This is my first night in my new home for 2 months as an au pair in Spain. I'm living in a town called Lleida, nearish to Barcelona (where I've told everyone I'm staying because who's heard of Lleida?)
This is also my 3rd time flying ever and my 2nd time flying alone 😱
I'm so grateful to my mum for coming to the airport with me (lucky she got the time off work) because my 18.4kg suitcase was a bitch to carry on the Underground. We even had two lovely chaps help us lug it up the stairs to the Victoria line at Oxford Circus.
At Gatwick there were automated bag drop machines (so fun!), food (smoked salmon cannot be grey idc what Jamie's Coffee says) and emotional goodbyes before the security gate (miss you Mummy). We took off 45mins late (annoying) but landed only 20mins late (acceptable) and my host family was eagerly waiting to greet me at arrivals.
Pero bueno, enough with the logistics, what am I actually doing here?
I'm here as an au pair which means extra pair of hands or something in French. The basic idea is to join a family and be like a big sister, for a little pocket money, food and board. With my family we're doing a language exchange - I speak English (especially with the kids), they speak Spanish (castellano i.e. the Spanish we're taught at school). What's interesting is that this family also speak Catalan, another official language of Spain which I've learnt is spoken in the West. (I kept saying el Norte and getting corrected by confused Spanish people).
Anyway, the kids are great and the parents are lovely so I'm sure I'll have a lovely time out here. Thanks to everyone cheering me on and wishing me well, I almost didn't come but apart from some painful pressure in my ears and an impromptu funeral (explanation to come) it's all been perfect.
Hasta luego,
Antonia xx
YAY (En Espanol) the time is going to fly by and you're going to never want to come home.
ReplyDeleteHaha not sure about never but things are nice right now. Still spent an hour on the phone to my madre!
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