What were you grateful for this week?I am grateful for many things this week but the most impactful is my wonderful host family bringing me on a weekend trip to Croatia!

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?The most challenging part of this week was working through the language barrier during a painting class. I can tell I have learned many Italian words based on what I could pick up, but I definitely still have a lot to learn.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. My wow this week was navigating a different schedule with my host girl while my host mom was away on business, and waking up earlier to get my girl ready all ready for the days the mom was away.

Tell us about your week! This week was filled with plenty more firsts. I had an opportunity to take a class on watercolor painting with the grandmother of my host sister. The instructor and peers only spoke Italian, so this was a learning experience for me in how to communicate with only movement and context clues. I also had a chance to visit more museums this week; giving me a chance to see an exhibit on the history of tattoos and an entire museum dedicated to illusions. Both of which we extremely interesting.

The biggest thing to happen this week was a family trip to Croatia. It was wonderful to be able to explore another country with my host family and experience something new together. The Advent celebration in Zagreb has won awards for being the best Christmas celebration in Europe for three years. After seeing the shops, lights, and general spirt of the people here, I can definitely see why. I was able to see all of the main light displays with the large crowds and booths for handmade goods and food. There were so many things in Zagreb to do to celebrate Christmas. Simply standing there I could feel all of the excitement. 

Another great part of this trip was seeing the influence of superstitions on the buildings down to the souvenirs. My favorite parts of the architectural design elements were the ones where that added symbols to ward off witches and evil spirits. This is not something we worry about now, but for people back then, it was integral to include these details. This was my first weekend trip leaving Italy and it was so wonderful to experience the differences in the countries.