Potluck!

Bonus Saturday blog update! Today was an awesome day for a picnic! We have had a “potluck”on the schedule since the beginning of the program and today it finally happened. All of the guest families were invited along with our wonderful coordinator Regine. Every student pitched in and made (or bought) a dish to share with all of the guest families. It was really a special day. The students and their host siblings played a game of “red rover” as well. It was a day full of good food and even better fellowship! Here are some pics and videos from today.

You will also see a copy from a local newspaper with some of our kids pictured! Since there has been a “heat wave” a few of our kids were interviewed about it! How cool??!!!!

Riegersburg and Chocolate!

Today was a day full of adventure. We visited a burg (which is a “fortress” where noblemen lived during mid-evil times), called Riegersburg. While on the property, we witnessed a falcon show, where we learned about many types of birds, and watched them in action.

Then the students got a tour of the burg and we learned some “bewitching” history. They also got to...play! Yes that’s right, play on the playground equipment next to the fortress. There are many photos and videos of that here, as well as the beautiful Riegersburg fortress itself. It was a gorgeous day, which we were grateful for!

After the falcon show and tour, we had the opportunity to...eat lots and lots of chocolate! We went to the Zotter Chocolate Museum/ Confectionary. It was like a modern day “Willy Wonka!” We were shown where the cocoa beans come from and given a small history lesson about the factory and owner himself. During the visit to the confectionary, each person gets to sample as much chocolate as they want, and then also buy as much as they want. Some students really love chocolate!

95 degrees!

Short post today because we had a “half day” due to 95 degree weather and no AC in the building. We thought it would be safer for the kids to make their own plans for the hottest parts of the day and leave the morning for classes. Some students went to the movies (where there is AC!) and some students hung out at each other’s houses. It was so nice hearing everyone’s plans for the “half day!”
Here is a short video of the students in our very warm room! I told them to “look like you’re hot!” And that wasn’t hard to do.

Tomorrow we have an excursion planned so there will be a lot to read and see on the blog!

Birthday Celebration for the Month of June!

Today we celebrated our June birthdays! I was able to get a video of us singing to one of our students on his birthday! We had a variety of cakes and pastries from the oldest bakery in Graz!
After we celebrated with cards for the birthday students and cake for everyone, we practiced for the final show! Here are some pictures of today’s festivities.