went out to the square to study.
At that time, in the early seventies, the month of July was the time of high school final exams. It was a month of great emotional tension because for many it meant passing or failing the school year.
In Caracas it was customary for students to gather in the city squares in order to prepare for the exams. Between seven and eight o'clock at night, students would begin to arrive with their extension chairs and their thermoses of coffee, and they would remain there until the wee hours of the morning. This student activity totally changed the routine of the squares.
The city of those times loved and spoiled the students. The police would hang out in the plazas not to intimidate the kids but to protect them, for those days in July those places were very safe.
Until the third year my mother never allowed me to go out to the plaza to study, she considered that there were more risks than benefits. I would stay in a bad mood locked up in the house, sad for not being able to do something that was normal for the rest of my classmates. I was very envious to listen to the stories of my friends in their nocturnal adventures, where I could not miss the beginning of a romance with any of the girls who attended the squares...
By the time I reached the fourth year my mother had changed her mind, she allowed me to go to the plaza on the condition that I did not go alone. I remember that the first time I went, it was about five days before the final exam in physics, a subject I found very incomprehensible.
Our study group consisted of five boys and two girls, including Vanessa, whom I had always liked very much. She had a brother who was studying at the University and had agreed to explain some of the more difficult subjects to us. We would meet from eight o'clock at night until two o'clock in the morning and the truth is that we devoted quite a lot of time to study.
The method to keep us awake was to drink large amounts of coffee. During the first night I would drink almost a liter, I had never drunk so much coffee before and I felt the effect the next morning, it was hard to sleep long enough to be fresh for the night.
On the second night we had decided to extend the study time until four in the morning. I was on the verge of not going because I knew that the next morning I had to accompany my mother to a medical check-up. I played brave and went to the plaza, knowing that I would not have time during the day to sleep. We studied all night and as usual we drank coffee until the thermoses ran out.
In the morning I accompanied my mother, not feeling sleepy at all. The consultation lasted until about two o'clock in the afternoon. On the way home I ate, lay down for a while but could not sleep. I got up and went for a walk until the sun went down.
At about seven o'clock I went to the square, all the way I felt a little headache and when we started to study I could not concentrate. I continued drinking coffee...
A little after midnight my hands began to shake. I put them in my pockets but they kept moving. Vanessa noticed, she asked me if I was okay. I didn't even have the heart to answer her, my whole body was shaking and I felt disoriented.
The whole group got up and escorted me home. My mother saw me and knew immediately what it was all about, she was hardly surprised. I told you, too much coffee can hurt, she muttered under her breath...
I had a terrible time that whole day. My mother made me take a bath with lukewarm water, and only fed me chicken soup and chamomile tea.
Vanessa visited me in the afternoon to see how I was doing. My mother told her that I could not go to study.
I spent that night with a lot of restlessness, I could hardly sleep for an hour or two. By the next day I began to feel better. Vanessa went back to my house, but I didn't go back to the plaza to study.
The day of the exam came and I failed. It was the first time I had failed a subject, and it was my turn to take the remediation tests scheduled for September.
The good thing was that Vanessa and I had already hooked up and during that August vacation month we went everywhere together.
Since those days I became very careful with my coffee consumption, the most I drink is two cups a day.
Thanks for your time.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version).
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