Windy city ... take two ...

My next few weeks were kind of just relaxed, which was a nice change! So after my first “fun-filled” Chicago experience, I heard that a few other girls were thinking of traveling there…I jumped at the opportunity to go back! Early on Saturday morning 5 of us girls were Chicago bound…we arrived there at 8am after taking a 2hour bus trip, our day started with the Shedd Aquarium which was truly amazing! (we saw a 4D show called our planet) Next we visited Field’s museum where we saw “Sue” the T-rex, lots of artifacts and even a taxi-cut out for the Africa display.

African taxi...slightly different from a NYC taxi

Next on our self-guided tour of the Windy city was the Adler Planetarium where we saw 2 movies about space one of which was a children’s movie (the better of the two) and one that was shown on a dome shaped roof! (wow!) Our next stop was the Willis Tower (aka the Skydeck or Sears Tower) which has the most amazing view of Chicago from 103 stories up. After taking way to many photos of the same thing, meeting new people and watching a proposal we decided that it was officially home (well hotel) time. Back safely in our room we showered, changed, ate and…zzzzzz

Rieke, Nadine, Tamara, Fernanda and I in the Willis Tower viewing window

Rise and shine on day two (and final day in Chicago) we caught the metro into Chicago as the hotel we stayed at was in a suburban of Chicago and not downtown (that’s traveling on a budget I guess) At this point I would like to point out that I armed with a map and computer researched metro colours and bus numbers managed to get us to all these wonderful places…without getting lost! (Ha, so much for being directionally challenged!)

Posing with the statues...

The day began with Dunkin Donut breakfast at Millennium park (which is where the ‘Bean’ aka Cloud gate is) then we headed to Navy pier, where we meet some crazy people! (Lots of pirates walking around and people on mechanical chairs that were kind of freaky) We decided that we had to check out Chinatown, so that was our next stop…after eating at a super cute Vietnamese restaurant we started to head back to Union station where our bus would fetch us and end our magical Chicago weekend! But what a weekend we had!

All the girls at Navy Pier

Loving Chicago (taken at Navy Pier)

Pickin' dem apples ...

As you can all see or read I am having a great American adventure, living the America dream if you like. I hope you are enjoying reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it.

Milwaukee nature shot

My next great American adventures began in…well our backyard! It’s fall at the moment which a month ago meant all the leaves are turning gorgeous hues of red, yellow and gold. Unfortunately now it means the trees are bare and no longer cloaked in glorious shades, and there are a lot of messy backyards that need to be raked. I think it’s so cool, well I thought! My host mom and dad decided to enjoy the full American experience I needed to rake leaves and make scarecrows. We had to rake up all the leaves and then we stuffed them in Dave’s old (doctor scrubs) clothing, then we added masks so we had a werewolf/doctor and an old man in funny pj’s on our front porch. I think I’m a pretty good leaf rake-er unfortunately it’s a thankless job, because there’s always more leaves!

AJ and I in the leaf pile

Coupled with scarecrow building, apple picking is another fall activity that we shared. What fun! We drove to this farm (Elegant farm) where there was a big red barn with a smiley face on it. Knowing that we were “roughing” it on a farm I wore pigtail plaits and a checked shirt with bomber jacket, feeling like quite the farmer’s daughter! Lucky for me I brought a few extra layers because damn! It was cold. The type of cold where it catches your breathe every time you breathe in, you cheeks turn various shades of pink and your eyes want to water. But in all fairness the sun was out, he just wasn’t doing his job very well. Needless to say this the first time I recessed my wardrobes readiness for winter! At the apple farm we went on a trailer attached to a tractor, up to the apple orchids where every tree has a colored ribbon tied to it signifying the type of apple it produces, not really caring about the type and rather just the experience, it didn’t take this safa (South African) long to be up the tree and picking ‘dem apples! Annabel was cute helping out by standing at the base of the tree and collecting the apples I collected, reminding me every time that it was going into her basket! The day was ended off by indulging in hot apple cider donuts! Yummy!

AJ and I apple picking

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

Sports that make no sense to me ...

The good news for those who enjoy touring the States with me, via my pictures is… I brought a new camera. I saved up a little and got a Sony cyber shot, it’s not that fancy but the best part is that it is PINK!!!! Oh yeah, so it fits into my life perfectly! It takes really good pictures too, which of course is the real reason I got it, although my host dad (Dave) still thinks it’s just ‘cos it’s pink.

