Wednesday, April 30
Life in Roma is, well, life. Ups and downs, good days and not so good days. However, my days in Roma have been made even more enjoyable by a FRIEND! Yes folks, it’s true, I have a friend. Holly! She is, like me, an au pair. She is here from England and we met through good ol’ facebook. I still have a bit of bitterness toward that whole program (please, STOP sending those stupid application invitations). However, it is immensely useful and its incredible popularity has enabled me to find some companionship in this massive city.
I have also, finally, started to put together some pictures to post on – you guessed it – facebook. The link will be here – VATICAN and COLOSSEO – when they are up (this post may be up before the pictures). As you are aware (at least if you have read a few posts back), my internet access is quite limited and so it is not a very easy task to post blogs or photos on a regular basis. However, I am getting more organized. Soon my camera battery is dead, and since I have not yet found a voltage converter that actually WORKS, I will be a very sad explorer until I manage to charge up. So, task of the moment is to find a converter!
Tomorrow (probably yesterday or the day before yesterday when I get this online – Thursday May 1) Holly and I both have a random day off (thank goodness, I had the children all day for two days this week and I need a break!). So we are heading to Firenze – once again, that is Florence to us non-Italian speaking critters. Let’s hear a big cheer for random days off and traveling to Firenze! Hahahaha.
To those of you who have let me know that you are enjoying the blog – namely Aunt Lori and Gillian – thank you! When I am writing, I am talking to you inside my head, which gives me motivation to try to be a little more creative. :)
It is only 9:17pm right now (so only 12:17 for you, aunt lori) … but I am exhausted! Holly and I rented a funky little bicycle buggy today in Villa de Borghese. I will post pictures of that soon!!! It was great fun, although a LOT of work – especially on those hills! I wonder what kind of adventures we will get up to in Florence tomorrow!!!
Much love!
Xoxo
Candy
***
Monday, May 5
Well folks, sooner or later the truth always comes out. That is partly why I just don’t lie. It’s not worth it. I can’t even lie in my blog!
So here it is … I’m going home. Now before you start thinking that something horrible has happened or that things are shitty (like the Spain experience), let me explain. The family – and especially the children – are very nice and friendly. There have been, of course, some moments (perhaps more than a few) where I have thought that perhaps the parents go a little overboard with certain things. I’ll put it simply – they are meticulous about everything and the mom is prone to sudden fits of yelling things in Italian that I often don’t understand. And when I say “yelling” I really mean something more along the lines of screaming and ranting. But overall they are very nice people and mean well.
But … I am just not happy with this life. This family, though nice, is quite restrictive. To be reassuring (Jay this is particularly for you, if you are reading this) – they are not what ‘au pair families’ usually are (I get this impression from talking with other au pairs). I don’t want to make them sound like horrible people or anything … but we have finally discussed what I have been observing over the past couple of weeks – that what they want and need is, in fact, not an au pair but rather a full time, live-in housekeeper. And I did not come all the way to Rome to be a full time housekeeper! And so we have agreed that I am not going to stay.
Now I could easily find another au pair family, one who knows what an au pair is all about and who wants an au pair. There are many of them out there and if I reactivated my profile on au pair world, I could easily find a family within a few days. But to be honest, I just want to travel around on my own for a bit and then go home, get a “real job”, and save up for the next adventure. So my flight has been changed to May 21, and this weekend I am leaving the majority of my stuff here and taking off for 10 days or so to see more of Italy on my own.
I’m so excited about that! My first month of independent traveling gave me a newfound love of the adventure, independence, and exploration that this kind of traveling offers. So another 10 days before I head home for a while is really ideal. And things with the family are as amicable as ever … we have both acknowledged that what they need and what I am here for are very different things and that this is a good opportunity for me to travel a bit more.
Although I have decided not to stay, I am so glad for having had this entire experience. I have learned so much and seen more than I had ever thought I would see! I have made an amazing friend and – hopefully!! – we will have the chance to be travel buddies as well! And I’m not saying that au pairing is a bad idea at all. When it works, it is a fantastic opportunity to get to know another country, another culture, often another language, while earning some money and (hopefully!) doing some traveling too.
As for what’s next … I am actually really excited to go home, live with the parents, and work for a while. SAVE some money and start to climb ever so slowly from this pit of debt that university (and this trip, to an extent) has left me in.
This experience has been everything that I had hoped it would be. I’ve had a chance to clear my head and reflect on what I want to do next, what I am capable of, what I won’t accept, and how I can get to where I want to be. Everything that I have seen, done, and experienced in the last three months has taught me to be patient and to accept that no matter how much I plan things, life is always going to happen! Thank goodness for that, too. If things always went “according to plan”, life would be so dull and we would never grow and learn!
So I’m ready to get back to reality. I’m excited to start on the path towards where I want to go … or at least where I think I want to go! Of course, I’m going to keep blogging.
:) big smiles from Italia!
xox
Candy
About Me
- Candice
- I'm an engaging, dynamic and outgoing woman with a passion for wellness, education and advocacy. I work with children, youth, adults, parents, caregivers and professionals to encourage a healthy, respectful dialogue around sensitive issues, including sexuality, mental health and child behaviour.
Quoted ...
Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. -- Mother Teresa
Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. --Unknown
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”
Jack Kerouac
"Take wrong turns. Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they're doing. Do things without always knowing how they'll turn out. You're curious and smart and bored, and all you see is the choice between working hard and slacking off. There are so many adventures you miss because you're waiting to think of a plan. To find them, look for tiny interesting choices. And remember that you are always making up the future as you go." - http://xkcd.com/267/
Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. --Unknown
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”
Jack Kerouac
"Take wrong turns. Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they're doing. Do things without always knowing how they'll turn out. You're curious and smart and bored, and all you see is the choice between working hard and slacking off. There are so many adventures you miss because you're waiting to think of a plan. To find them, look for tiny interesting choices. And remember that you are always making up the future as you go." - http://xkcd.com/267/
something i love ...
my favourite part about eating spaghetti at home is dipping that little bit of leftover noodles into that little bit of leftover sauce - and eating it with my fingers!
