Farewell to our Brazilian Guests!

Saturday was a sad day as we had to say goodbye to our friends from Brazil. We hated to see them go but we are grateful for our good times and happy memories of the last two weeks. Saturday was also a day of severe weather here in Dallas so, regretfully, the group left a few hours late which caused them to miss their connection in Miami. So, our friends ended up with a surprise excursion to Miami where they finally left last night - 24 hours later than expected. As always, international travel is full of surprises!

We at Ursuline are profoundly grateful to our five host families who helped to make this exchange such a success! Thank You for your kindness, generosity and flexibility!

Last School Day with our Brazilian guests

Thursday was the last day for our Brazilian guests to be with us at school. It was also the Feast of St. Ursula and the day when we celebrated the life of our beloved Father Deeves. As you can imagine, the day was filled with activity and emotion. First, we had a beautiful school Mass where our Brazilian guests participated by taking up the gifts during the offertory. After the Mass, the whole school processed out to the Statue of the Sacred Heart where we all left flowers in honor of Father Deeves. It made us very happy that the students from Piedade could be with us on such a special day in the history of our school and of the Ursulines as Thursday also marked the 475th year of the Ursuline order.

We also had a special surprise for the students in the afternoon. They were invited to Mr. Thompson's Printmaking class where they printed T-shirts in honor of the 475th year of the Ursulines. They each received a T-Shirt as a farewell gift from Ursuline Academy of Dallas!

Visit to the Dallas Arboretum

Since our friends from Brazil are studying biodiversity, we thought that it would be a great idea to take them to the Dallas Arboretum where they could see native Texas plants and flowers in all of the beauty of the Fall season. So, we spent Wednesday afternoon at the Arboretum walking among all of the pumpkins which line all of the paths of the Arboretum this time of year. It was an unusually warm afternoon and many children were there on field trips and being photographed for Halloween. We had a wonderful time and we thank Mr. Smith and Ms. Hamilton for accompanying us!

Remembering Father Deeves

Oh, how we at Ursuline cherished Father Deeves... I wanted to take time to remember Father Deeves here because losing him marks the end of an era for us at Ursuline - It's a significant moment in our year and in our lives. Our sweet Father Deeves was perhaps the only one among us who could be defined as both completly Jesuit AND completely Ursuline. Having known him since the 80's, I have countless memories of Father Deeves - from when he taught us cheers as "Ranger Jack", the Jesuit Cheer leading moderator, to recent times when he made us laugh with those crazy (endless) corny jokes at the end of every school Mass. I love thinking about the time that he sang Mr. Bo Jangles to us during the Christmas talent show and no one, I mean no one, was ever more enthusiastic about Galileo.

We are particularly grateful to Father Deeves for blessing our many student travelers over the years, both from UA Dallas and from our sister schools. He always wanted to keep us happy and safe. The photos of him here are with students from our sister-schools in Brazil and Peru. The top photo is the most recent one, from the FFC dedication in May, and he is with our lovely alum, Agnes Kasule.

God Bless you, Father Deeves! How lucky we were to have you! We will miss the twinkle in your eye, the smile on your face and the boundless love in your heart! Thank you for always making us laugh!

A little tribute....

----- Did you hear that Ursuline stopped ringing bells?

----- Yes, they are competing for the "No Bell" prize

Working, Teaching & Making friends at UA

Today was a busy workday for our friends from Brazil. First, they went to French class where they taught some useful Portuguese phrases to the students of French V and where they answered questions about the Brazilian Presidential election. At Midday, they attended their first Journalism class where they were invited to contribute to our fantastic UA publication, The Bear Facts. The group will work with UA journalism students to prepare a 2 page spread about their visit to Dallas. Also, the Brazilian students will contribute to our online Bear Facts.

The most challenging (and scary) part of the day came at the end of the school day when the students made a presentation in the Kiva. They presented information about themselves and their school but the main theme of the presentation was Biodiversity. Piedade, our sister-school, picks a theme every year and the theme this year is biodiversity. The students were very nervous about making the presentation but we assured them that they were among friends and that the presentation would be well-received. In the end, it was fantastically-received!! It was a HUGE hit and we congratulate the whole group. The presentation ended with our UA students learning a few steps of forró (a Northeastern Brazilian folk dance) as well as a few smooth samba moves. It was great - and it was a thrilling way to end our first week together!!

Brazil Delegation visits The State Fair of Texas

Today we took the Brazil Delegation to the mighty State Fair of Texas. It was a fabulous day filled with laughs, food and fun. After two days getting to know student life at Ursuline, we decided that it was time for a taste of Texas. So, Ms. Vander Linden, Mr. Smith and I (Ms. Nipp) put on our walking shoes and headed for the State Fair with the action plan for our guests- a plan built around important Texas highlights such as Fletcher's Corny Dogs, the Texas Truck Auto Show and of course, an official photo with Big Tex. We were especially happy to have the company of two of our distinguished seniors, Maggie and Sally. The girls were excellent guides and provided a much-appreciated student perspective of fair highlights (which led to several adventures on the midway rides). Thanks to all for for an awesome day!

UA Welcomes Brazil Delegation

On Saturday we welcomed our friends from Nossa Senhora da Piedade Ursuline school in Bahia, Brazil. We have 7 guests from our sister-school, 5 students and 2 teachers. So far, we are enjoying a wonderful visit. Today was the first day that the guests accompanied our students to class. Their first sight of Ursuline was the newly decorated Global Village - complete with a balloon palm tree and mylar monkeys which, we hope, have added a festive and tropical feeling to our school. Later, they enjoyed a tour of the school given by our very own Gaga girls. We decided that the guests should enjoy a real Dallas meal so we took them to dinner at Snuffer's restaurant before attending the Dallas Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center (yes, the Cheese fries were a hit!). Despite being shocked at how big everything is in Texas (the roads, the drinks in restaurants, etc.), our Brazilian friends are rapidly making themselves at home here in Dallas and we are thrilled to have them with us! Bem-vindos! (Welcome!)

USA Missing from Global Village!!

We interrupt this blog to bring you this rather alarming announcement ... The USA (puzzle piece) is missing from the Global Village!! As you can see, all of the other countries in the Americas remain and there is big hole where the USA should be. The DODGE is offering a generous reward (an international treasure) for any information leading to the recovery of the USA - After all, we can't really call ourselves global without it. We will keep you posted on this story as it develops...

Clubs at UA

Today the annual Club Fair was held in Haggar Cafeteria. Students had the opportunity to join clubs, explore new possibilities and to expand club membership. We were excited to see the excellent representation of so many diversity and global themed clubs. We are especially happy that our new GAGA (Girls Assisting Global Awareness) club has started just in time to prepare for the arrival of the delegation from Brazil. But no matter what club students select, it is rewarding to see so many girls choosing to celebrate different cultures and learn about our world through their club memberships!!

Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth

This month, the UA Global Book and Movie Club read Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book presents us with lives that have been transplanted in the United States and the generations that follow. In our discussion of the work yesterday, we agreed that the themes are profound while the writing is crisp and precise. We discovered characters who are universal, flawed, intriguing and thoroughly unforgettable - to the point that they are still haunting us ... We invite you not only to read this wonderful collection of stories but also to view this segment of an interview with the author by journalist Charlie Rose.