2010-11 promises to be an exciting year for UA's Office of Diversity and Global Education. Follow along with Ms. Cecilia Nipp, UA's DODGE (Dean of Diversity and Global Education) as we move forward with UA's Global Initiative.
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!!
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.
As you can see, we arrived back in the USA just in time for Global Issues Day 2010. It was a wonderful day with many special guests and performers who contributed to an informative and exciting day. We'd like to send out very special thanks to our student session leaders, our faculty session leaders, our guest alum presenters and all of the members of the community who took time out to come to Ursuline in order to share stories, international experiences and global realities with our school community. In addition to all of guests from the Dallas area, we were honored to have with us Immaculee Ilibagiza, Rwandan author of our summer reading Left to Tell as well as our dear friend, Ms. Kim Bouldin-Jones, foundress of Medical Facility Aid, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the conditions of small community hospitals in Africa. It was an awesome day of learning!!
In addition to celebrating Ms. Bauer's birthday today at school, we had a full day of meetings, class visits and farewells. Our three students spent the morning accompanying the 8th grade girls on a service project to a local children's hospital (for children who have been removed from their families). They said that the experience was sad but it also made them happy to feed and play with the children because they really felt like their presence was making a small difference in the lives of the children in need.
We ran into our students in the afternoon classes which we were observing. They fit right into their classes and act as though they have been here forever. In fact, when Cami came to class after returning from the service project, she was so focused on getting back to science class and taking out her tablet for the lesson (on kidneys and their function) that she did not even see Ms. Bauer and I sitting in the class. We were smiling and waiving at her and it wasn't until 10 minutes later that she looked around and saw us - our presence startled her since she had no idea that we had been sitting 5 feet away from her the whole time! It was hilarious!
As you can see from the photos, the affection between our students and their Chilean Ursuline sisters is deep (try to find Cami in the sea of new friends which surround her). Later in the day, Sr. Angela, the principal, invited our students to a short meeting to reflect on their experience in Chile. We were especially happy to learn that our students felt proud of themselves for being able to adapt to a new country, new friends and a new language so quickly. They feel confident that they can travel more and experience more cultures in the future. Of course, they can't wait to return to Chile (none of us are eager to leave as you can imagine). The girls were gracious and thankful and they said that the experience was more than an A+! They also said that they could feel the spirit of St. Angela in this school and that the common Ursuline bond links them to this school in a way they never could have imagined before. As she bid the girls farewell, Sr. Angela hugged each one and gave each girl a special cookie made by the Sisters here. The cookies are in the shape of St. Ursula's boat and it was a very special gesture on the part of the Sisters to our students. Our farewell conversation was a lovely way for them to end their school days here in Chile!
Today was Ms. Bauer's birthday and all at Colegio Santa Ursula made it a wonderful day! First, there was a surprise of cake, cookies and general festivity in between two of our morning meetings. Then, throughout the day, as students heard that it was her birthday, they spontaneously broke into the Happy Birthday song - in Spanish, German AND English - Ms. Bauer said that she had never been celebrated in so many languages! For her birthday, Ms. Bauer received a lovely journal, a calendar of the rivers of Chile and a CD of music of the Colegio Santa Ursula choir. But I think the best gift of all was being with dear friends and sharing in so many happy moments - It was a very special birthday!!
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!
Today was a day when we really felt at home... Ms. Bauer and I began the day with a parent meeting (the parents of the girls coming to Dallas!) and then, after observing classes, we had more meetings with several different academic departments. Our unpopular (NOT) students, attended classes and we encountered them in different places all day long (in math class, at recess, painting in the courtyard, etc.). They are like ducks in water here - If they were in the same uniform, we wouldn't be able to tell them apart from the students here.
Of course, there are some big differences from home. As Anushka keeps reminding us, we do not teach cooking (today the class made brownies and I was rather disappointed not to get one - they were in the oven and the smell wafted over the campus in a beyond fabulous way). Also, we do not have the younger students that they have here (from pre-kindergarden!). We just stare at them, completely fascinated by their cuteness and smallness. While I was walking across the campus, a six year old suddenly popped up in front of me and demanded to know "Why are you here?" I hardly had a chance to answer when Ms. Bauer and I found ourselves surrounded and interrogated by a sixth grade class. They asked a million questions: Who are you? Are you from England? How long are you here? Are the girls in the little squared skirts your kids? Are they staying with you in a hotel? Why do you have to leave? Why don't you speak German? and on and on - It was priceless!
Tomorrow we continue our meeting marathon at the school and our students are going on retreat with one of the classes. Sr. Angela told us that she will personally look after them - they are in for a real treat because Sr. Angela is a character! We can't wait to hear all about their day!
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!! 
