Serviam Activity and The Bush Library

Today our Peruvian delegation went out into the Dallas community for the first time. The first place that they visited was The Brady Senior Center, one of the agencies of Catholic Charities. The Brady Senior Center’s goal is to provide services to improve the health and wellness of senior citizens ages 60 and older. In fact, the Brady Senior Center provides over 500 Dallas area seniors with daily meals, information and education, social activities, exercise facilities and access to medical care. While at the center, the Peruvian students volunteered, played games and danced with the senior citizens. Our Peruvian sisters also  made Valentine cards for the seniors and gave out prizes to the enthusiastic senior citizens.

For lunch, our guests enjoyed a classic American meal of hamburgers at the original Snuffer's restaurant, a Dallas institution.

Later this afternoon, our guests visited the Bush Presidential Library. The students learned about 9/11 and about the presidency and legacy of George W. Bush. They had a wonderful afternoon learning and exploring the beautiful presidential center. It was a great day!

Hello Peruvian Sisters!

Today we welcomed our first delegation of 2018, the Peruvian delegation from Colegio Santa Ursula in Lima, Peru. Seven students and two teachers arrived delayed but still very excited at DFW this afternoon. The frigid cold 20 degree weather was a shock to our guests as they came from summer in the southern hemisphere. Despite the cold, all of our hearts were very warm as we gathered together. This year is the 10th year anniversary of the beginning of our exchanges with Colegio Santa Ursula. As such, this visit is going to be extra-special! Bienvenidas a Texas!

Her Highness, Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui of Morocco visits UA

We were greatly honored today to welcome Her Highness, Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui of Morocco, Ambassador to the United States, to Ursuline Academy.  This special guest came to Ursuline through our partnership with the World Affairs Council of Dallas / Ft. Worth. Her words to our students were inspiring and enlightening. Her Highness spoke about her country and about women in the Middle East. She encouraged us to build relationships and to learn about the culture of other countries. She congratulated our many students who are studying Arabic language and she was deeply touched by a gift of beautiful Arabic calligraphy made by our Arabic IV students. It was a marvelous experience for all who attended and we are all very eager to visit beautiful Morocco in the near future.

 

 

We were also joined by our friends from the Dallas International School and from Brighter Horizons Academy. The students from Brighter Horizons joined the students from UA's Junior World Affairs Club for lunch after the speaker. It was wonderful to make new friends!

 

Bon Voyage St. Ursule!

Today there were many tears at Ursuline as we said farewell to our French sisters and brother from St. Ursule. We had a marvelous exchange and we will miss them so much! Even though the visit was only 10 days, we learned a great deal and we made life-long friendships. No one wanted to say goodbye. We can't wait until Easter Break when we will travel to Paris to see our friends once again!

Paris Presentation at UA

Today the delegation from St. Ursule presented an interesting program where they taught us about life at St. Ursule and in Paris. They described their school day as well as the many beautiful places that one can visit in Paris. One particularly entertaining part of the presentation was when they addressed stereotypes of the French and whether or not there was any truth to the stereotypes.   It was a most enjoyable way to spend the last class period of the week. Thank you, St. Ursule, for the wonderful presentation!

At School with our French sisters (and brother)

We have enjoyed having our French friends in our classes this week. They have visited French, Art, and History classes together as a group in addition to visiting a few classes independently with their hosts. Classes at Ursuline Dallas are longer than the classes in Paris and school begins earlier in the day in Paris. It has been a wonderful experience to learn and laugh together in school!