My name is Caitlin H. and I am applying for the Italian Exchange Alumni of 2004-2005.  I am sixteen years old and I live on a farm in Delray, West Virginia with my mother, father, and younger brother, Jesse.  We have a lot of animals.  Dogs, cats, a pig, donkeys, and many others.  I like to hang out with my friends and I love to shop!  It’s one of my favorite hobbies.  I also like to take pictures.  Listening to music is another one of my favorite pastimes.  I also like to play sports.

            This past March I traveled with the exchange group to Italy.  It was the experience of a lifetime.  Just being in another country was thrilling.  I loved experiencing another culture.  It was so much different than ours, but in a way it was a lot alike.  I have to say their transportation was a lot better, too.  The Mercedes busses were awesome.  I don’t see why we can’t get those here.  I also liked their fashion and how it was much more advanced than ours.   The places we traveled to were very beautiful and the hotels and youth hostels we stayed at were exquisite.  They were perfect.

            I would really love to go to Italy again.  It would look really good on college applications saying that I traveled to another country with a exchange group from my school.  Meeting new people was a great experience as well.  They were so nice and all of them spoke at least a little English.  Traveling to Italy again would be another chance of a lifetime.  I loved it so much I was homesick when I got back to the United States!