UA Diversity & Global Education 2011-2012: Day 3 in Chile

We spent today at the school attending classes. The highlight of the day was cooking class and learning how to make empanadas. You all would have been so impressed with the girl´s cooking and dish washing skills! Two of the girls also volunteered to share their experiences of arriving in Chile and meeting their host family for the first time and the visit to Maipu so you can hear the student´s impressions of Chile instead of the teacher´s today!

Arrival in Chile by Grace:
"Our first Chilean adventure: driving to el Colegio from the airport. While driving we saw the huge mountains all over the place, stray dogs, and beautiful, green plants growing everywhere! When we arrived at the school our host sisters were waiting for us wtih signs and a big welcome. After customary "hello" kisses on the cheek, they invited us in the school for some Chilean cookies and the most amazing pineapple juice any of us have ever had (except Sra. Vargas I´m sure)! Then we took a tour of the school which included a song from the adorable kindergarteners and ended in class with our host sisters. After school we all went our separate ways to our host families.

My host dad drove my three host sisters and me home where my host mom was waiting excitedly to greet me. I talked with them for a little while, doing my best to explain the plane ride in Spanish. Then the girls had their after school snack and did homework while I took a much needed nap after the plane ride. After that we played Wii Mario until dinner. Then we talked and played with their 5 pets (a dog, cat, rabbit, and birds) and little brother Diego until 12:30. I told them all about Ursuline, explaining the different grades, senior privleges, what we like to do on the weekend, and all my extracurricular activities. They were shocked to hear that I can drive and have a car. When I told them about the "freshmen dance" created by the seniors to embarass the freshmen, they started laughing, saying it sounded just like the movies. By that time it was 12:30 and we were all muy cansadas and had to go to bed."

Visit to Maipu by Katie:
"All the Ursuline girls had so much fun today [Tuesday]! We went to a museum with colonial and revolutionary relics from Chile. There was an entire room dedicated to gorgeous carriages that were important in Chilean history like one that the Queen of England rode in. We also visited the remains of a church which Bernardo O´Higgins had dedicated to La Virgen del Carmen as a result of Chile´s successful revolution. As he did not have the funds to complete the construction, it remained only a skeleton structure. Unfortunately an earthquake destroyed parts of this structure. Therefore, the Chileans built a massive church near this original structure. After visiting these Chilean landmarks, we went to a second Ursuline school called Colegio Santa Ursula de Maipu. We loved spending time with the girls and getting to know them. Overall, it was a wonderful second day in Santiago!"

Pictures from today´s cooking class: