In June 2014 I went to Spain as an au-pair. I was just 18 years old, and I had never been abroad before more than 2 weeks. So even if now journey like that seems something normal to me, at that time it was something extremely impressing.
I started to look for a host family on the website aupairworld.com . To be honest, I didn't expect to find someone - most of the families wanted someone with the experience, minimum 19 years old and with driving license. And I had nothing except my knowledge of English and Spanish.
me with Rosa and Meritxell
But I didn't give up and I spent many nights sending applications. Then I talked with a few families by skype and I found my host family! Our first conversation was just so typical:
,,-Can you hear us?
- I can't hear anything, what did you say?"
It turned out that my family lives in a small town somewhere in a half way between Barcelona and Andorra. Three children, but one 12 years old, so it couldn't be so bad. Despite the fact that from March till June we were talking by skype every weekend, I felt terrified and sometimes I was scared that when I come to the airport, nobody will wait for me. But at the same time I started to be interested in cheap travelling in different ways, so I thought even if something like that happens, I'd be alright, and the most important thing for me was that I was gonna be in Spain for 6 weeks.
evening walk around my neighbourhood
When I’ve already got my flight tickets, so many negative thoughts came to my mind. I didn’t know if this was a right choice, maybe I should have just gone somewhere with my friends for one week or so?Also I started to worry about my Spanish. I’ve been learning Spanish since I was 13 years old, but never before had a chance to practice it so much and use it all the time. But 2 weeks before my departure I met a group of Spanish guys in one of the Cracow pubs and when they said they were under big impression because of my Spanish, I felt definitely more confident ( now I know that Spanish people always praise you – even if the only one thing you can tell is to introduce yourself).
Of course I couldn’t just go straight to Barcelona, so I decide to visit London for 1 day on my route. I was going to meet there 2 guys from couchsurfing (I knew that otherwise I would be lost and wouldn’t see even the Big Ben).
So on 20th of June when I arrived in the morning in London, I met Richard from Ireland, who looked just like dark-skinned basketball player. I’m not really tall (people who know me know that…), so it was quite hard for me to hold a comfortable conversation. But it couldn’t go wrong, as Richard turned out to be the funniest guy I’ve ever met.
Then we met another guy, from Catalonia. I hadn't been thinking too much when I had decided to meet with 2 persons… After 5 minutes, boys found common topics, which I don’t have any idea about (yes, it was football). Anyway, quite funny that thanks to me they’ve made another friend.
Hyde Park - London
In the evening I arrived in El Prat airport. When I saw the father of the host family waiting for me, I realised it was all true. We came home after 10 pm, but kids waited all this time to hug me and have a dinner with me (not long after I figured out it’s normal hour to have a dinner in Spain).
I was really exhausted so that day I just went to sleep but the next day…
The fiesta has started!