I'm Here :)

Ciao!!!!!!!

Its been way too long since I've written... So here is a little update of what is going on...

I arrived to my host family's house on Sunday, September 12th to a very great surprise that my host sister (Benni) speaks perfect english. Literally with in 3 minutes of being with her I felt like we were sisters. Me and her have had very few hours in the last 2 weeks where we weren't glued to the hip. She has been helping me with my Italian and schoolwork everyday... I can not even begin to describe how fortunate I feel to have her.

School is not bad.. but its not good... I think if I understood Italian I would love it, but sitting in a classroom for 5 hours being lectured to in a language I don't understand is... very stressful. The school in general is so different from my school in Chicago, but I like it. Everyone has the same class for 5 years, and we don't leave the classroom everyday, the teachers come to us. Also school on Saturday is going to take some serious getting used to... But only having school until 12 or 1 each day great! There is a very sweet girl who sits next to me named Maddie who tries to help me whenever possible but the language barrier makes that difficult. The rest of my class is also extremely nice to me and I cant wait until I have improved my Italian and can have more exciting conversations then "come stai?" "bene è tu?"

To describe how gorgeous it is here is impossible! The view from my room is incredible :) Its very hilly and green just like I was told it would be. The food is also amazing. Last night me and Benni made pizza and I can honestly say that it ruined American pizza for me. Lasagna has also been ruined for me. I'm missing my skippy peanut butter... but nuetella is not a horrible replacement :)

Luckily homesickness has not hit me yet... but its only been 2 weeks since I left so thats not saying much... But its so amazing here I cant imagine wanting to leave! Also just like I had hoped and wished for, I already have a plane ticket to another European country!!!! Benni, my host mother and grandmother, and I will be spending a few days in Barcelona next month for Benni's birthday! :)

I would jsut like to say thanks again for all the donations and support I recieved!!!

Love you all,

Grace