Around the World in 8 Days - France (6/24/19)

Around the World in 8 Days - France (6/24/19)

Bonjour! Today we traveled to France! We spoke accomplished a LOT:

1. We practiced basic phrases in French for meeting people. 

2. We made CREPES that were delicious and definitely took some culinary skills! (The kids defined them as a cross between an omelet and a pancake.)

3. We took a virtual tour of the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa!

Fun Quotes of Today:

1. Are you really going to leave that there? Come on people, this is all about presentation!

2. Can I flip this? I have been staring at it forever!

3. I think my crepe is drowning... did I put too much syrup on here?

4. I don't think the shell is supposed to be in there. 

Check out the pictures below! Keep an eye out for the crepes with excellent presentation! ;)

Thanks for reading! See you next time in Egypt!

Around the World in 8 Days - Italy (6/20/19)

Around the World in 8 Days - Italy (6/20/19)

Ciao! Welcome to Italy! Today was a wonderful day at our cultural academy! Our travels to Italy presented a wide variety of opportunities to learn about the culture, cuisine, and our individual abilities! As usual, we started our morning with a discussion over what they think they know about Italy and what they would like to learn. When students think of Italy, they think of pizza, Olive Garden, pasta, the Mona Lisa and more! They were interested in learning more about artists, the food and the language so we jumped right in! 

After our practice with basic greeting phrases in Italian, students learned about Leonardo DaVinci and the Mona Lisa. They learned about the timeframe of the painting, where it is housed, the mystery behind her smirk, her following eyes, and more. After discovering a bit of the background of the painting, it was time to put their artistic skills to the test! Students had 15 minutes to draw their own interpretation of the Mona Lisa and then watched a tutorial video on how to sketch the Mona Lisa using various types of shading. This group was dedicated and some of them turned out really well! On the individual designs we had all sorts of interpretations: a "Dora" version, a "dinosaur" version, and an "anime" Mona Lisa. The kids were very creative! When it came to the follow-along sketches, many of the students thought that their shading techniques made their Mona Lisa's appear a little more manly/Jesus-like than the Mona Lisa. They were impressed with their abilities nonetheless!

What food do you think of when it comes to Italy? That's right, pasta and pizza! Since I think many of our students know how to cook a pizza... we decided to try our hand at pasta making from scratch! This group is WAY BEYOND RAMEN! The students worked in pairs to read the recipe, gather the ingredients, create dough, make filling and form their own ravioli. Although we didn't cook and eat the ravioli at the school, students went home with ravioli ready to boil and a meal from Italy! While not all of the pasta was perfect, they worked really well with their partners, measuring ingredients and more! Check out some of the pictures below to see some of the most picture-perfect-pairs and pasta!

Ciao, ciao for now! We will see you in France!