MASS - A - CHU - SETTS ...

My next adventure…Boston, MA (Massachusetts…aka there’s-no-way-I -could-spell-that-without-spellcheck!) Ravash came to Wisconsin, so I promised her I would go to Boston, I had a long weekend off in Sept (Fri, Sat and Sun) so I woke up really early (for the record anything before 8 is early for me) and boarded the airport connection at 4:30am (argh!) climbed on a plane and landed in Boston at 1pm…of course everyone was looking bright eyed and bushy tailed (I think I just looked bushy tailed!) Ravash’s host child (? - I’m still not sure what to called the kids we look after, we have host parents, so they should either be our host kids or our host siblings…but that is just too weird for words) finished school just after I got there so we took her to the playground, it was fun! Meaning we probably had more fun there than she did…

See what I mean? Ravashnie on the slide

Later we took Elizabeth back to the house and made paper flowers for her mother. When Ravash’s host mom came home we made a beeline for the door and went out for dinner at the Chessecake Factory, which does in fact have a wide range of dishes and not just desserts. (I had never gone there before because I don’t really like cheesecake and I thought it was a dessert place, only) while there we met up with another South African girl, Thubile.

Thubile, Ravashnie and I at Cheesecake factory. MA

The next day the girls - Geetha, a Malaysian girl and Hilda (Jones) a South African girl from Kokstad that I went to school with like 10 years ago! - took me out and about in Boston, we went to Bunker Hill, Quincy market and a whole bunch of other interesting places. 

Geetha, Hilda, Ravashnie and I

Hilde and I at Bunker Hill Monument

We also saw a bar that is modeled on the set of ‘Cheers’. That night Ravash and I planned to go out, but as you know what they say about the best laid plans… the car had a flat tire so we got less than a block away, and decided to catch a bus and just check out Boston by night. We met some VERY interesting (aka weird) people, one guy told me “I am love…with your eyes right now…” okay dude, I would like to warn you at this stage that I do carry pepper spray and I do know self-defense!

Some random part of Boston by night...

 On Sunday we had planned a picnic, but with the rain we jumped at the lunch invitation extended by her host family. While dinning they promptly offered me her job when she leaves next year - slightly awkward moment! In private Ravash remarked I should visit more often as her host family isn’t usually so sweet to her, what can I say host families love my…charm? That brought my Boston trip to an end, and Ravash, Geetha and Kim (another SA au pair) drove me to the airport where we bid fond farewells.

Ravash, Geetha, Kim and I and of course my pink bag :)

100 Days and still going strong...

Saturday the 12^th of September marked my 100^th day in Wisconsin, and as I looked back at my last few months I cannot believe how acclimatized I have become. You know you are comfortable in a new country when you crave food from shops here and your sentences stop beginning with “in my country.”

Fernanda, Monique, Stephanie and I at a mini golf au pair meeting

The day was celebrated by drinking American beer! Ha ha! We had an au pair meeting at the Millers Brewery in downtown Milwaukee, there were 7 girls altogether. We went with our counselor plus the two counselors from the other agency. The tour was a walking tour of like 4 blocks, so by the time you get to the end of the tour, you don’t care what the beer tastes like, you’re just parched.  I had this one beer it was called Berry Weiss, and oh my… it changed my point of view of beer. It’s like alcoholic gummy berry juice. (Unfortunately most pubs don’t stock it though) And just to clarify the under aged girls were given any soda of their choice definitely not beer (the legal US drinking age is 21 and driving age 16 hmmm…a little strange but oh well)

Nadine, Yardely, Fernanda, Vanessa, Tamara, Rieki and I at the Miller Tour

After that a Brazilian au pair (Fernanda) and a Columbian au pair (Yardley) and I decided to check out the ‘Indian Summer Fest” which not Indian like I would expect in South Africa, it is American-Indian. It was really nice to see the dancing (which looks a little strange if you don’t understand the concept behind it, one man told me convincingly enough that there was no way they were stoned…I beg to differ.) One act that truly stood out in my mind was a dance that 5 guys performed on a wooden pole that was like 100 meters (ok exaggeration) above the ground and they kind of bungeed off the pole and swung around in a circle, it was hectic!

Mexican Dancing

Also the food was pretty cool, after weeks of trying to explain to my host family what ‘vetkoek’ was (for those that are not familiar with weird (but tasty) South African cuisine, it is a dough deep fat fried and stuffed with mince/ground beef) when I explained this to Amanda (my host mom) and Jena (the babysitter) they asked me why would I think that stuffing dough with “mints” would taste good, that’s when I found out the American phrase is “ground beef”. So anyway, I found a meal called an Indian taco, which is ‘vetkoek’ with salad! Mission accomplished J

Yardy, Vanessa and I at Mexican Fest

The night ended with a farewell (for a girl I had never met) and a welcome (for a girl that I had also never met) but when you trying to make friends those are minor details! We ended up at a place called Hooligans (which was a lot tamer than the name suggests!) with 2 Colombian au pairs (and a Colombian guy who knew one of the girls), an au pair from Panama, one from Romania, and another  from Brazil…and a few more from countries that I not only cannot spell, but can’t pronounce either! It was really interesting with everyone so glad to meet other girls either from their country or that speak the same language as them…I of course just had me, myself and I. Well that was until every realized the only things we had in common was our jobs, America and yup…English! (However bad and fragmented) So this wonderful day-turned-night ended with all of us dancing to the some old school songs in a place called RC’s. Fun times in Milwaukee!

Some more dancing...

A day in the life of an au pair...

My mom asked me to explain my daily routine, so I thought I’d just add this for you all.

My typical week consists of working 8 – 10 hours per day Monday through Thursday. I wake up and get ready for the day, which basically means shower, change and coffee! My host mom or dad will either leave right away or they will be getting Annabel ready for school. If they are still getting her ready then I usually help by getting her breakfast or by doing her hair, she has the most gorgeous shiny, long, thick hair! Then it’s just me and the boys once everyone leaves. We just hang out and chill. They are supposed to sleep in the morning, midday and in the afternoon, but as we all know even the best laid plans don’t always go according to plan! I also feed them, they mainly have milk but are starting on rice cereal, (which brings back memories of trying to feed my younger siblings which if memory serves me correct - was always a messy affair!) In between all of that I try to get out the house at least once a day, picture me, walking down the streets of suburbia pushing a double stroller/pram, sounds cute ha? Well they are, but you can bet that they are not always angels! Finn is the louder of the two, so he gets a little more attention, which makes Braden jealous and so has started this new cry which is more like a girly screech, that kind of says “what about me?!” Braden is also the better sleeper of the two, he lets you know when he wants to sleep, eat or has a poop by making a slightly weird groaning noises, but at least it’s not a screech.  Finn sleeps well…if you are holding him, I’m sure you can see how that would be a problem. But on a whole I am really happy with my family, and with Wisconsin. The boys are 6 months now for anyone that is keeping track. Once I have finished work I either just sit in my room and read, surf the net or watch tv. If I finish early enough I try to make it to the gym, but realistically this usually only happens on weekends (Fri, Sat or Sun) Sometimes I meet up for coffee with the other girls but most of them live 30 – 40 minutes away (except my friend Hilde who lives 15 minutes away) so during the week this can be challenging. On weekend we always try to make the most of our time, we have group emails on facebook that we send out to ALL the au pair girls so anyone that can make it is invited, which is nice ‘cos then it’s not always the same girls. We always invite other au pairs from other agencies, just to expand our friendship base, plus everyone has a different departure date, so it’s very rare that your friend will be there the whole time you are there, so you need to make lots of friends!

My room on a rare day that it was clean