School of Pain

I noticed something amusing in the background of this picture I took during a parade.


The school of P.A.I.N. in the aldea of Tampó—a place where children learn the hard way.

The acronym actually stands for “Programa de Atención Integral al Niño” (Program of Complete Attention to the Child) in Spanish, and I imagine there is no real physical pain involved in the learning process.

P.A.I.N. for a school is funny, but my all time favorite acronym is that of a special forces unit in the French Army, “Les Commandos de Recherche et d'Action dans la Profondeur,” or C.R.A.P. for short. They changed the name in 1999. Do you think maybe they weren’t getting any respect from English speakers?