Pictures

Ok here are all my new pictures... There are a lot but now that I have internet all the time I should be able to upload new ones more often and not so many at a time...

I changed websites because Flickr had a limit that I already reached...so now half are on there and half and all the rest will be on here...
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/ryetoasty/

sorry if some are boring....

I'm Here!!

So I arrived yesterday in Montebelluna, to start with my new family, and I am soo happy! They decorated the apartment for me, down to even buying a decorative pot with fake sunflowers in it. The apartment is really nice, small but very cute and brand new. It is weird to have my own apartment but I think I will like it. It is also great to have internet access all the time finally. It is amazing how much of a difference that makes in my mood.

The family is great. I am very happy. They are so nice and welcoming and I think we will get along very well. The little boy is really cute and I already know I am going to love him. I just need to work with him a little so that he can learn to understand some basic English, but I don't think it will take very long.

I met an Australian couple on the train yesterday and they were so sweet. It was really great to have people that spoke English because we talked for over 2 hours, all about my life and their lives and their kids and everything. It was really a great way to pass the time. And they helped me with my luggage too which was awesome, because no one else had and it is very difficult to travel Italian trains by yourself with two 70 pound suitcases and about a 20 pound backpack. The morning was very difficult (going up and down stairs, etc)

Anyway, so today I have the whole day off to get settled and see some of the area if I want to. It should be a good day even though it is getting kind of cold here...it is supposed to get warmer next week. I hope so because I need to do some serious shopping for warmer clothes!

Christmas

Something I forgot to mention is that switching to this new family also means that I can come home for Christmas!! I am so happy because I really didnt want to miss Christmas with my family (I never have and am not really ready to do that yet). This family doesnt require that I get a visa so the legal aspects shouldnt be a problem and they said going home for Christmas shouldnt be a probelm at all.

YAY!!! :)

Decision

I have finally made a decision!! I am going to be working for the first family that I met (outside of Turin), in Montebelluna, which is near Venice. I got along really well with the parents and there is only one little boy who is almost two. I also have my own apartment next door to them which I think will turn out to be a good thing. So I am excited!

She cant pick me up at the train station until Thursday so I will be leaving here Thurs morning. Until then I will spend the next two days exploring Turin. Today i am on my way to take the tourism bus around the city, so that should be interesting, and maybe going to see a movie tonight...who knows..

So I am excited to be settled and start this next chapter of my adventure in Italy...

Adventures

Well yesterday was a very interesting day....the plan was to go to Padova (where the mom of this family works) and spend the day wandering around and visiting there and then to meet her at the train to go home at 5...things turned out a little differently than planned (of course...why would anything ever go as planned..)

I ended up getting on the wrong train which was headed to Milan. I had not looked at a map of Italy so I had no idea where Milan was compared to where I was supposed to be going. So I got off at the first stop and went to the info desk where they told me to take a train to Milan!! It was terrible because I now had to wait 2 hours in this small town to get on a train that I was already on! So I hung out there and took a train to Milan, then had to wait an hour and a half in Milan to get a train to Padova.

Luckily, they only charged me 9 euros on one of the trains so that is all the extra money I had to spend, and i got to see the Milan traion station! haha... otherwise the only thing I lost was the chance to see Padova because I arrived in the train station with 2 minutes to spare and had to run to meet the mother.

The good thing is that I think it was very much worth it as I love this family. I think that this is the one that I will end up with. Everything about is pretty perfect and I already feel comfortable with them and get along very well with the parents.

So today I am off to Trento, another day on public transportation, to meet another family, and then tomorrow to Lucca, the town in Tuscany, to meet my last family. For now I am thinking this family is it but I dont know what the other families will be like. So hopefully my decision is easy one way or another.

Anyway sorry for the semi-boring posts but all I have been doing lately is doing a lot of traveling. Hopefully I will be settled soon!

Treat....

I am very excited because I get to treat myself tomorrow. I have made an appointment to get a manicure\pedicure!! I am very happy because it will be great (I hope) and it will be a nice relaxing thing to do before continuing with my crazy week.

I did have an opportunity to tour a little bit or Turin today which was really nice. I just walked about a 3 hour circle near my agents office (which is where I am staying, she has a bedroom off of it) so I got a small idea and got to see the Royal Palace and some of the city. (I will post pictures tomorrow hopoefully).

