September 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Haile just came into my room and said "Y mi...
First, biberon means bottle.. yes, like baby bottle.. yes, he is 5 years old.. yes, I know its weird
Second, I JUST GOT HOME AND I´M NOT WORKING. go ask your mom for it
Third, do not demand things of me. Just because your mom is paying me to be with you, doesn´t make it okay to disrespect me all of the time
2 tags
For the first time since I´ve been here, I...
I had literally tried everything else I could think of. I was nice, I said please, I was firm, I had patience, I bribed him, I threatened him, I told him a tall tale to get him to do what I wanted, I told him I would tell his mom, I tried to make a game out of doing what I wanted him to do and he wasn´t having any of it.
So I screamed. I´m glad I screamed instead of slapping him because I really...
August 2010
4 posts
1 tag
I was humming a tune that I couldn´t get out of my...
Haile asked me “what song is that?”
I said.. “I don´t know!”
He said.. “I think its the Beatles”
Sure enough, he was right.
1 tag
1 tag
There is nothing more terrifying than a screaming...
Its funny how it would be less terrifying if the child was actually hurt or had reason to be screaming like someone had just broken his arm.
The boy wanted ice cream before dinner. I first offered him a Popsicle, because I knew that he would still be hungry for dinner, I mean its just water and sugar right? He didn´t have any of that of course. He started crying and said he wanted ice cream and...
1 tag
I´m watching a movie on my computer and Haile just...
¨Caroline.. Enough TV already..¨
He´s just jealous because he´s not allowed to watch tv.
July 2010
8 posts
1 tag
Coming to Spain has made me realize how terrible...
I always make up words and use phrases wrong..
I have always been proud that I spell really well but recently I´ve started spelling things wrong and not realizing it.
So I´m going to come back to the states knowing two languages but speaking them both horribly.
I mildly love when the boy goes over to his...
of course, on the other hand, when his friends come here, its double work for me. It all evens out.
Today is my last day in Madrid for 3 weeks! I´m heading to A Coruña with the boy and his dad. The dad is shooting a TV Series about pirates so he said we can go see the sets and the huge pirate ships that they use. I´m a little embarrassed to admit that I´m more excited about that than the 5 year...
1 tag
New Host fam
I´ve been with my new host fam now for 3 weeks and they are a huge improvement over the last one! At least the parents are :) I have spent 2 of those weeks in Denia Spain and 1 in Madrid.
I will be spending the next week in Madrid and then going to A Coruña in the north of Spain for 3 weeks. Then back to Madrid until I leave for the states.
I´ll post pics of the little boy soon.
June 2010
16 posts
The mom has given me such a bad rep for cooking
That when I made hotdogs and heated up soup, while the parents were at the bar watching Spain vs whoever Spain dominated, the kids were like YOU COOKED?? OMG. Its so good! I CANT BELIEVE IT…
Okay, any idiot can cut a hotdog in half, put some oil in a pan and fry up a meal.
Just because I couldn´t cook in a vat of oil when I first got here doesn´t mean I don´t know how to cook ANYTHING.
SO...
THE FAMILY IN MARBELLA BAILED
And now the other fams that I´ve interviewed with all have au pairs.
HOW CONVENIENT.
Now I´m on the search again. With less that 2 weeks to find a family. UGH
I chose the family in Marbella
Why not have a great time on the beach, in the south of Spain, for a few months in the summer. It will be like having a vacation from my Staycation here in Spain before I go home and face the music.
When you´re away from your family, you miss a lot...
Or in my case, big things.
My younger brother graduated from High School yesterday and I missed it. I don´t know if I´m this upset because I really wanted to be there to see him graduate or because of the fact that I couldn´t come back for it.
So this morning, I sit at my computer, look at the mobile uploads of him walking across the stage, of his hat that had ¨JJ All Day¨ written on the top of...
1 tag
3 tags
1 tag
3 tags
Its jeans weather again.. Rainy and 60 degrees..
Madrid weather is starting to be un poco parecido de Minnesota weather :(
Almost all of the kids have gotten comments or...
I feel super proud of myself for hanging in there and constantly drilling them with English, even when they hated me for it. And I feel SO proud of them for trying hard and being good sports when I make them repeat everything or make them say things in full sentences.
happppppy!
1 tag
E.T.
I was sitting at the kitchen table with Julia today while she ate her breakfast. She suddenly looked over at me and said ¨stomach¨. I wasn´t sure she learned that from me or not so I waited in case she said anything else.
(she always complains she has a stomach ache when eating breakfast so she doesnt have to eat all of it)
So then she says ¨my stomach¨… and I sat there, completely...
Finding a new family
My family doesnt need me until October like they said they would. So now I´m in search of a new one!
I have 3 options so far.
1. Marbella, Spain. The southern coast, on the beach, 2 kids (4 and 7), my own bedroom, bathroom and terrace, huge swimming pool, cute dog, relaxed atmosphere. Not sure what the pay is yet, meeting them on Friday hrs: 9-4
2. Aravaca Madrid Spain (right outside of...
So I kinda messed up
I accidentally left the gate open for a few hrs while I was here and the parents came home to find it open.
