What were you grateful for this week? I was grateful for the Italian friends that I have made while here in Milan.

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?The most difficult part about this week was being without my new American friends who were on trips with their Italian families this week. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. The “wow” moment I have for this week is actually a series of small favors that I did for my family throughout the week. This week my Italian family was gone from Saturday of last week to Saturday of this week. They were originally supposed to be gone until this past Sunday but my host mom wasn’t feeling well so they returned early. My host dad asked me to go to the store for them to get some groceries due to the fact that they weren’t anticipating arriving a whole day early from their trip. I took time out of my week and went to the store for them before they got home and got some food. I also went to the store for the housekeeper because she needed some food and some supplies that she didn’t have due to the fact that my host family wasn’t there to get them for her like usual. My host family was very grateful and my host brother was very happy to see me upon their arrival back in Milan. 

Tell us about your week!This week was very different from the rest of the weeks that I have already been here in Milan. This week my host family went away to the mountains to go skiing with some of their friends. Due to the fact that they were gonna be gone the entire week I spent the week doing things that I enjoyed all day. (Not to say that I don’t enjoy myself when they are home.) I was able to sleep in a little longer everyday, go to my Italian class, and go running in the park that is by my apartment. 

This week I was finally able to run for an entire hour and a half without stopping. I used to run cross country in high school so it was nice to be able to do such a long run again like I used to be able to. 

I have had a few more experiences out in the city where I engage in conversation with a native Italian speaker and they have all gone well considering that I am nowhere near fluent. I am very grateful for my Italian class because I can go to class and come home and be able to immediately apply what I learned in the real world whether it be with my host family or the housekeeper that I have become relatively close with despite the language barrier between us.