New camera :) So now I don't have to miss pictures like this (Milwaukee County Zoo)

I’m more of a cricket and rugby type of girl but since most American’s have never heard of cricket and they definitely don’t understand the appeal of rugby, I have had to convert. (But don’t worry I have my T.V recording South Africa rugby game so when my South African friends come over we can watch them)

Nadine, Monique, me *wearing our South African rugby jerseys* and Tamara

My conversion of South African to American sports started with Baseball. My State’s local team is called the Milwaukee Brewers (they are sponsored by Millers beer.) The game was on a Sunday starting at one (so I figured we’d be finished at 3 latest, ha ha!) For those of you that don’t know much about baseball, it is a very slow game, not the actually hitting or pitching, but the game that I went to took almost 4 hours! No jokes! This is largely due to the fact that you have 9 innings for each side. To end a team’s inning you need to get three of their players out. You get them out by either running them out or by pitching three balls that they fail to hit (strike.) Once you achieve this everyone on the fields switches, and in between this, they pitch a few practice balls, and the commentator has something going on so either it’s a competition, sports stats or random video that they show you.

Miller Park baseball stadium, WI

I know there are no rules involving foul balls and all that, but I not here solely to educate you on the rules and regulations of foreign sport, so I’ll leave it at that. During this time people get up and walk around doing pretty much whatever they want, which is strange for me I am used to rugby which is 40 minutes intense game play, an interval, and another 40 minutes intense game play…Then you go home to celebrate or try to forget the last 2 hours! Anyway, after all of that we went into extra time (or innings, not sure what you would call it) as The San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers were tied, after 3 more innings, we got a run and won the game! So my first game was really special, even if I did spend the first hour asking the one au pair, who knew about baseball, what was going on!

Au Pair group attending a baseball game at Miller Park, WI

Has anyone watched football before, and I’m not talking about your standard 5 min clip you see on most American stereotypical college movies. I mean like a whole game. If you answered yes, the next question may be a little trickier, and be truthful. Did you understand what was happening???

The isn't a pic of the Packers (however these are their colours) it's my friend Kevin's football team in CA

I went to watch a game with some of my American friends (at their house, not the stadium) and I tell you that is one complicated game, (mom) it may actually be more barrack than rugby! Plus you don’t even get to check out the cute guys as they are wearing tights and helmets, the former not the manliest attire while the latter totally hides their facial features. That aside, it is a really intense game. The rules are something like you get 4 plays to get a down (which is over the 10 foot mark or something like that), then you start all over again from the new mark and have 4 more plays to advance 10 feet more…and so on. Which sounds pretty boring and basic but believe me it’s quite fun to watch, although it is long game that involves a lot of strategy, but the nice thing is you can still watch and appreciate it regardless of how into the game you are. The Green Bay Packers (Wisconsin’s football team) won their game against the … um wait I can’t remember who they played … will get back to you on that. So Brody, Tyler and I were all hanging out before the game chatting and having fun, the game started and I kid you not Tyler turned into a monster…we were not allowed to look or talk to him cos “the PACKERS are PLAYING!” Wow dude…does he realize it’s only a game? Haha

I guess I shouldn't be surprised though...this is the Diary State, and the Packers are part "religion" here

A lot of firsts in a lovely country ...

I haven’t written in a while, so forgive me if I repeat anything! I am happily settled in the USA, and really enjoying the “All American Dream”. This place, Milwaukee is really the typical American city (like the cities you see in the movies) It is a super cute area where kids are safe and have freedom; they draw on the side walk, have lemonade stands and play out ‘til dark. It’s very American to say “out” as opposed to “outside”, so I keep asking “out where?”

The first of many chalk drawings

If I review the last month and a bit, I have seen a 4^th of July celebration, gone to two fantastic concerts and traveled through 5 States, visited Chicago and discovered the WONDERS of skype!

The 50 States of America

4^th of July was really fun, I wore an American flag Tee, jeans and Red, White and Blue shiny bead necklaces, I felt truly American...but when I heard the star-spangled banner (the American anthem for those that don’t know) that was the first time that I felt truly home sick…I just wanted to shout (yes, SHOUT) Nkosi Sikele Afrika! I youtubed it, just to hear the amazing voices of African harmony, then I made my host parents and their family listen to it. They all agreed we have an amazing diverse anthem, but knew that they would never be able to sing along.

No Doubt, wow that was awesome! To hear one of my favourite old school bands sing the words that made them famous, it was a spine tingling feeling. Unfortunately after indulging on a fantastic Mexican meal, I woke up with food poisoning! Luckily both my host parents are doctors so I spent the next day resting, drinking Gatorade and eating crackers.

No Doubt (google image)

Next was the Blink 182 concert, which I attended with a friend of mine, after staying away from the Mexican stand and on my way to concert bliss…I dropped my camera! But that was not going to get in my way of having a blast. There were 3 opening bands (one that we missed, but had never heard of anyway) Fall out Boy and Panic at the disco! WOW, WOW WOW! It took me back to the days of being a teenager (like last year…) where you truly feel like the band is singing to you, and about your problems, feelings and emotions.

Arati and I at the Blink 182 concert