What was your favorite part of this week?Going to different parks with the kids.

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?Being away in the mountains from my host family and being surrounded by people who didn’t speak English.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.I watched the two youngest kids 24/7 this past week.

Tell us about your week!This week I have been living in the mountains with my host grandmother and the two youngest kids. It is absolutely beautiful up here! We are about an hour away from Milan and there is a very different feel up here. It almost feels like the mountains back home in Utah. Everything is very green and lush. The sunsets here are picturesque and it’s a couple degrees cooler. We don’t have any service so I get pretty creative with the kids. Every morning we go to the park and bring our coloring books. E loves being pushed on the swing and A has no problem making new friends. 

Every night during dinner I have time to talk to my host grandma, “Nona”. She tells me about her life and her knowledge of cooking Italian food. She treated us to some gelato and pastries which were delicious as usual! Nona used to teach and speaks some English. We laugh sometimes because she noticed that I have a Utah accent and don’t always pronounce my “t’s”. 

Spending time in the mountains has given me time to think about my past month and a half here in Italy. I have time to ponder about my life and the changes I have seen. I think it is important that we take time for ourselves and get lost in nature.