What were you grateful for this week?This week I was very grateful for friends. It has been hard being away from family but friends on the weekend have helped.

What was the most challenging part of this week?The most challenging part of this week that I got sick, two days into my trip. It was hard being sick and not being in a country that I understand.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. A wow moment this week really happened this morning, when I got up and was able to help with laundry and dishes. 

Tell us about your week! On Friday morning (11 days ago) when I arrived, I spent that day in Milan with my good friend A. We ate lunch, I showered, and then I passed out for about 5 hours due to jet lag. I spent Saturday in Milan and made some new friends who are also in the program! Shoutout to K and M2. We all hung out and then on Sunday morning. 

[Then] it was time for me to go meet my host family! I was very very excited because I feel like we already knew each other from the several times we skyped before I left. I arrived and was treated so great! We all had lunch, I got to know the kids, and I got to unpack my things. My cute host mom had a present waiting for me in my closet! It was wonderful!Then Monday came around and I started feeling a little sick. There was a tickle in my throat and I couldn’t stop coughing. I thought I would just sleep it off. Nope. I will just say it now that this last week was very hard. I woke up on Tuesday morning with a high fever. As if the jet lag wasn’t hard enough, I got sick two days into my trip and had fever for four days after that, before I went to the doctor to get some helpful medicine and a diagnosis of Bronchitis haha. Missing my family has been a harder struggle for me than I thought it would be. Never did I imagine I would get sick and not have my family to help take care of me. It is very scary to be sick in another country, but I am very grateful to my host family for everything that they did for me while I was sick. I felt right at home with how they comforted me and made sure I always had everything I needed.