First days in Australia

We arrived in Melbourne, Australia at 7:30am and we didn’t know what wonderful adventures were in store for us. After flying for 21 hours to get here, we decided it was best to stay awake and begin researching ideas in this beautiful city. We headed straight to the Melbourne Visitors’ Center and found that to be extremely helpful. We took the City Circle Tram all around the city and it was awesome. The temperature was definitely chilly as it is winter here. We walked all around and discovered China Town and had lunch there. We also went to the National Gallery of Victoria to explore some art. We visited the Immigration Museum and the Melbourne Aquarium. We spent some time shopping and speaking with a variety of Australians to find out what would be of interest to high school students. The people here are so friendly and helpful. We are loving their accents, although they insist that we are the ones with the accent. After a long day of exploring we came back to the Victoria Hotel located in the heart of the city.



Our second day in Melbourne included a trip to Phillip Island. Our charismatic Australian tour guide, Doug, picked us up first thing in the morning and we ventured on a short journey to the National Wildlife Park. We visited a Trout Farm where we ate lunch that included some freshly caught trout and we walked around the grounds to taste some natural plants and spices. We then went to the Koala Conservation Center and saw many koalas sleeping up in the trees. From there our adventure continued to a kangaroo sanctuary where there were dozens of kangaroos in their natural habitat. The best part was the Penguin Parade at dusk where there were literally hundreds of penguins within arm’s reach. That was truly amazing! When we returned from Phillip Island, we went for some Greek salads at a Greek restaurant.

The next morning started with an outdoor breakfast under the heaters at an outdoor cafe near the city arcades. There are many “arcades” that are filled with cafes and shops. The cappuccino was much better than any Starbucks! From there we completed a walking tour of many other arcades. There is so much great shopping in Melbourne. The chocolate at Haigh’s Chocolates was unlike any other chocolate in the U.S. After that we walked all along the Yarra River and saw beautiful views of the city. We ended up at the Eureka Tower and took the “lift” to the 88th floor where we had spectacular views of the city. We took a few selfies and pictures, but none of the pictures did any justice to the incredible view, and as the Australians would say “no worries”. We ran into a group of girls from a Catholic high school at the top of the tower, and talked with them about other ideas for our students. We ended our day of adventure with Mass at the beautiful St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We were able to participate in the Mass because there was no language barrier. We went to Lygon Street for some Italian food for dinner because we are trying to have a variety of food options.

-Mike Smith and Joni Mullen

Brazil 2015 Photo Slide Show

Enjoy a slide show of captured moments from the Brazil Trip 2015

Exploring the St. Louis - Ilheus Connection

Yesterday, we had a morning of presentations from all of the lower grade levels at Piedade. We were all very impressed and some of our students even remarked that we should do more at Ursuline to connect our two cultures and schools. I hope we do too!

Dancing the Samba

The preschool and kindergarten classes sang for us an invited us to dance the samba with them. As the song went, "When you hear the music playing, if you don't feel like dancing the samba you must be crazy or have a broken leg" (rough paraphrasing).

Next, we came out into the courtyard to watch capoeira, a type of fighting dance that originated in Brazil. Students and teachers demonstrated some of the moves and then invited our students to dance.

Gooey Butter Cake, recipe at left

After a short slide show of projects that students had completed comparing Ilheus to St. Louis and Buenos Aires, we were led to three different food stations that were serving foods from each of the three cities studied. The boards at each station included recipes in Portuguese and English. Any guess on what was chosen for St. Louis? Gooey Butter Cake was right! We were impressed with how well they did getting the recipe correct.

Abará, classic dish from Ilheus

For Ilheus the recipe chosen was Abará, made with ground black-eyed peas surrounding shrimp and steamed in banana leaves. What a treat!

Sydney and Cristina checking the St. Louis trivia facts.

In Math class, students had developed board games based on the three cities. From the games I was able to observe, they included plenty of trivia about St. Louis and the other cities. What a fun way to learn more about the sister cities!








Several class presentations from the Elementary school grades followed. They covered American food packaging; a comparison of our school to theirs; a comparison of our cities including photographs of very similar sites and landmarks in both; a comparison of the Mississippi to rivers in Brazil; a comparison of the native peoples in the St. Louis area to the native peoples of the Ilheus region; and finally an exploration of the Blues as an influence on Brazilian music and its origins in America. In every classroom there was an opportunity to taste, watch, listen and otherwise participate in the presentations.

1st graders after sharing a dance with us

Learning about St. Louis vs. Ilheus after enjoying fresh cocoa fruit

A spread of traditional native Brazilian foods, including root vegetables not found in the US and tapioca flour

After the presentations we broke for lunch. All of us needed some time for mental digestion as well. I am left very impressed with how well they had integrated St. Louis into so many of their classes. The focus on the two cities (three when you count Beunos Aires) instead of on whole countries was a great lens to explore a diversity of topics. The multi-sensory aspects of the projects encouraged engagement by both the Brazilian as well as American students. The language barrier was overcome largely through practical demonstration.

Artisan Craft Market

The afternoon was spent touring the city of Ilheus which ended at a trip to the marketplace. By evening our bags were full of souvenirs and our minds full of even more valuable mementos to carry back with us.