I also got pizza for dinner from supposedly the best pizzeria in Italy. It was very amazing. But now I am very tired and I have quite a long day\week ahead of me so I will write more soon.

Ciao!

Turin and train travel....

Well the train ride was actually pretty uneventful, other than the fact that it was of course 1 hour late getting to Reggio and even later getting to Turin. Also, it was the smallest train I have ever seen. I dont know what sleeping cars are like in America but I am pretty sure they cant possibly be like this one. I couldnt even fit my bags through on their wheels so that was quite difficult. But other than the bag difficulty and the wake up call I got at 3 am that I was in the wrong bed, it went pretty well and didnt feel anywhere close to 17 hours which was good cuz that sounds like forever! There wasnt even a restaurant car or any food either which is weird for a 17 hour train ride. But I made out ok.

So now I am in Turin and I really love it here. Yesterday I met 2 families. I liked one and not so much the other one. Unfortunately the one that I did like (I only met the mom, but am going to her house to meet the kids tomorrrow, they are 3 and 1) doesnt have a place for me to stay, so I would have to work with her and my agent to find an apartment. So I dont know about that job, but I will see how everything goes tomorrow and see if I like everything else about it and then go from there. The mother seems very normal which is always a good thing.

I still habe 2 other options at the moment. I have kind of a busy week planned. Tomorrow (wed) I will meet that family that I was talking about. Then thursday I will take a train to Montebelluna, which is about 4 1\2 hours from here. There I will meet (and stay the night with) a family who has a 20 month old, and the possibility of caring for a 6 month old who is also related and lives in the same building, and I would have my own apt right next door to the family which could be kinda nice because it is completely paid for and right next to them but it is also private so I could have it to myself. I am excited about meeting them.

Then I come back to Turin on Friday, and I am off again on Saturday morning to Lucca, a town in Tuscany, which is about a 3 hour train ride. I will meet a family who have 3 older kids (6,10, and 11 i think) and I would live in their house with them I believe. I will stay the night with them as well and return to Turin on Sunday to think everything over, make a decision and collect my luggage. By then I will hopefully have found a family I love and be starting sometime next week.

The good thing is that even if I dont end up finding a job I will have been in Italy for 2 months and seen most all of it by the end of this week, including the time I have spent here 2 summers ago. So thats the worst case scenario because I am having the opportunity to see so much this next week, anyway.

Regular in Reggio

So before I talk about Turin I wanted to post one more story about Reggio.

I have established quite a routine of going into town with the children in the morning when they go to school and from there going to the internet cafe, but while I am waiting for it to open or when I am done I usually go to this cafe on the corner because they have outdoor tables andI sit there and wait or in the afternoon I usually get a gelato.

Anyway the internet guy has gotten to know me because I am always there and always for so long too, so now in the mornings he goes to the same cafe before he opens and asks me if I would like some coffee. Its so cute. I have made friends with him (well as much as possible because he only speaks italian, but I mostly understand him).

Anyway so now the owner of the cafe has started to recognize me and says goog morning to me when he sees me. The other day I went in to get gelato and I asked for the same kind that I got the last time (stracciatella, which is chocolate chip) but they didnt have it. So the next day I went in and he got all excited and looked at me and said Stracciatella! (because they had it again).

Stupid story I know but I thought it was kinda cute that I was now a regular in a small town in Italy. I felt special.

.....of course that was the day before I left :( haha

Real World

I am very happy right now. For the first time I am watching something American! (other than 7th Heaven and Discovery Channel). I have been able to watch online episodes of Real World so I can finally catch up with the episodes I have missed. I love it!!

It's the little things in life.....

Take 2

So I am currently working on booking a train for the next part of this so called adventure...I am now leaving for Turin, Italy (pretty much as far as I could possibly go while still staying in the country), which is about a 15 hours train ride. I will be leaving tomorrow (Sat) evening and arriving in Turin Sunday morning. So hopefully I will get some sleep on the train. It should be an experience in itself, as I have never been on a sleeper train before, let alone in Italy.

