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...