2.19.2009
2.17.2009
Première nuit à Paris
Since becoming an au pair, I have felt like a little mom. But having gone out my youth is restored! On Saturday night I went out to Paris with Ellie, an au pair from London who lives down the street. She's been here for 6 months, so this girl knows her way around. Taking the train was easy. But using the metro...whole 'nother ball game. The first time she came to Paris, she was trying to figure the system out on her own, had a panic attack, and went home. After 20 min, we arrive at the Bastille and it's 10pm. 
We chat as we wait to meet up with her friends. I see Ellie's face light up with recognition. As the boy and girl approach greetings, introductions, and kisses are exchanged. They were very nice, and struggled to speak to me in English as we swiftly walked down the cobble stone streets, and wove through the night crowd to make our way to a bar to meet up with the rest of the group. Her friends are dancing, talking, and enjoying themselves when we get inside. Ellie tells me everyone in our group of 8 or so are also au pairs, and the majority were Brazillian.
{we are all au pairs. the girl on the far left was gorgeous, but you can't tell here.}
After hanging out and dancing (me, Ellie, and Katya) hop back on the metro to meet up with some other friends at Notre Dame.
{katya, ellie, me}
{ellie & me. smoke. pretty prominient throughout the entire night. yak.}
When we do, we walk into the building directly next door, take the elevator to the top, and walk down the hall into a little apartment. It's a house party with locals who attend college near by. So many things to say about that party. In a nutshell: tons of smoking (cigarettes & tabaco mixed with weed. no wonder i felt super light headed); loud, but, good music (they have a thing for american oldies. who knew); and, of course,booze. But when asked why I was only going for the apple juice, Ellie thought it fascinating I was Mormon and proceeded to tell everyone at the party.
One kid, told me "I did not think girls existed like you."
"What do you mean?"
"You belive in Jesus Christ, no?"
"Yes, I belive in Chirst. But there are alot of people who believe in Christ."
"Not in Paris. We are Catholic."
How odd. Out the window I can see Notre Dame. The symbolism or purpose of this famous cathedral truly meant nothing to them. For the majority of the party agreed that God didn't exist, and nor did Jesus Christ. This may not be the consensus for all Catholics, but, among Parisian youth, it is.
I can't even remeber this kids name. But the way he talked made him sound like such an idiot. He began to talk about America and our belief in God by singing the opening song to 7th heaven. I caught the last few seconds of it on the video below. I thought it was funny, since some families in Utah truly remind me of 7th heaven. But I don't think that's bad. We stayed there until 6am, walked past Hotel de Ville, stopped at Ellie's favorite kabab shop where we ate a fatty kabab for dinner/breakfast. Then hurried to catch the train home. We ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, and had to sprint down the stairs, across to the other side, back up the stairs, and onto the train. Ohhh, blahh, thinking of this makes me sick because I remember how much I was regretting the kabab at that point. After 20 minutes on the train/metro, I was so glad to be crawling into bed.
7th Heaven
Meet Ellie
We chat as we wait to meet up with her friends. I see Ellie's face light up with recognition. As the boy and girl approach greetings, introductions, and kisses are exchanged. They were very nice, and struggled to speak to me in English as we swiftly walked down the cobble stone streets, and wove through the night crowd to make our way to a bar to meet up with the rest of the group. Her friends are dancing, talking, and enjoying themselves when we get inside. Ellie tells me everyone in our group of 8 or so are also au pairs, and the majority were Brazillian.
{we are all au pairs. the girl on the far left was gorgeous, but you can't tell here.}After hanging out and dancing (me, Ellie, and Katya) hop back on the metro to meet up with some other friends at Notre Dame.
