What were you grateful for this week?I’m grateful that I was safe on the night bus to and from Naples, that I was able to stay with S2 and her host family over the weekend, that I had so much fun in the South, that I got to attend church, that the kids were happy when I made them pancakes, and especially that the little girl is back from Canada!

What was the most challenging part of this week?Helping the kids not to fight. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. I unloaded the dish washer when the mom was out at the gym. 🙂

Tell us about your week!The 9-year-old girl left to Canada for two weeks, but she got back a week ago and it has been so fun to have her back! She is so intelligent and helps translate Italian for me (especially when talking to extended family members) and she is very sweet. This week, the schedule changed since the kids aren’t in school anymore. I help teach them Spanish and play the piano with them in the mornings. They love Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran just like I do, so we like to sing those songs together! 

I also finally visited Milan’s Duomo (one of the biggest sights of the city) on Thursday! It was beautiful, and I especially enjoyed the Duomo museum. It had many Catholic sculptures, and seeing them made me think about how humans have worshipped Christ and God for literally thousands of years, and that we are not the first who have felt connected to and loved by them. 

On Friday night, I headed to Naples on the night bus! I packed lots of snacks like S2 (a fellow Rome Abroad girl) suggested, since she rode it to Venice a few weeks ago. I got to Naples on Saturday morning and found S2, and she showed me around where she lived! The South of Italy is SO different from the North, it was crazy but so cool! S2’s host family was so sweet to let me stay with them! 

We found our way to the Amalfi coast and swam in the water and chilled on the beach — it was absolutely gorgeous! Then, we went souvenir shopping in Sorrento before heading back to swim in the pool and go to bed. 

On Sunday, we went to church. It brought me so much joy to go, especially since I haven’t been able to go since I’ve been in Italy! Sacrament meeting was in Italian, but the missionaries translated for us. All of the branch members were so kind and gave me hugs afterwards even though I didn’t know them. After church, I said goodbye to S2 and walked around Pompeii for a few hours. It was so insane to be somewhere we had talked about in school for so long, and now it was real! This weekend trip was definitely one of my favorites. I loved hanging out with S2 and seeing how different her Italy is from mine. I can’t wait to go on more weekend trips with her!