Like many host families in the digital age, Christine Saladino found out about International Experience through a Facebook group.
“Yes, really,” said Saladino.
After some time in prayer and consideration, Saladino said, she felt it was the right decision to host. In large part, she was driven by her own international connections — Saladino’s mother is from Italy, and she also spent some time living and volunteering in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She asked to be matched with a student from Italy, and a few months later, welcomed Rosaria to her home in eastern Tennessee for the 2023-24 school year.
“I wanted to give someone else the opportunity of living in another culture,” Saladino said. “I also wanted to learn more about Italian culture as it is part of my heritage. It seemed like we were really compatible and we were!”
Prior to hosting, Saladino said she worried that being a single parent family might take away from Rosaria’s experience in some way. But that concern quickly proved itself untrue once Rosaria arrived in the USA and the two of them quickly became like family.
Becoming family
“I miss having her here — she brought humor, joy, and happiness to my home,” Saladino said. “I enjoyed seeing my culture through someone else’s eyes, and we had a lot of fun comparing things like foods, or phrases, or even children’s songs.”
They also got to travel around the region together, visiting nearby states including Missouri, North Carolina, Louisiana and other parts of Tennessee like Nashville and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Saladino was intentional about doing fun activities in the area with Rosaria to help her experience more of the local culture — from aquariums to museums to restaurants to bowling, and of course, a few movie nights at home with popcorn.
“I’ll never forget the first time we went to Walmart!” Saladino said. “We ate dinner together every night and would discuss how she was doing and what her experiences were like.”
Through all of their adventures together, Saladino said, the most formative moments were the mundane ones, like washing dishes or walking the dogs, and spending time over the holidays together.
“A funny story – Rosaria was very thoughtful and decided to make me a cake for my birthday. However, it was getting late and she had school the next day. So, we put the candles in it quickly,” Saladino said. “Well, the cake hadn’t cooled enough and the candles melted in the middle! We had to eat the cake around the center part where the candles were.”
Lasting connections
In the late winter of Rosaria’s year in the US, Saladino began planning a trip to Italy for the following summer. Since they had formed such a strong bond, she asked Rosaria (and her family) if they’d be okay with her taking a stop to visit them while on her solo adventure.
“I wanted to make sure it was okay with them because I ended up going just a short time after she had returned home, and I didn’t want to interrupt her adjustment of being back at home again,” Saladino said.
Rosaria and her parents were excited about the trip, so Saladino moved forward with planning. Fast-forward to the summer of 2024, she took a train to Naples, where Rosaria and her family met her with flowers and brought her to her hotel in Rosaria’s home city of Bari.
Though she only spent about 24 hours with Rosaria’s family, they packed in the adventures together. With her Italian hosts, Saladino got to see a World Heritage Site, Alberobello, as well as eat foods typical to the region at a local restaurant, and see some beautiful places on the seaside and around the city.
“It was such an honor to meet her parents and her brother,” Saladino said. “I felt a connection immediately, and they made me feel like I was a part of their family. Rosaria did an excellent job being our translator, and I really enjoyed seeing where she lives.”
Best advice
When asked what advice she’d give to anyone, particularly a single-host parent home, who’s thinking about hosting, Saladino said “go for it!”
“I am so thankful for the opportunity to host a student,” Saladino said. “It was a wonderful experience.”
To Saladino, being open to sharing life with someone else was a key part of preparing to host — and in the end, it was well worth it.
“You never know how both of your lives can change for the better,” she said.
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