What I Learned Au Pairing in a Village
Hey Au Pairs!
Once upon a time, I au paired in a village of 117 people. Although an interesting and mostly positive experience for me, it’s not for everyone. It was my first time au pairing and I had a lot to learn!
To learn more about my experience au pairing in a village and some tips keep on reading!
Setting the stage
At the time I was already living in Spain and working as an English teaching assistant. When I realized the academic year was coming to an end, I wasn’t sure what I would pursue during summer break. It was then that I discovered the world of au pairing through APOP! I feverishly binge watched all their videos on the APOP YouTube channel and I scoured their blog for answers to the millions of questions I had. I figured it would be a smooth transition to find an au pair family in the region I was already living at, and I was able to find a family based in the town of Alesón, which was not too far from where I was living at the time.
Arriving to Alesón
I had talked to my new host family only a handful of times over the phone and through text. I even went to their home to visit the kids and see the house. I didn’t quite realize their home was in a village until I went to see them in person. The closest city was a 10 minute car ride from their home. I figured this would be fine, as I could ask them for a quick drive into the nearby town if I ever wanted to catch a bus into the city. I also discovered they had no neighbors except for the enormous amount of vineyard land that surrounded their home. The moment I realized they lived in type of environment, I felt feelings of regret, wishing I had chosen a family in a bigger city. I sucked it up and figured I could deal with this for the summer.
The day I moved to their home was the day I discovered that they didn’t have wifi in their house. They offered to buy me a sim card with extra data in lieu of not having wifi. I thought I’d be able to survive a summer without the internet, and although difficult at first I was able to do successfully unplug and enjoy living life in the moment.
Heartbreak and Learning to be Mindful
After my first day of au pairing I recall rushing upstairs to my room to call my then boyfriend who lived in London. I was eager to share with him how my first day had gone, but he had other plans. He dumped me over the phone. That dreadful phone call set the tone for the remainder of my first month. I felt sad and rejected. I tried not to let that get in the way of my work as an au pair. Whenever I was with the kids, I would focus my energy into playing with them and being truly present.
As the summer went on, gradually I was able to pick myself up and feel happier. I truly believe the lack of wifi allowed me the opportunity to focus on being kind to myself and I learned to love myself again. I also found myself relishing in hobbies I hadn’t done in a long time. I focused my energy on writing and playing my ukulele. I even wrote a break up song Taylor Swift style and found that was the perfect way to get closure from my unexpected breakup.
Learning Experience
In the end, my summer au pair experience wasn’t at all what I anticipated. There were days I was fed up with not having unlimited access to the internet. I felt lonely since there weren’t many people my age in the village or neighboring town. In hindsight, I wish I would have asked the family more questions about what their village was like, and if they had wifi-even though I assumed they would have the latter.
My au pair family was lovely and I felt comfortable and included, but I yearned for friends especially after breaking up with my boyfriend. That being said, I am grateful for this experience as it taught me to be a more mindful person. I even went on to develop my own mindfulness workshop that I led to students the following academic year.
My Advice:
Have an open and honest conversation with your potential host family about where they live and what activities there are for young people in town.
Don’t choose the first family you talk to! I did this and wish I would have spoken to more families instead of going with the first one.
Ask if they have wifi! This should be a given, but you’d be surprised how many families don’t have it.
Have you ever au paired in a village? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below!