What were you grateful for this week?
Love from family and friends back home.  

 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?
[My host family’s daughter] had a couple temper tantrums that were hard to deal with. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. 
I offered to stay in on Friday night to watch [my host family’s daughter] so my host parents could go on a date. 

Tell us about your week! 
This week definitely had its ups and downs. With each week that passes I’m getting a little more comfortable here which is great. [My host family’s daughter] was sick on Wednesday so I had to stay home to watch her and it made for a very long day. She also threw a couple temper tantrums this week which were hard to deal with. But she’s also the sweetest girl ever. She’ll come into my bedroom after dinner just to hang out, she’ll randomly hug me when we spend time together and she seems to like to be around me. She’s a great kid.
 

This weekend also happened to be my birthday. I turned 25 and realized this past year was my hardest year yet. It made me getting older a little tough but also made me want to start this new age off on a better note. 

 

I decided to take a train to the city of Genova. It’s on the coast and all I wanted to do was go to the ocean. I explored for a little bit but eventually found a beach and hung out there for hours. It was very relaxing and comforting. Just what I needed. I headed back into Milan and went to dinner with my friend M to celebrate. We went to a super nice restaurant with the most amazing food and wine. It was a good week overall.