Celebrating the Feast of St. Angela

On Friday, we celebrated the Feast of St. Angela with a school Mass. It was so special to have our Ursuline sisters here from Peru and Chile for this important occasion celebrating St. Angela, the foundress of the Ursulines. We wanted to include our sisters in the celebration so the Peruvians participated in the opening procession and in the offertory. The Chileans sang a beautiful song during communion. It was a wonderful way to celebrate being together!  

University of Dallas welcomes guest students

While our guests are here learning about education in the USA, we thought it would be a good idea for them to tour a college campus and to learn about university life in the US. So, on Wednesday morning, we went out in the cold and the rain and were treated to a very warm welcome at the University of Dallas, Dallas' only Catholic university. Our guests met students, visited classrooms and even enjoyed a little break at UD's famous cappucino bar. In fact, our guests were intrigued to consider studying in the USA (and on UD's fabulous Rome campus) as a future possibility! Thanks UD for a wonderful morning!

International Guests interviewed on Radio Univision

On Wednesday, our sisters from South America were invited to Radio Univision for an interview with Claudia Torrescano, Community Affairs Director for Univision (and UA mom). The interview was part of an education segment on "La Voz del Pueblo 1270 AM." The students were very natural and articulate as they answered questions about Dallas, their host families and what they have gained from this exchange experience. The Chileans were interviewed first and then the Peruvians. All of the students mentioned how well they had been received by their UA host families and how interesting it has been to observe a different system of education in a different culture.

You can see additional photos from our visit to Radio Univision here:
http://lavoz1270.univision.com/fotos/slideshow/2012-01-25/visita-de-estudiantes-de-chile-peru-a-la-voz-dallas

Guests enjoy Downtown Dallas and the Dallas World Aquarium

After spending several days on campus and in classes, our South American guests were excited about an adventure in town on Tuesday. The day began at UA with a talk about the 1960's in the USA and the role of the Kennedy family in US history. Then, the students were ready to visit the 6th Floor museum. They were moved by being in the exact location where President Kennedy was assassinated and they appreciated hearing the personal stories of Mr. Smith and Ms. Ross from that important time in history.

After the museum visit, students had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown - No Brownie Sundae was safe (but it was delicious). The last stop of the day was the Dallas World Aquarium where the girls loved seeing monkeys, penguins and other exotic creatures. All in all, a wonderful day!

Happy New Year - The Year of the Dragon!

On Monday we had a new reason to celebrate - the New Year! Our Mandarin language classes organized a fantastic after-school presentation and party in honor of Chinese New Year. The festivities took place in the KIVA and we loved everything - the singing, the eating (dumplings - yum!) and, of course, the special new year good wishes inside of the traditional red envelopes.  This is an extra special and lucky year because it's the year of the dragon and also because we were able to celebrate with our South American sisters!

Spirit of Uganda WOWs UA !!

There were countless wonderful presentations and sessions which made Global Celebration Day one of the best days of the school year. However, most agree that the most stunning and awesome part of the day was the thundering, energized, mind-blowing performance by Spirit of Uganda (our friends!)!

Students Enjoy Global Celebration Day

The Bear Facts, our online student paper, just published a wonderful (and very thorough) article about Global Celebration Day. Check out what our journalism bears had to say about this major event:
Students Enjoy Global Celebration Day

Here are just a few favorite moments of the day:

Seniors with newly purchased rug from Sudanese women -Potential dorm decor?

Shopping at Soap Hope

Braiding hair as a fund-raiser for St. Catherine's school in Kenya

Looking good in UWEZOs, our favorite shoes!



Our Peruvian Sisters teaching us a traditional Peruvian dance



Our cafeteria service, SAGE, featured food of Southern Africa in honor of this special day

Latin Dancing during Recess



Young women supporting women in the developing world with their purchasing power



Author Sarah Culberson delights UA on Global Celebration Day

Ms. Culberson speaking in the UCPA

What an awesome Global Celebration Day we enjoyed on Wednesday! There were so many excellent speakers and sessions and performances! One truly spectacular highlight was listening to Sarah Culberson, the vibrant and dynamic author of A Princess Found . Ms. Culberson shared her story of identity and discovery in two energized speaker sessions with all Ursuline students. Students were fascinated by her life story of being adopted and raised in West Virginia, only to discover, years later, that she was an African princess with family in Sierra Leone.

Ms. Culberson was a gracious and sincere guest who seemed to enjoy talking to our UA students as much as they enjoyed chatting with her. We got to know Ms. Culberson even more during her book signing in the library (sorry about running out of books - more are on the way!) and then we all danced together at the Spirit of Uganda performance.

Ms. Culberson, we thank you so much for coming to Ursuline and brightening all of our lives with your story! We wish you all the best with the work that you are doing in Sierra Leone through your foundation, the Kposowa Foundation. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Culberson and her work, follow this link: http://www.bumpefund.org/

Ms. Culberson and Mariama T. representing Sierra Leone in the Global Parade

Ms. Culberson poses with UA fans

Sisters Hannah and Rebecca S. had their book ready to sign!

Ms. Culberson with her favorite people at UA, Ms. Nipp & Ms. Haley (that's a little joke haha)

Two great women working for good - Sarah Culberson and Sister Margaret Ann Moser

Morgan S. volunteers to assist Ms. Culberson in teaching the audience an African greeting

Could there be a more dynamic duo?? - Sarah Culberson with Empower African Children Director, Alexis Hefley