What were you grateful for this week?

How welcoming and nice my host family is! They made me feel so comfortable here after arriving on Thursday, and they have taken me in as part of the family. I feel so grateful to be living with them and beginning this experience! Plus they are helping me with my Italian while I help them with English.

What was the most challenging part of this week?

The most challenging part was fighting jet lag when I first arrived. It also took a few days to get used to living in a new house and finding my way around the city to the kids school and activities.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.

I brought my host family gifts from the US and that was definitely the “wow” moment when I gave them their gifts! They loved everything, the kids were especially excited about the glow sticks I brought.

Tell us about your week!

The first four days here in Rome have been chaotic, beautiful, peaceful, magical, and heartwarming. I am so happy to be back in Italy after studying abroad and falling in love with it two years ago! I have been to Rome a couple of times as a visitor so it is exciting to actually be living here and get to participate in the day-to-day life now. I love the neighborhood we are in and the kids are so nice! We speak Italian and English together, and I think they are teaching me as much Italian as I am teaching them English. My host parents have been so kind and provided me with everything I need to feel comfortable here! I am looking forward to getting to know my host family better and settle into a routine with the kids and all of their activities.

I’m also excited to explore more of Rome and Italy in my free time, and hopefully make it to one or two other countries this fall! A definite highlight of my first four days was meeting up with my host family in the center after going for a walk, and meandering through Rome with them. We stopped in the Pantheon, which I have never been into at night. It was beautiful, and I could see a star through the top! After that we ended up at a Korean restaurant and it was delicious! We shared everything and had such a nice meal, it was a great way to end the week and spend more time with them.