Farewell Colegio Santa Ursula !!

On Friday morning, we met with the administrators at Colegio Santa Ursula to say thank you and farewell. The students told Sr. Angela and Sr. Maria Isabel all about their wonderful experience in Chile. All agreed that the trip was too short and that the memories of the school, their friends and their host families will last forever.

Sr. Angela surprised our students with a farewell gift of a prayer card of St. Angela with a prayer in Spanish as well as a very beautiful medal of one of the German Ursuline saints. The girls were moved very much by these thoughtful gestures and the sad reality of leaving began to set in.

But before we left, we had another fantastic weekend - the students with their families and the teachers with Ms. Raczinski and Sr. Angela in Colchagua Valley (much like Napa Valley). The students enjoyed lots of dancing ("real"dancing as they have told us) at parties as well as a lovely farewell swim party and luncheon at one of the homes of the host families.

Today we are back home in Dallas, happy to be home and profoundly grateful for the special time that we shared in beautiful Chile with our dear friends.

Queridas Amigas Chilenas, Muchas Gracias por todas sus lindas atenciones - las queremos mucho y las echamos de menos!

Dallas Presentation in Chile

Today our students made a formal presentation to the students of Colegio Santa Ursula - all in Spanish!! We were very proud of them and particularly of Sara who did not speak a word of Spanish two weeks ago. The students talked about themselves, the United States, Dallas and our school. Their presentation was met with GREAT enthusiasm and support from the Santa Ursula girls and there was a lot of applause for each of our students.

On another topic.... there is a big trend among our student group to braid hair and to have braided hair. Every time we are together, someone is braiding hair in a new and exciting way- it's become a favorite activity of the group so I wanted to share some of the new looks with you here.

UA Faculty in Chile

Many of you have asked us "What are the teachers doing?" since we keep publishing information about the students' activities. Well, of course, we have been with the students every school day and have joined them on all of the excursions and activities planned by the school. While they are in class, we often meet with the teachers and administrators at Colegio Santa Ursula to share ideas and discuss possibilities for collaboration. Today, Mrs. Thompkins taught a Math lesson and we later had tea-time with the entire English language department.

Of course, we have also made many friends among our Chilean colleagues and they have been most kind to us. They have taken us out to meals, to visit museums, to a little shopping, etc. We have also enjoyed time with each other in our small apartments in the Vitacura area of Santiago. We are staying in a lovely area where shopping and restaurants are close-by. So, we have been able to do a little exploring of the city on our own as well.

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to visit Isla Negra, a beautiful coastal town where Pablo Neruda had a magnificent house. On the way back to Santiago from Isla Negra, we stopped in a small town called Pomaire which is known for pottery. We saw many artisans making the pottery and, of course, we are going to attempt to bring a bit of Chilean pottery back to Dallas (we'll be wrapping it carefully as we pack this weekend!). Tomorrow, Sr. Angela and other faculty members are taking us to the town of Santa Cruz which we understand is a picturesque town in the mountains. We can't wait!

Learning & Preparing at Colegio Santa Ursula

Today we spent the whole day at Colegio Santa Ursula, in classes and also preparing for our presentation about Dallas which will take place tomorrow. The big highlight of the day was the second cooking class where our students learned to make Chilean empanadas (baked meat pies filled with beef, onions, olives, a bit of egg and raisins). We were so impressed with our students because the empanadas were DELICIOUS!!! We were even more proud when we saw how well the students cleaned the kitchen after this big project! Dallas friends, I hope that you will ask our young culinary experts to cook for you upon our return because they are each bringing home the empanada recipe - Yumm!

Colegio Santa Ursula in Maipu

After we visited the Basilica yesterday morning, we spent the rest of the day at Colegio Santa Ursula in Maipu. This school is a second school run by the Ursuline Sisters in Santiago. This school in the Maipu district is different than the school in the Vitacura district as it is much smaller. However, like the school in Vitacura, there are students from per-kindergarten through high school age (we are all captivated by the precious tiny little girls!). The campus also houses the beautiful monastery (or convent) where the Ursuline sisters reside. The land includes an extensive farm where most of the food for the sisters and for the school is grown.

Our UA students attended classes with the English language students in the high school and then had a lovely lunch in the courtyard of the convent with the girls from the student council. The afternoon ended with a walk around the farm which was a complete adventure of discovery for our students. They fed apples to the horse, fed grapes to the chickens and learned about the different trees from Sr. Angela. Now they want to know why we in Dallas don't offer a farming elective, why they don't have a school horse and why we don't have grape vines all over our school so that they can snack on grapes all day. While these are all excellent questions, I did point out that our environment is somewhat different (this answer did not convince them, of course).

Our fabulous day in Maipu ended with big hugs from Sr. Angela and from the Maipu students as well as with a special gift from Sr. Angela - a prayer card of the Virgen del Carmen from the Basilica. Now we all have a memento to treasure and to remember this wonderful day for years to come...

Basilica in honor of La Virgen del Carmen in Maipu

Today we began our day with a visit to the Basilica of the Virgen del Carmen in Maipu, a historic neighborhood in Santiago. The Virgen del Carmen is the Patron Saint of Chile and we learned a little about her the other day when we visited the Cathedral in Santiago's main plaza. Today's visit was extra-special because we were joined by Sr. Angela, the principal of Colegio Santa Ursula and by one of the History teachers who gave us lots of excellent details about the Basilica.

Declared a National Monument, the church was built on the site of the Battle of Maipu, a battle for Independence against the Spanish. In gratitude for the victory, Chilean hero, Bernard O'Higgins promised to build a church in honor of La Virgen del Carmen. The original church was destroyed in an earthquake but the current building was constructed in 1944. The design is unique and represents the Madonna with her cloak, protecting and shielding her people. In 1987, this impressive building was declared a Basilica by Pope John Paul II.