What were you grateful for this week?
This week I was grateful to meet my host family. They were so welcoming and excited to meet me. I right away felt like a part of their family. 

What was the most challenging part of this week?
The most challenging part of this week was on my weekend trip to Marina di Carrara realizing after the train there were no taxis or ubers. Also the bus system was too confusing to use without knowing Italian. Another Rome Abroad Traveler and I had to walk an hour from the train station to the AirBnB because of this! 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. 
This week I had a wow moment when presenting my gifts from the States to my host family. My two girls absolutely loved the puzzles with various Disney princesses on them. We have already completed several of the puzzles and it is a fun activity to do together. 

Tell us about your week! 
This week was my first week in Rome. It was exciting to fly here and meet my host family. I have learned that my girls are very busy with school, swimming, piano, singing and some other after school activities. I have enjoyed going to the after school activities and watching my girls have fun after school. 

 

Every night after school and the activities we have family dinner. It is always a big meal around 7:30. This is my favorite part of the day because we talk and laugh and get to know each other better during the meal. The food is also delicious. 

 

While the girls were at school I got to go to some museums, the Pantheon and the Spanish steps and Villa Borghese with some of the other Rome Abroad Travelers. 

 

This weekend I took a train to Marina di Carrara. It was a three/hour ride and I sat with another Rome Abroad Traveler. When we got there we went to a beautiful castle and walked around Carrara for a bit. Then we went to the Airbnb, set our backpacks down and went to the sea! It was absolutely beautiful. We got dinner and had a very fun night. It was a relaxing weekend after being jet lagged. Getting back to Rome was exhausting but the trip overall was amazing.