Ciao!

Another week in Prato, another week closer to being home and I could not be more upset about leaving this beautiful country. Last weekend was Deanna’s birthday, and so we visited the beautiful area of Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a set of five small towns located along the shore of Northern Italy. Our first stop was the small town of Manarola. The town looked like something straight out of a magazine. We spent the morning walking along the water edge and then had seafood for lunch and, let me tell you, Italy does seafood and pizza extremely well.

After Manarola, we visited the popular tourist town of Monterosso Al Mare. The only thing on our mind was the beach. We sat on the beach for five hours, just relaxing and taking in the beautiful ocean view. It was the perfect escape from the bustling schoolwork that has been consuming our lives in Prato.

I have been volunteering more and more each week. I absolutely love being able to help these Italian students with their English. In the science class that I am volunteering with, I am actually in charge of teaching the students about the earth. This is exactly what I want to do when I get older; teach in a foreign country. It is such a wonderful opportunity to be able to do what I love to do while studying abroad. I am so grateful to be studying abroad and I don’t think I will ever go back home to America (Sorry mom and dad)!