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UA Global Education

UA arrives in Dallas!

The delegation of this very fun packed trip landed in the beautiful city of Dallas, Texas at 2:00 PM. When we arrived to the Ursuline Dallas School my host sister Taylor, along with all the other hosts greeted us with joy and an abundance of gifts. We went into the school’s “St. Ursula Hall” we all got to know each other a little better and eat some treats. I went home with my family and dropped off my bags and we went off to eat dinner at a nice Mexican Restaurant. After dinner we headed home and got ready for bed. A long day for everyone but it is going to be a great week.

Experiencing life in Paris!

Day 6:

Today I woke up and I ate cereal with my host sister Victoire, and then got ready to meet all the other girls at their school. We spent the morning in Le Marais, which is a cute neighborhood where there are many stores and coffee shops. We later went to Montmartre, which is also a big neighborhood with a basilica at the top of a hill that has an amazing view of Paris. We all took pictures of the Saint Angela, Saint Ursula and Saint Marie of the Incarnation windows. After Montmartre, we went shopping at a big mall called So Ouest with our host sisters where we bought pretty shirts and jeans and presents for my family. I later came back to my host sister's house and my host mother prepared a traditional french dinner. We had french cheese, potatoes, veal, and bread with butter which was really good! We also had chocolate mousse for the dessert and talked about politics because of their 1st tour for their presidential election. I learned a lot about their culture and I am so happy to be in Paris!! 

- Alondra Posada

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Day 7:

Every morning, although very early 😬, i wake up to an amazing breakfast with my host family! I absolutely love eating all together because it's something that my family never does ever, but makes me happy with a friendly morning of light talking about the day and good bread to start the day. I love starting the day with the coffee they taught me how to make and I love learning more about their family. At first I was surprised that they drank powdered chocolate milk from a bowl because we have nothing like that here, but i found it super cool to observe things like this.

At dinner Ophélie taught me how to make a simple dessert that the family makes when the baguette they bought for dinner a few nights ago gets stale. You simply cut the baguette into small pieces, then in a separate bowl you mix white sugar, one egg and milk. You dip these pieces into the bowl until completely soaked. After this you place the pieces on a heated pan with butter and pour sugar on the side facing upward. You flip when one side is done. Then VOILÀ! you have your dessert that tastes amazing, especially with ice cream and another light dusting of sugar :)

- Lilli Bifferato

Bienvenue a Sainte Ursule!

Today we checked out of a really nice hotel in the 9th district in the morning to meet our Ursuline sisters! When we arrived, they had made posters for us and they were very welcoming. We introduced ourselves to our host families and then went as a group to a French supermarket. All of the French moms knew that we Americans LOVE TO SNACK, so they wanted us to pick out our own. We then went back to their houses to unpack. After eating lunch, we met up with some other Ursuline students (French & US) and took the subway into the center of Paris. We walked around the city and visited parks and saw Notre Dame. Then we took the subway back to where they lived and went to a cafe. At the cafe we got coffee, hot chocolate, and crepes. Then a few other students from the Sainte-Ursule school from Paris stopped by to say hi to us. After this we went back to our hosts house and ate dinner. 

Delegation to France: Bon Voyage!!!

Day 1:

Remember the movie "Planes, Trains & Automobiles"? That was pretty much the majority of our day and we're all pretty grumpy. Chartres Cathedral was the highlight of our day. The stained glass windows were beaming due to the amazing, bright sunlight we were lucky to get.

After the final bus ride to Tours, we've finally sat down to dinner.

Our 3-course dinner started with bacon-wrapped warm goat cheese on a garden salad. The conversation went like this:

Student: "What kind of cheese is this?"

Teacher: "Try it first, then I'll tell you."

Other student: "It's goat cheese, isn't it?"

*Students react in various ways*

End result: Everyone tried it, but there was a lot of cheese left on the plate.

Time for sleep! We're exhausted but looking forward to a fun-filled day tomorrow.

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Today is our second day in France. In the morning we visited the Chapel of Marie the of the Incarnation (which is the patron saint of the Caps) and then in the afternoon we went to two different château's around the area of Tours. 

The chapel was gorgeous. It was early 15th century architecture that was still in almost pristine condition. The stone and brick was beautiful. When one of the sisters opened the door to the patio it took my breath away. The sight of all of the beautiful historical architecture mixed with the vines and flowers growing was a uniquely magnificent view for me. I don't think I have ever seen something like it. The sisters talked to and taught us about Marie of the Incarnation. She, along with two of her companions, were the first women missionaries ever to cross the Atlantic into Canada. This fact was absolutely fascinating to me because service is something many of us are passionate about and for a woman to undergo that type of journey alone was a dangerous & challenging task. She forged on and as a result founded a church and school for girls in Canada. The sisters that we met today were so kind and generous to us. We loved them so much and cannot speak highly enough of them!! 

The first château we visited today was Villandry, which has world famous beautiful gardens. The flowers were all different shapes, sizes, textures, etc. All of the girls and I were amazed by the fact that the gardeners had trained the apple trees to grow sideways along a horizontal rail. The owners, the Carvallo's, still live on the property to the day and can even sometimes be seen touring the gardens. When Joachim Carvallo bought the château in 1906, he restored the Renaissance gardens. One of my personal favorite gardens was The Ornamental Garden, which is easily seen from any room in the château and is nicknamed "the love garden." Each section of the garden was made to represent a different type of love: tender love, passionate love, flighty love, and tragic love. 

The second château we visited today was the Château de Chenonceau. It was built on the River Cher in the 16th century. We walked through a beautiful gallery with black and white checked slate-tile floors. This gallery was built by Catherine de' Medici as a magnificent ballroom. We went through multiple other rooms including the kitchen, a few living rooms, and a guards room. We learned about the history behind the château and each of the pieces of the paintings. For example, Henri II gifted Chenonceau to his favorite official mistress, Diane de Poitiers. It wasn't big enough for her so she had the gardens created and had the famous bridge over the River Cher built, making the architecture of Chenonceau unique to the world. After the death of Henri II, his wife and the Queen of France, Catherine de' Medici removed Diane de Poitiers from the château because I mean who wants to live with their dead husband's mistress longer than necessary? The gardens at Chenonceau are completely natural (no pesticides or chemicals of any kind). In fact, when they had a problem with snails they brought in hedge hogs to eat the snails and keep the flowers safe. 

Today was another amazing day in France!! Keep following the blog for more château's and fun tomorrow!!