{katya, ellie, me}
{ellie & me. smoke. pretty prominient throughout the entire night. yak.}When we do, we walk into the building directly next door, take the elevator to the top, and walk down the hall into a little apartment. It's a house party with locals who attend college near by. So many things to say about that party. In a nutshell: tons of smoking (cigarettes & tabaco mixed with weed. no wonder i felt super light headed); loud, but, good music (they have a thing for american oldies. who knew); and, of course,booze. But when asked why I was only going for the apple juice, Ellie thought it fascinating I was Mormon and proceeded to tell everyone at the party.
One kid, told me "I did not think girls existed like you."
"What do you mean?"
"You belive in Jesus Christ, no?"
"Yes, I belive in Chirst. But there are alot of people who believe in Christ."
"Not in Paris. We are Catholic."
How odd. Out the window I can see Notre Dame. The symbolism or purpose of this famous cathedral truly meant nothing to them. For the majority of the party agreed that God didn't exist, and nor did Jesus Christ. This may not be the consensus for all Catholics, but, among Parisian youth, it is.
I can't even remeber this kids name. But the way he talked made him sound like such an idiot. He began to talk about America and our belief in God by singing the opening song to 7th heaven. I caught the last few seconds of it on the video below. I thought it was funny, since some families in Utah truly remind me of 7th heaven. But I don't think that's bad. We stayed there until 6am, walked past Hotel de Ville, stopped at Ellie's favorite kabab shop where we ate a fatty kabab for dinner/breakfast. Then hurried to catch the train home. We ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, and had to sprint down the stairs, across to the other side, back up the stairs, and onto the train. Ohhh, blahh, thinking of this makes me sick because I remember how much I was regretting the kabab at that point. After 20 minutes on the train/metro, I was so glad to be crawling into bed.
7th Heaven
Meet Ellie
2.15.2009
La Maison
la chambre à coucher d'invité {where amanda will stay when she comes to visit me!}
le salon
ma chambre!
ma salle de bains
le salle de bains de les enfants
la pièce de dinning
le jardin
2.13.2009
Day 1
Today was my first official day as an au pair. I woke up Sacha and Noah at 7:20 am by turning on their aquarium lights. At first, I was a little nervous to wake up Noah because I heard he is cranky and yells "arrêt!" haha. But he quickly popped out of bed with his tousled hair and binky still in his mouth. He ran over to the switch by the door which opens the metal curtains outside of their windows. I looked out his window as the metal curtains were automatically being pulled up. I looked out with disappoint, and a bit of awe, at the snow covered roof tops and trees. It was a charming sight looking at the lightly coated old architecture, stone walls, and branches thorough light blue hue the morning gave.
After waking up Sacha I went downstairs to make the kids breakfast. Four cereals, three bowls, two orange juices, and one water. Sacha comes down stairs for breakfast. But he's missing his pants. And his underwear. I laugh to myself and think "Whatever floats your boat." "Au revoir Aleesha!" Salome leaves for school by herself like she always has. Sacha and Noah go over to the couch and watch their morning cartoons with their binkies and cloths. I quickly clean up because I realize I better start getting them dressed. As they watch their cartoons I help them put their clothes on and brush their hair. Oh no! We're running couple minutes behind. Here, if the kids are late to school, they are locked out and left in the street or even worse, left with an au pair who has no clue what to do with them...yet. I throw Sacha his beanie, scarf, and gloves and help Noah put on his coat, scarf, gloves and his adorable beanie. Sacha is still watching his cartoons so I say "Aller! Aller a l'ecole!" After throwing on my jacket and uggs we run out the door to make it to school on time. Noah takes my hand and Sacha lags behind with his roller backpack. The streets are narrow and covered in slush so we're all getting soaked. As we run by one of the stone walls, a bit of slushy snow plops on Noah's little head "oohh nooon."We run between the little cars stuck on the street and past all the little shops. Almost there. We start to slow down as we go down hill and see all the other parents and kids arriving too. Off in the distance I could see the Effile Tour and Sacre Coure the heart of the city really is not far. I drop of Sacha then take him to his class at pre-school. I say "bonjour" to his teacher who I met the day before, as I help Noah hang up his coat and sacrf. He gives me his binky and cloth (I don't know why the kids have this. A miniature secruity blanket?) and waves good by as he runs off inside.
