What were you grateful for this week?Random hugs from one of the kids.

What was the most challenging part of this week?Figuring out the best way to communicate with my host mom.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. I helped my host mom outside my designated hours. I was glad to do it because it really showed the kids that I was happy to be there and they seemed to treat me like an older sister.

Tell us about your week! This week was actually amazing! I’m having so much fun with the other girls here in Rome. Two of us went to Siena on Saturday. I don’t even really know how to begin to explain how incredible Siena was. S and I just had a nice relaxing day. We didn’t really have a plan, which actually was great. We got pizza, we went to the Duomo of Siena and we just explored! Taking photos and walking around without a plan is sometimes the best thing.

After a long day of exploring, Sunday we went for another relaxing day. Sunday we went to Santa Marinella! I couldn’t believe how beautiful the beach was. It was so calm, peaceful and clean. The water was so clear and the sand so hot! We laid out in the sand, then grabbed lunch. It was funny when we got lunch because it took foreveeeerrr to get our lunch. They actually brought us free appetizers and wine, because it took so long. It was really kind because we were just there to relax. After a nice long day and a few sunburns, we headed home. All in all this weekend was amazing and I am just loving traveling Italy!! I can’t wait for this coming weekend because we have some more busy travel planned.