Hope she has a thick skin. Italians can be pretty harsh, and they're ridiculously over protective of their kids. If little Gianni scrapes his knee, it's gonna be your niece's fault. I love that place as much as any descendent should, but having spent much time there, and after helping out an abandoned au pair, I can tell you that it's not going to be a vacation for her.
If she decides to do it, I would strongly recommend that she learn as much Italian as possible before she arrives, and continues to make her best effort to learn more. And the first phrase she needs to learn is 'Sono Canadese', just so that nobody thinks she's American, because American is about the second worst thing you can be, right after Arabic.
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