What was your favorite part of this week?Going to the Santa Domenica festival with Viola and Giacomo. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?Taking care of the kids by myself but not being able to communicate with others. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.Watching the kids alone while the parents were in Rome. 

Tell us about your week!This week was definitely a learning experience. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on because I couldn’t understand people so I had to figure out a way to take care of the kids and deal with problems we came across but all in all it was a great week. The kids got to spend quite a lot of time with their cousins and from what I can tell, they really enjoyed it, as did I.

On Monday it was Teresa’s birthday so we had a little celebration at a restaurant/bar in the town with a bunch of her friends and all of their children which was very fun. I really appreciate getting to see how much love surrounds everyone. It is a blessing to be able to be around so much love and even though I am a stranger to everyone, they treat me as if they have known me for years.

I think one of the best things that happened that day was getting to hold a tiny puppy who was a month old for a long time and it just sleeping on me. Leaving all of my animals back home was one of the hardest things for me and when I had to say goodbye to them, it really hit me hard that I was leaving. Animals are something that you can always count on. They are there whenever you need them and you automatically click with them no matter what you have done in your life, it is a fresh start.

Federico left on Monday and Teresa left on Tuesday so I was with the children all week and it was such a joy to have them all to myself. Every night we went to the festival and the last two nights we got to go with their cousins and they loved it. The festival was like a fourth of July back home but in Italy, nothing could get better than that. We stayed out late, wake up around 10 or so in the morning, spend the day at the beach and pool, go home get ready for dinner and the festival, and then after the festival go home and repeat it all the next day.

The kids and I continue to get closer and closer and I know it will be so hard to leave them. Today is the “1 month” mark of my journey and I cannot wait to see what this next month brings me.