Day in DC Part I by UA Delegate Anel - Wilmington

Our first stop in Washington was the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception next to the Catholic University of America. The Basilica was very beautiful and breathtaking on the outside. As I made my way inside, I felt like I was in a whole other world. It was so peaceful and a great place to contemplate, reflect, and just to talk to God. On the side, there were different small rooms with alters of different saints. I felt especially drawn to the Our Lady of Guadalupe. I went in to thank her for letting us get here safe and that we may get home safely. I left the Basilica with a sense of peace, and was ready for the trip to the Capitol.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Delegation outside the National Shrine

St. Angela stained-glass window at the National Shrine

The Lion and Rhino Park - South Africa

On Wednesday, our South Africa delegation visited the Lion and Rhino park just outside Krugersdorp. It was AMAZING! Likely everyone's favorite activity was petting the very tired and precious baby lion and baby jaguar. It was a beautiful park and we were especially lucky to be there for the lion feeding (yes, these animals are fed as they are protected in an area which could not sustain them otherwise). We are quite certain the National Geographic will be contacting us soon for our photos...

Don't worry parents, this photo was just for fun - not really how we saw the lions :)

Retracing the steps of Nelson Mandela

One of the highlights of our week in Johannesburg was on Tuesday when we spent a full day retracing the steps of Nelson Mandela. We were accompanied by Mr. Garcia, Brescia House's expert history teacher. Mr. Garcia had given us a class earlier in the week as an introduction to apartheid and to Mandela's "long walk to freedom." We learned so much from Mr. Garcia and from visiting Nelson Mandela's house, the Liliesleaf farm, Constitution Hill and Soweto (the Southwest Township where Mandela lived and began his work). It was a fascinating day and, despite the rain, it was one of our favorite activities.

The Liliesleaf farm cottage, used by activists in the 1960's which
housed the raid which led to the famous Rivonia trial

the students enjoyed investigating at this interactive table

The Mandela Family house

Inside the Regina Mundi Cathedral in Soweto

Soweto photo exhibit

Mr. Garcia speaking inside one of the Johannesburg prisons where Nelson Mandela was held

Gandhi was also imprisoned here as a young man

inside the prison

the dismal place where prisoners were fed

Wednesday in Santiago

Wednesday was a wonderful day in Santiago!  The Santa Ursula School teachers organized a fabulous outing! We visited the one of the famous houses (La Chascona) of the Chilean Nobel Literature Prize winner Pablo Neruda - a beautiful place with an english audio guide. Most of our girls have had some knowledge of this important romantic poet and Chilean hero.

After visiting Neruda's Santiago home (there are two other homes in Chile), we went to the top hill of the city called Cerro de San Cristobal where there is a big Immaculate Conception statue and shrine. The most exciting part is that we came down on a funicular! We had a picnic there and then went back to the school. We continue to have a fantastic time in Chile and are looking forward to being in the school in the coming days!

 

At Casa Neruda

Funicular selfies 

At the top of the hill
 

 

Day in Wilmington by UA Delegate Rachel - Wilmington

Today was pretty interesting. I got up at 6AM (5am Texas time- ugggg). After breakfast, my host grandma showed me her old Acres (the UA Dallas yearbooks). It was really cool to be able to see how UA Dallas looked 50 years ago!! I love my host grandma, she's so cool and always telling me stories about her time as an Ursuline student. Amazingly, they still had Intramurals 50 years ago. I also got to see how the uniforms have changed over the years. Really fascinating!

Just like every morning, my host sister and I took the bus to get to UA. Honestly, every time right before I get on the bus, I have a minor anxiety attack. FYI: Boys are on the bus. Normally, I wouldn't have minded the bus, but whenever you get on you have to ask one of the boys to scoot over. The first day I happened to sit next to someone who ignored me the whole time but I guess he was nice enough to let me sit. Luckily today a different boy scooted over AND introduced himself by shaking my hand. So today's experience was a lot better on the bus.

We spent the morning at the Lower School at UA Wilmington. They literally rolled out the red carpet for us as planned by the two Principals-for-the-Day. We were then escorted to the Activity Room where several classes of the cutest students performed for us. Our morning ended with an in-depth Q & A with the 3rd grade class about Texas since they are learning about the states.

 

The Red Carpet

Too Cute!

The Delegates with Ms. Clody, the Lower School Principal
and the Principals-for-the-Day

The Delegates in 3rd Grade

The big activity for today was going to the zoo. As soon as we arrived, we were whisked away to one of behind-the-scene rooms where they prepare the animals' meals. Gene, director of the zoo, actually let us hold a bag of dead and frozen mice that they feed to the animals. Ironically, this experience was delightful compared to my adventures on the bus. We also got to see all sorts of animals including these new mice/porcupine looking animals that we named Phil and Rachel (after me--not really). We had a great time and we are all so excited to see DC tomorrow!!

 

The Delegates with a Bag of Frozen Mice

The Delegates with Terry the Pygmy Goat and Gene the Zoo Director
 



Phil or Rachel--not sure

UA Dallas Presentation at UA Wilmington

Yesterday, our student delegation of Freshmen gave a presentation to a mostly Freshmen crowd and were treated like instant celebrities. Each student started with a little introduction about herself and her family. They each spoke about what it was like to be a Frosh at UA Dallas and the crowd went especially crazy for the performance of their Freshman Dance. They wrapped up with The Truth about Texas, dispelling and confirming stereotypes about life in the Lone Star State. Afterwards, UA of Wilmington President, Cathie Field Lloyd, took the delegation on a tour of Wilmington.

The Freshman Dance

Rachel speaking about Texas stereotypes

Dallas Delegates taking questions from the Wilmington students -
The Q&A had to be cut off short and still ran 15 minutes
into the next class!

To celebrate the success of their presentation, the delegation stopped at
Temptations for ice cream and a selfie sundae.

Delegation on a tour of Wilmington

South African Braai with our host families

Despite the incessant rain in South Africa this week, our hearts are sunny and bright due to the warm hospitality that has been extended to us at every moment by our host school and host families. Tonight, we all got together at Brescia House School for a typical South African Barbeque, known as a "braai" (pronounced "br-eye"). It was delicious and consisted of beef, lamb, chicken, salad and au gratin potatoes. The Malva Pudding dessert was AMAZING and was devoured by our UA Dallas students. The meal was wonderful but the most wonderful part was just laughing with one another and being together. We must also mention our joy at the return of Shadhi who, along with her host family, was trapped behind flooding rivers at a nature reserve this past weekend. This rain has really been a challenge but it has in no way dampened our spirits or our good times! Here are a few host family photos and more from our celebration this evening ...