i have to go to sleep i'll finish this tomorrow
After waking up Sacha I went downstairs to make the kids breakfast. Four cereals, three bowls, two orange juices, and one water. Sacha comes down stairs for breakfast. But he's missing his pants. And his underwear. I laugh to myself and think "Whatever floats your boat." "Au revoir Aleesha!" Salome leaves for school by herself like she always has. Sacha and Noah go over to the couch and watch their morning cartoons with their binkies and cloths. I quickly clean up because I realize I better start getting them dressed. As they watch their cartoons I help them put their clothes on and brush their hair. Oh no! We're running couple minutes behind. Here, if the kids are late to school, they are locked out and left in the street or even worse, left with an au pair who has no clue what to do with them...yet. I throw Sacha his beanie, scarf, and gloves and help Noah put on his coat, scarf, gloves and his adorable beanie. Sacha is still watching his cartoons so I say "Aller! Aller a l'ecole!" After throwing on my jacket and uggs we run out the door to make it to school on time. Noah takes my hand and Sacha lags behind with his roller backpack. The streets are narrow and covered in slush so we're all getting soaked. As we run by one of the stone walls, a bit of slushy snow plops on Noah's little head "oohh nooon."We run between the little cars stuck on the street and past all the little shops. Almost there. We start to slow down as we go down hill and see all the other parents and kids arriving too. Off in the distance I could see the Effile Tour and Sacre Coure the heart of the city really is not far. I drop of Sacha then take him to his class at pre-school. I say "bonjour" to his teacher who I met the day before, as I help Noah hang up his coat and sacrf. He gives me his binky and cloth (I don't know why the kids have this. A miniature secruity blanket?) and waves good by as he runs off inside.
i have to go to sleep i'll finish this tomorrow
2.12.2009
Introductions
Haha. Ok. I just about fell out of my chair while I was admiring my perfectly organized closet and waiting for this page to load. I would normally be showing it off to someone, however, I'm not going to go up to anyone in my host family and say "Come, come! Look how organized my closet is!" Those of you who know me, know this is simply something I do. I can't help it. Sometimes I am such a little kid. Speaking of kids! On with the introductions...
Sacha (6) Noah (4) Salmone (11)
Salmone is very sweet.
Sacha. This kid is a little punk. :) But he's a cutie.
Little Noah. He is so cute I just want to squeeze him! He is soooo sweet!
2.11.2009
And so it begins...
Bonjour bonjour! After about 20 hours of travel, I have arrived! Although this is THE longest set of flights, layovers, and delays I have experienced, I can confidently say it was one of the most smooth and enjoyable! AND because of the lovely sleeping pill my dad gave me I am ready for bed here in France, for it is 11pm and I am tired! I am SO glad my body has already adjusted (or so it seems). When I arrived David (the dad) and Salmone (pronounced sal-may. the daughter) were waiting for me. They each greeted me with two kisses. I love the French! When we arrived at the house dinner was served. They were surprised I did not drink wine, but even more surprised that I did not drink, or even like, Coke. "You are not a true Americane?" Geraldine (the mom) says with her thick French accent. Haha. So far everything is great. I cannot wait to meet Sacha and Noah tomorrow! à demain!
2.09.2009
hello.
omg. i have a blog. yes. a blog.
i do not claim to be a good writer. and because this is MY blog, i don't have to be. so prepare yourself for spelling and grammatical errors, for they will be frequent.
i am creating this virtual diary to write about my experiences as an au pair in france. normally, i wouldn't do this type of thing. i am too private. however, i know my family and close friends would like to see that my host family is not sketch, or, that i have not been sold into the sex trade (thanks for the lecture dad. it was so awesome, i just want to sit there and feel super uncomfortable all over again). so stay tuned. this shall be good.
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