Caio! 

       
Italy has been amazing and well worth the long trip it took to get here. After flying from Dayton, Ohio to Chicago, Chicago to Munich, then Munich to Trieste, my infamous host father Fabio drove Kyle and myself to the little island of Grado, Italy.

Fabio may be the most interesting person living on this island. From being an international waiter to serving in the Italian army, Fabio is never without something to say. Fabio speaks five languages meaning he can talk just about anyone's ear off anywhere in Europe. He's been a blast and am very excited to have him as my host.

I live with two other DePauw students, Kyle and AJ. Together we live in a flat in the center of town. For a little island, the town can be quite exciting and there is always something new to do either in the city or on the beach.

In Italy every region has their own dialect, or their own language. There are over 50 different dialects through out Italy and some regions cannot understand others. This was amazing to me because in America anyone can travel to another state and understand one another. This is not the case in Italy and this influences their love for learning new languages. Many speak several languages as the romantic languages are very similar (Spanish, French, Italian).

My stay in Grado has been amazing thus far and there is so much more to learn about this amazing culture.

Caio,

Austin MacDonald