Family Change

I had a very unfortunate start to my year abroad in Italy. I was placed in a family that was not only an hours bus ride from my high school, and all of my friends, but they also treated me poorly. I was expected to cook for the husband when I got back from school, and I was unable to eat until he returned from work. I was also cleaning the house on a regular basis. I talked to my designated person, and she told me that I needed to deal with it. So, I did. I spent another two months without a fuss, and when things did not improve, I went to the program leaders. They told me that this was just Italian culture, and that I needed to deal with it. By this time I was sick and scared, and having serious depression. I was on the verge of going home. I called my parents one night crying so hard, that they were afraid for me. They contacted AFS USA, and raised hell. I don't like to have my parents do things for me. I like to solve my own problems, but I was very lucky to have them on my side. AFS USA finally got in touch with the people around me and said that a change had to happen. The people in Italy however, refused to move me without a family, and refused to look for a new one. I ended up finding my new host family myself through a class that I was in. I would like to say, that not everyone in the area was at fault. There was a nice older couple helping AFS that were wonderful to me, and even hosted me in the time between my family change. With their help, and the help of my new family, the last four months of my trip were the greatest of my life. I grew, and was able to finally learn the language and experience the culture. I do not think that AFS meant for me to be in the situation I was in. I am afraid that my lack of language skills and overall misunderstanding made the situation worse. If they had been able to see what I was going through, I am sure they would have been better able to help me. Or at least I hope so, because I don't want any other student to go through what I went through during my time in those first 5 months.