What were you grateful for this week?K. She has been my rock through so many hard things.S2. She was my life saver this weekend in more ways than one.

What was the most challenging part of this week?Public transit is never on time.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. I showed the kids how to celebrate July 4th like true Americans.

Tell us about your week! I’m not going to lie, this was a difficult week for me. It seems like everything that could go wrong, did. Oh the adventures this experience has brought me these past 9 weeks! For some reason, the communication between my host parents and I was lacking this week. That led to frustration on both sides, but I’m grateful for a host family that is willing to work things out with me. The differences in culture and the language barrier can be rather difficult at times. I guess I didn’t expect that to be as hard as it really is when I originally signed up.

I spent a lot of time with the kids this week. We had a lot of fun! We went to the park multiple times but could only stay for a little while because all of the playgroumd equipment was too hot to use. My host daughter and I learned some new songs and dances. She loves the chicken dance haha!

On the fourth of July, I made the kids pancakes for breakfast, sang the Star Spangled Banner, took them to McDonald’s, and taught them how to make smores. It was as American as I could get while here in Italy, but I think they really enjoyed it! I love Italy with my whole heart, but America will always be my number one. I can’t wait to go back.

This weekend I went south to Sorrento, Capri, and Amalfi. It is so beautiful and colorful there! Sometimes it seems like these places are unreal and pictures never do them justice.

I met up with some Travelers I have never met before. It’s so fun to continue meeting new people through this program. I don’t know how I would have survived without all of the wonderful friends I have met. 

Getting to Sorrento from Rome was a mess and a half. The bus was late and 2 people puked while on it. Yikes. My phone died and I missed the boat for a tour around the island. When trying to return home to Rome, the bus never came so I missed my train back. My taxi driver’s car broke down and I had to hail a new one. There were a lot of moments of rescheduling and winging it on this trip. You never really know what you’re going to get with public transport. All in all, it was a tough week which taught me a lot about myself. I had to be tough too in order to make it through alive. I’m so grateful for supportive friends and family during this challenging week.