I was sleeping when they got home around 11:30pm. The mom came to my room to see if I was home and she saw me asleep on top of the covers with my dress on. I was online and got tired so I decided to take a nap. I never woke up lol.
So the dad asks me about it this morning.. tells me that...
May 2010
7 posts
So the mom asked me to pack the kids clothes for...
I´m a geek.
3 tags
Back from Valencia
Valencia was AWESOME. I met some really great people and did some once in a lifetime things! Now I have to upload a couple hundred pics that I took so you all can be part of my adventure :)
A lot of times I´m not proud of the US
I get asked alllll the time if college in the US is similar to how it is portrayed in the movies..
I figure I could lie and they would never know the difference, but its sad to say that its pretty darn accurate.
Way to fulfill stereotypes, USA. Way to go.
1 tag
1 tag
Caught red handed
I was playing with the little girl today in her room. We were taking turns singing songs into this microphone toy that made your voice echo.
A few songs in, it was my turn and i decided to sing ¨I had a little turtle, his name was tiny Tim…¨ etc. So, being the goofy one that I am, I belt it out for the little girl´s amusement.
Mid song, the mom walks into the bedroom.
She came to pay me...
2 tags
I feel so dirty...
The other day (after a gorgeous week of weather here in Madrid) the mother and I were in the kitchen and I was preparing the snack for the kids.
She said to me ¨Caroline.. have you bathed lately?¨
….
I said ¨WHAT?¨ thinking.. oh god.. do i smell? is my hair greasy? why would she say something like that???
Then she pointed to my skin and said ¨you´re so brown!¨
And I let out a huge sigh...
Speaking in sentences
So all of the kids are finally speaking in complete sentences, which is AWESOME!!
but the 6 year old boy came to me today with a book and asked
¨Caroline.. can we play in bed?¨ …..
I had to laugh at least a little because it sounded a little… well… wrong.
April 2010
17 posts
2 tags
3 tags
Predicament
I can either shut my window and die of heat stroke, or I can endure some possibly drunk people screaming at the top of their lungs.
Note to the possibly drunk people: Paracuellos is on a hill. At night it is completely silent. Except for you. And even if you don´t think you´re being loud, the wind is carrying every word into my window. Callaos!
3 tags
yesterday..
I was sitting, reading a book, waiting for a friend in Retiro Park (google it, its beautiful)
There are these children who come up to you asking for money, pretending that they are deaf. They are everywhere and are usually very rude or in your face and will not leave you alone until you literally tell them to go away.
So I was reading and one came up to me and I said ¨No, Gracias¨ and he...
4 tags
The things I´ve learned from hanging out with...
Some people don´t know that in the US, we call french fries.. well.. french fries.
Some also don´t know that we have Dijon mustard.. Of course they want to know what it tastes like but of course I can´t tell them because I have no idea. I hate mustard! (sidenote for all who dont know: Dijon is a city in France)
If you´re with a bunch of people who speak a different language than you.. lets...
5 tags
5 tags
Booked and Booked
I booked my trip to Valencia the weekend of the 7th of May!! I´m sooo excited to go and spend 4 whole days hanging out, going to the beach, seeing all that Valencia has to offer (which im hoping includes a ton of oranges and super fresh seafood… but not together..)
I booked a flight for just under 44 Euro and I´m staying in a hostel, in the middle of the city for 12 euro a night. So the...
1 tag
OMG. I just had my first convo with the maid.
She´s very nice and up until now, I hadn´t known quite enough to just start a random convo, but she was talking to me and started telling me that she started working for them 2 years ago and for ONE YEAR the kids never warmed up to her. They would only say hello and goodbye etc (of course in spanish)..
That totally made me feel so much better about when the kids yell at me or tell me to go away.....
Oh so proud of myself at the current moment! The...
:) :) :) :)
2 tags
Yay me
I realized today that no matter how much you want kids to like you, you HAVE to punish them, yell at them etc. After they´re done crying, they´ll like you again and it won´t be a problem. They probably will respect you (at least fear you hehe) more for it anyway.
AND for the first time since I got here, I yelled at one of the boys completely in spanish. YES. so wonderful!
This whole week, the little girl has been SO...
I feel bad for her but you should see this 4 year old monster in the morning.. seriously, she has done everything you can imagine besides biting me.
Tomorrow is friday. If there is a god of the au pairs, PLEASE let her be happy and excited. ITS FRIDAY for pete´s sake.
I cut my own hair today
Yep, layers and all. I do have to say it looks pretty drrn good! Who knew that it would be so easy? well, it wasn´t easy. My arms are sore now and I still have split ends, so obviously I didn´t cut enough off.
At least now my hair looks decent, and not like I´m homeless. :)
Spanish is definitely not that hard to learn.....
I wish I had known this earlier, but I´m glad I realized it when I did. I still have 6 months left to make myself fluent! whooooo