So, I may be a coward

I have my first Italian crush!
It's quite lame, really, but I'm absolutely infatuated. I have little grounds for it, as I can hardly even understand what she's saying whenever she speaks. Still, there's something about here behaviour and mannerisms that absolutely attract me. She's a fifth year named Serena, and we've spoken exactly twice, although I see her often. The likeliness that the attraction is mutual is laughable, and even if it was there would be no way of knowing. Assuming she's gay (which I'm almost positive about), she'd never come out of the closet, and I'm not out here either. I haven't told anyone, and I hate that, but I'm just not ready to admit it. Italy is a Catholic country, and I have yet to meet a single person who is openly gay, bisexual, trans, any of it. The people (generally) are unabashedly prejudice, and also incredibly ignorant. I know that as an exchange student, I should be helping to change that, but I honestly don't have the courage. I care too much about what everyone here thinks about me, I want to make a good impression, and I'm not sure I could handle persecution on top of everything else. I mean, my host sister basically told me that the Italians consider bisexuals to be promiscuous by default, and that she thinks that gay is just "weird" (and she's progressive).