Although we always played the same game, playing never became routine. Playing became a life, our life, our team life.

It’s funny how memory works. I forgot the routine of the school desk, the green blackboard and the chalk, the crowded school corridors, the turning of the pages of books and squared notebooks that looked at me without saying anything and remained blank until I began a conversation with them, a thought; and they tried to fit it between blue lines and margins.

The routine stayed there, between the covers of the books, together with a host of memories that my mind chose to classify, simplify and forget.

But I did not forget my friends. I remember Nuria’s pink tracksuit and Daniel’s mortadella sandwiches, Laura’s tremendous skill at winning the elastic-band game, María’s skates with their red wheels and how we drew flowers on them with Carioca markers on the day it rained so much that we couldn’t go out into the playground.

Memories of colour. Although we always played the same repertoire of activities, playing never became a routine. We learned to run together, to pass the baton, to help one another.

If someone fell, we helped them up; if we were an odd number, we broke the rules so we could divide up without decimals. We learned that we were all equal and that we were all different, that each of us had our strengths and our weaknesses, and that together we could do more. We learned to conquer friendship, tolerance and respect.

Nobody taught us to memorise the values, but they remained there forever. And we grew up feeling integrated, capable, happy. No one graded the lessons we learned game after game; we were the ones who knew that it had been a notable afternoon or an outstanding morning.

We were examined individually in each theoretical subject, but we insisted on studying them together. As a team we learned and taught in equal parts.

Nobody taught us to memorise the values, but they remained there forever.

It’s funny how life works. All those grades helped us fill out our CVs, and all those hours of friendship, play and sport helped us become better people, better teammates and better friends. And in the end, life is something we live as a team.