We are all used to certain traditions on the 4th of July, and most of them include family! Whether your family spends their day on the lake or on your front porch, you spend it together. Although I did not get to spend my last Fourth of July as a student with my family on the shores of Lake Michigan, I did get to spend it with a new family!

We spent the day immersed in all Florence has to offer. We saw the Birth of Venus and the Ferragamo Museum, we visited the beautiful Church of Santa Croce and learned from the leather school. As the evening came closer we got more and more excited about the dinner that was to come. Our fun little family decided that the most American way to spend the Fourth of July in Florence was to get Mexican Food. We about drowned ourselves in queso and guacamole, and maybe a few margaritas too! So even though I didn’t get to watch fireworks or eat corn on the cob, I still got to spend it with people I have also come to know as my family!

Being in Italy is a wonderful experience, theres so much to see and do, but if not for these girls I’m not sure it would have meant as much. When I sat down to write about my experiences over the last week, what stuck out to me most where the little moments, the puns, the jokes, the laughs. I know I’m getting too sentimental over here, but as much as we’re all ready to return to the land of Chick-Fil-A and Barbecue, none of us are ready to say goodbye.

Our group with full stomachs and full hearts!