The Feast of St. Angela

What joy to have our Peruvian and Chilean sisters with us to celebrate the Feast of St. Angela! We started the day with a Mass that was extra special as Bishop Farrell was the celebrant. It was a lovely Mass and it was so nice to include our guests in the offertory procession and in the opening procession. After Mass, the teachers attended a special reception with Bishop Farrell while the students prepared for an afternoon of service at the North Texas Food bank.

Chile and Peru Presentations

Today our Chilean and Peruvian sisters taught us a bit about their home countries and their schools. Both presentations were excellent and enjoyed by the UA students in the audience. First, we heard from the Chilean delegation. They explained the different geographic regions and diversity of Chile. They also sang a beautiful chorale song at the end of their presentation. It was lovely and all of us were impressed by the advanced level of English of the students.

 



Next, we heard from the Peruvian delegation. This year, they went into great detail about the different ethnic groups in Peru and the various groups of immigrants which have helped form modern day Peru. One student, Ariana, sang a traditional Peruvian song (beautiful!) and then the group performed several classic Peruvian dances. It was very entertaining and even more enjoyable when our UA girls joined the fun! Thank you to both groups of students for preparing these wonderful lessons for us!

 

 



Fun in Ft. Worth

After all of the international activities of last week, today our guests were ready for an authentic Texas experience. It was a beautiful day and the ideal day to visit our neighbor city to the west, Ft. Worth. The students got a real taste of Texas as they watched a cattle drive through the world famous Ft. Worth Stockyards. Lunch was Texas BBQ and then all headed over to that famous Ft. Worth landmark, Billy Bob's Texas, for a western dance lesson with Wendell the Cowboy.  A great Texas time was had by all!

Arabic Day at UA

Friday was Arabic Day at UA Dallas. Our international student visitors enjoyed the day thoroughly as they attended 3 different Arabic classes. They first learned a bit of geography and culture as an introduction to Arabic. Then, they learned the alphabet and even practiced writing their names in Arabic. This awesome day ended with dancing and henna painting. It was the perfect way to end World Languages week at Ursuline!

Spanish Language Day

Today was Spanish Language Day at UA. Our international guests attended Spanish classes and a special presentation on globalization and the importance of speaking more than one language. A major highlight of the day was the lunch period when the Chilean delegation sang a song and the Peruvian delegation performed several traditional Peruvian dances. Our UA Dallas students enjoyed the performances and were quick to clap and dance along. Many thanks to our Spanish-speaking Ursuline sisters for adding so much to our Spanish Language Day!!

Chilean students interviewed by UA Bear Facts Staff

Animated conversation filled the Journalism Room Wednesday afternoon as members of Mrs. Smith’s Third Period Journalism Class welcomed 12 Chilean visitors from our sister school Colegio Santa Ursula in Santiago for a “press conference.”

After introductions and exchanges of general information about the schools, girls paired off to continue their conversations.  “One of my favorite memories of Journalism I was when we got to interview the girls from other Ursuline schools,” said senior and Bear Facts staff member Allison Ingrum.

Ursuline students are now collaborating to write and publish a story about their guests to appear on  uabearfacts.com later this month.  During the interviews, girls also  learned that their Chilean sisters have an online school newspaper which made everyone aware of great future journalistic opportunities.

Bienvenidas Amigas Peruanas!!

And now, we have welcomed the Peruvians to our list Springtime visitors. The group arrived last night after 24 hours of travel (they had a very long layover in Mexico). Our host families were thrilled to receive them and all were much more awake and enthusiastic as we welcomed them to UA today.

 

Our welcome at UA included a cake, a few UA gifts, a special greeting from Ms. Kane, our president, and a fun getting-to-know-you icebreaker with the Chileans. The Chilean girls also helped to orient the Peruvians to life at Ursuline Dallas. Now we are one big happy group!