I am sad to leave my family but have been ready to leave as I am getting more and more frustrated with the ways these children are raised. So, as of now, I will arrive in Turin and spend the day on Sunday with one family. Then I will stay the night either in a hostel or an apartment that my agent has available. Basically for the next week or so I will be homeless in Northern Italy. I am kind of excited because this is something that I would never do on my own (not exactly a "fly by the seat of my pants" type person) but it should be interesting and I have my agent to help me so I am not too worried about anything happening or being on my own.

I will still have my same cell phone until I get settled somewhere else but who knows when or where the next time on the internet will be. So now I am off to continue my research and train reservations and I will be seeing most of Italy tomorrow through my train windows...

Ciao!

Pictures

Here are all of the pictures that I have taken so far.. I have labeled most of them. I Hope you like them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13137851@N02/

hopefully that works...because my battery is dead...i will hopefully be back on tomorrow...Enjoy!

Disappointed

Well, there has been quite a change of events since my last post. I went to the doctor last week and she said I had an infection (dont think she really looked, but thats ok). She gave me antibiotics and I am actually 90% better now. I would be 100% because I have no more ear or throat pain but it still feels like my left ear is completely blocked and I am now getting a little worried that I am losing my hearing, as the pain is all gone and I have one more day of antibiotics and I still cant hear anything at all out of that ear.

On another note, after endless thought and consideration, Claudia and I have decided that this situation is not going to work out. The kids and I do not have the connection that she would like us to have and I think that our expectations are just too different. She expects me to be more of a creative kindergarten (English) teacher for the children and a babysitter on the side, while I was expecting to be a nanny and teach some English as well. It is just too different for me to live up to. Also, there are too many things about the children and then situation (really the "servants") that will not change and I can not deal with without being miserable.

I am extremely disappointed (not really in myself) but in the situation. Unfortunately this is something that I couldnt have known before coming so I just had to learn it on my own. I am sad to leave because the situation is actually perfect except for the children. I mean it is more than I could ask for. I have people cooking and cleaning after me, I have my own room with a balcony 3 houses from the beach and a bathroom, and then family speaks English and has been very accomodating and very nice. So that part I am sad about and I wish things would have worked out. But neither Claudia or I wanted either one of us to be unhappy.

So now we are spending the week trying to figure out who will come to the house and where I will go. I am pretty much still working the week but also trying to figure out where I am going. I havent decided yet if I will go to another family in Italy (it depends on what type of families my agency has to offer, as I now know more of what I do and dont want) or if I will come home to America and go from there (either find another aupair job in another state or get started with nursing).

So basically I have a ton of things to think about and it has been really difficult but I am happy with my decision and excited to see what I have in store for me next. I want to make this a positive experience, however I can.

Yay!

I am happy to say that I am writing from my own computer! I wil lnow work on posting pictures on another website and then placing the link here...

My dad

Today is the day of my dads surgery (for those of you who dont know he is donating his kidney to his neice, who was very sick last year). I have been thinking about him all day and my being sick and him having the surgery might be a big reason for me missing home. I wish I could be there with him and for him. I am very proud of him for doing this and hope everything is going well (as I am writing this I think they are both out of surgery and in recovery, if everything went as planned, which means Meagan has a new kidney! I know she has been waiting for this surgery for a long time so I am also very excited for her!)

More later as I have been on here for a very long time and my ear is really starting to hurt...

PS. Brett and I have been officially dating for six months yesterday!! =)

Ciao

Sick :(

So this whole adjustment thing isnt exactly going so well for me. Now I am sick and have for about 4 days now. I am so sick that I am on my way (hopefully) to see a doctor tonight.
I have a sore throat, which is actually slightly better now but before was the worst pain I have ever experienced! And now I have developed an ear problem and seem to be going deaf in my left ear.
I really hope the doctor can make things better and next week turns out much better than this one did because as of now I dont know if I will be able to make it out the rest of the year. I am not exactly having the time of my life yet and am starting to wonder what I am doing....

I am sorry that all of my posts have been so negative lately and despite all that I am really really trying to be positive! But like I said before I am waiting for the day when I fall in love with this place and this job and that day doesnt seem to be coming anytime soon.

I was reading Julies blog today and it made me very sad an am wondering why I didnt just decided to be an au pair in another state in America. At this point that seems like a much better idea to me.

I hope all is well with everyone else.