Today we enjoyed another action-packed day at Colegio Santa Ursula while our students were on retreat in Maipu which is about an hour away - Maipu is where the Ursuline Sisters live in a beautiful monastery. There is a second Ursuline school there as well as a farm where the sisters grow much of their food (including the best raspberries in the world). We greeted our students for a few minutes when they returned from retreat and they said that it was "wonderful", that they made a new friend (an exchange student from Germany) and that the monastery in Maipu was the most beautiful place they had ever been. It's worth mentioning that this is the very beginning of Spring here in Chile and all is in bloom. The girls especially loved the colorful flowers and the orange trees that they saw in Maipu - we are hoping to share some of their photos soon!
As you may have guessed, Ms. Bauer and I spent the day in several meetings - with Department Chairs, with the English and History departments and finally with the Technology Department. The English Department here sends a big greeting to the Spanish Department at UA, with whom they have collaborated on several projects - they are excited to work even more closely together in the future! And the Technology Department was thrilled to have the benefit of Ms. Bauer's expertise for the afternoon. We even met the "Kyle the caveman"of Santiago who is named "Roberto" and he was happy to learn that Kyle would understand the many challenges that he faces when it comes to students and their laptops.
In between our many meetings, we took a little walk over to the newly re-decorated Church which is part of the Ursuline campus. Since we were last here, the Church has gone through a 3 stage re-decoration plan (of which 2 stages are complete). A female Chilean artist who lives in Germany was commissioned to sculpt bronze Stations of the Cross for the church in addition to various sculptures for the altar, the pulpit and the tabernacle. She also redesigned the color scheme and used Venetian plaster on the walls. Additionally, a giant round light fixture made of bronze was placed in front of the altar - Andrea, the school Asst. principal, told us that it was all installed three days prior to the earthquake in February and that they were terrified about what might have happened. Thankfully, perhaps miraculously, no damage was done!!! One other interesting detail about the artist is that her husband, also an artist, recently sculpted a statue of Saint Angela for the Vatican.
One last but important highlight of the day was our Skype call back home to UA Dallas. We gathered some English language students and we placed a call back to my Freshman advisory. It was great fun for the girls to see and hear each other! The students, as always, were very interested in details such as the school uniform of the other school. Students in Dallas, you will be amused to know that the girls here don't understand why you wear "bowling shoes" to school. However, they continue to be wild about the plaid skirt. It was also interesting to note that the girls here are having a hard time imagining that it will be cold in January in Dallas (during their summer) when they visit! All in all, it was a great interaction and the students enjoyed talking and laughing together!
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