What were you grateful for this week?I’m grateful to be living in Italy (even though it can be hard sometimes). It’s such a fun experience. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week? I’ve been trying to initiate games and activities with [my host daughter] more, but it’s SO HARD because she is so independent. It’s a great character trait and she’s going to grow up to be a strong, independent woman, but it makes things harder for me…

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

I’ve been helping out with grocery shopping!

Tell us about your week! This week marks the halfway point of my time living in Italy! I can’t even believe it. The time has flown. I’ve loved it, and almost never want it to end. 

[My host family’s daughter] and I have connected so much since I’ve gotten here. Our favorite thing to do together is go to the “parco giochi”. The weather is just so perfect for going to park, so we have been going there a lot. She spends most of the time on the swings (sometimes I’ll swing with her if there’s not other kids around using them), but we also play on the merry-go-round, or play hide and seek. Another thing she likes is to play pretend where she is the princess and I’m a wolf that tries to eat her. It’s pretty funny. She has quite the imagination! 

Most of the time when we are together we just do what she wants to do. This week I started trying to take more initiative and decide what we do together. It’s so much easier said than done. Most of my attempts were unsuccessful, but I did get her to help me set the table one evening, and we worked on counting things (in both English and Italian). Hopefully this next week will go a little better!