Dear host family, I’m Alessia. First of all, I want to thank you for hosting me for ten months and giving me the most important opportunity of my life. I can’t wait to get to know you, share new experiences and learn more about your culture. I really hope to create strong bonds and that this will be an experience that challenges and helps me to find the best version of myself. From this experience I would like to leave a piece of myself but also to have a piece of everything that it can give to me, especially as part of your family. I love traveling and meeting new people, sharing cultures and seeing new places. In fact, I have many international friends, for example from Switzerland, Croatia, in particular from Greece because I spend my holidays there every summer and I learnt a lot about Greek culture. I had so much fun and enjoyed the way they made me feel part of something and I hope to do the same with you. I’m very altruistic and generous. Since I’m good at school I like helping others and making them feel better. I want my friends to know that I’ll always be there for everything. I also have a strong passion for animals, especially dogs. I think that they’re special, a source of love and purity. My grandmother has a dog called Diva. She showed me what an authentic bond of friendship is. What about you? Do you like or have animals? I would be happy to meet them! I’m very passionate about music and any kind of art. Playing the piano and dancing make me feel free. I used to dance latin style. I stopped this year, but I’ll start again in January. Currently I play paddle with my friends. Moreover, one of my favourite activities is reading because it brings me to another dimension. I have so many books that I can’t even choose my favourite out of all. Probably “Shatter me”, a dystopian series, or “Once upon a time a broken heart” a fantasy series. My family is special. I’m an only child but I’m a mix of Italian culture from my dad’s side and Cuban culture from my mom’s side and that’s part of the reasons why I love learning about different cultures. I know Italian, Spanish, English and I watch movies in these three languages. I enjoy listening to the pronunciation and people talking in a language different from mine, hoping I can learn as much as possible from it. This reminds me that the world is so big and different. Me, my mom, Dayami, and my dad, Luigi, like to travel, cook together on the weekends and I like repeating the things that I have studied to them. Sometimes they don’t’ understand what I’m explaining to them, for example when I explain philosophy, and we laugh together. I also have a strong bond with my relatives, especially with my grandmother, who keeps teaching me so much about life, and I will always be glad for it. I see her only during summer when I go to Florida to see my relatives from my mother’s side. Me and my friends like to hang out together in the center of my town, share our thoughts, or stay at home and do something alternative like cooking or dancing. When I’m with them I’m always smiling, I love helping them and making them laugh. I would like to build a strong relationship and contribute as part of a family. I’m sure that this experience will help me to practice self-growth, while enriching my cultural and human knowledge. It’s going to be a challenge for me, but I want enjoy every part of this Journey. Thank you for reading my letter, I hope that you understood a little part of me and I’m very excited to get to know you and share this unique experience with you. Alessia♡