I really loved my time in Italy! I had two families, the Ricotti family in Campagnano and the Zanti family in Carpi.
It was amazing that my hosts were so generous with their time and love, making me feel right at home.Both took me to many places that were a fair drive away so that I was able to see more of your country, which I really appreciated. All the food I ate (and there was a lot!) it was all delicious and I tried such a range of Italian food.
They were also more than happy to share their language and culture with me, and to introduce my to family and friends which just made my stay even better.
It was great with the Ricotti family to be shown around other places by some of the Lions club members, and to also attend one of their club meetings (even though it was just a casual one!). It was very thoughtful of them to organise the Leo’s outing for us so we could talk to some younger people, that was a really fun night and it was lovely to make that connection.

With the Zanti family, while I wasn’t shown around by other Lions members, I know that it was a bit later in the year so the meetings might have stopped for the year. It was not a problem at all anyway, as I was able to meet other nearby families who were also hosting Australians and so we were able to work together to see  more places and I was able to better understand the Italian way of life. Not to mention the children of the families were also more than happy to act as tour guides in their town and introduce their friends even with exams at school to worry about!
I’m sure I would have liked the camp too, but I was too late to apply to go, so no comment on that from me!
So I enjoyed every part of my time in Italy, and I will definitely be back to see what I didn’t see this time around! I miss my host families as if they were my own and I look forward to seeing them again to thank them again for the wonderful job they did showing me around and making me feel so welcome.