Fluent in Spanglish.

So three weeks later and it seems as though I am still alive! Despite being in a full arm cast resulted from my terrible lack of being able to dance I am still able to keep up with and take care of the two little rascals with whom I have become very attached too.

The last week has included a lot of playing with dolls, cars and paints, I have taken a trip back in time and become a kid again! It is crazy how spending so much time with a six year old can remind you to make the best of every scenario, to be happy and to just not take anything to seriously. Spending too much time with the eight year old however, has reminded me how sassy you can be at that age, if there is one thing Blanca has taught me it is how to pull the ultimate "you can't tell me what to do" face. Nonetheless she has a brilliant imagination, and after 2 weeks of struggling to get closer to her, I think we are now best friends...score! I believe with the recent years of me getting caught up in school, work, the constant pressuring question of "what the heck am I gonna do with my life" I have lost sense of creativity and wanderlust, but I also believe that with more time spent here I can finally find it again.

It is still blowing my mind that Calgary has in fact been warmer about 90% of the time I have been away. Though it is freeeeezing in the mornings here, and extremely rainy, the afternoons usually get up to about 12 degrees, which is absolutely unbearably cold for the average spanish person but pretty darn warm for myself, so I usually strut it round town with sunglasses + a t-shirt trying to ignore all the "is she out of her mind?" stares from all the locals.

This week has been a little harder for me, as I am a little homesick. I think the realization that I am here for more than a little vacation away from my family has finally sunk in. However, yesterday, I was indeed re-united with an old friend of mine. Yes. I caved, and I bought myself some MAPLE SYRUP! Totally feel at home now.

That's all for now! I'll try not to break anymore bones before my next update :)

Adios amigos!

"No entiendo, lo siento mucho"

Hola amigos!

Two important things I have learnt so far on this trip,

1. Just because you took Spanish class for three years in high school DOES NOT make you some spanish speaking guru. I will admit, I thought I could get by with just knowing, "hola, como estas" and "una cervesa, por favor" but no, ideally it would have been good to know just a little more. For example, I knew the day would come-that one day someone would talk to me on the bus and it happened! Yesterday, (I think) someone was asking me for directions, after giving him a blank stare for 2 minutes all I could simply say was "No entiendo, lo siento mucho, mi espanol es muy malo" (my most used line the last 3 days)

2. "Estoy muy embarazada" does not mean "I am very embarrassed" but in fact it does mean "I am very pregnant" Nonetheless I did make a few Spanish ladies laugh. I am bringing my comedy act abroad everyone!

I was able to meet up with some other au pairs today who spoke english, you do not know how thankful I was to be able to actually talk to someone in english other than over facebook or text message, as one of the girls mentioned it really was "healthy for the soul." I am so thankful for how welcoming the other au pairs have been and it has made me feel less out of place and less like "the elephant in the room"

And as you will all be please to hear, I was able to order food for the first time- at a burger king! Yes, I have come all the way to one of the best countries in the world for great food and I found myself a burger king! Though I will say that the coffee here is more than amazing! So my other most used line "caffe con leche, por favor" my addiction can continue internationally!

I will not lie, it has been very hard with the language barrier and the family I am with does not speak much english at all, but I can say I have picked up a few more words like lentejuela meaning sequin! hahaha, I am beginning to understand a bit more and with that my vocabulary will expand.

Yesterday, I got off the wrong bus stop (they don't really label many of the bus stops which makes for a very confused chica!) and got myself completely lost, in the moment I was thinking of every possible worst scenario, and I was freaking out quite a bit but after about ten minutes, I took a deep breath and then realized I was standing on a hill, in which gave me an amazing view of Orense. I am in such a beautiful place and now, maybe getting lost isn't such a bad thing. (as long as I don't do it with the children ;))

Well that's all for now! Speak soon!

 

Chao amigos! <3

 

Cliche Tourist

There is no way anyone could go to London and not blog about it. This place is one of my favourite cities in the world and I got the amazing chance to visit it once again! There is no way you can do this place in 1 day but I was still super lucky to be able to see some of it.

First stop: Camden Market

For anyone who knows me, knows that this place is my kind of place! If you're looking for ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING, Camden will have it. It was absolutely huge and so easy to get yourself lost in all the different stalls. & even better, if it starts chucking it down with rain (like it did) you can get an umbrella for just 99 p! So have no fear, Camden has your back ;)

Second Stop: Avoiding the rain (excuse for getting coffee of course)

I can now positively say Caffe Nero beats starbucks - I know what you're thinking- that's not possible, Katie's life is Starbucks - but no, i'm being completely honest!

 

Third Stop: Platform 9 3/4

Couldn't possibly miss the 11 o'clock train to Hogwarts could I?! This has honestly been on my bucket list for however many years but I finally got to check it off. So being one of the biggest harry potter fans out there I can honestly say this was a pretty happy moment.

I was also able to visit the Tate Modern Art Museum which was really amazing to see! Also I can truthfully say that the London Underground is only about 10000000 times more confusing than Calgary Transit.





















BUT, as this is now my last day, pip pip cheerio for now, and I will update y'all when i'm in Spain!!

England, it's been a jolly good time

Hasta Lluego :)