The travelers will stay at current Italian students’ homes for one week, while the teachers will stay in a hotel, according to Italian teacher Judy Branzburg. "The hosts and their families will provide the students with beds, meals, transportation and whatever else the student might need," Branzburg said.

    While here the students will have a busy schedule. “They will arrive on a Wednesday,” said junior Liliana Silva, who will be hosting one of the exchange students. “On Thursday they’ll be staying in the Italian classes, on Friday they’ll be shadowing other students around Lowell, and for the rest of the week they will be touring around San Francisco and other things that they’d like to do.”

    Italian teacher Chiara Pelagatti, who is originally from Parma, facilitated the exchange. “My nephew attends the school and I invited them to come,” she explained.

    The exchange students who are between 16 and 17 years old, study a wide variety of subjects, including Latin, philosophy, literature, math and science, according to Pelagatti.

    Hosting students are looking forward to the exchange students’ arrival. “I think it’ll be a really great experience because you get to learn from other students from another culture,” Silva said.

    Senior Italian student Meryllia Luavasa said she is interested in seeing how the exchange students adjust. “I think it’ll be fun to see the culture shock, if there is one, and I think it’ll be a good experience for everyone,” she said.