Week 1: Castanyada! Panellets and...SPANISH??!

Hola from across the pond!! :)

Welcome to my blog! Thanks for checking it out--I pledge to you (and myself) to TRY to continuously update all of you during my 6 month adventure here in Spain.  If you know me at all you know I'm not the best at keeping everyone up to date.....we shall see how this goes! Hang in there... it may be a rocky start friends :)

Well I have officially rolled up a portion of my closet and have moved to Spain to be an Au Pair for the next 6 months! A lot of you were asking me how I got here so just to give you the quick run-down on how I happened to come to Spain-  I created a profile through an au pair website,  accepted the offer to chat with this family, we began to email daily for a month, had some Skype dates and just like that! I'm in Spain. There goes that crazy Miller girl chasing after more kids?!!? Yes and all the away across the ocean even.  It's a good thing I can't get enough of the little snot-nosed cutie pies :) I saw it as a perfect way to combine two of my joys - hanging out with kiddos and teaching- with an added bonus! learning Spanish.  In the past year I made it a goal of mine to learn Spanish so that I'm able to communicate with Spanish speaking students in the classroom (one day).
So since Mom and Pops threw their Fall Bash I was able to say goodbye to most family and friends which was so wonderful! The following Monday I popped back down to Bloomington for the day to say goodbye to the Arnolds and the Leroes. Wow. Was that hard. Having to leave 8 little ones who you have watched grow and two families who have made you a part of their own is not easy! I can thank them for being prepared for any curve-ball thrown my way in this new family though...Two kids? That's pie. :)

Last Tuesday, after a relatively crazy morning, giving the fam tearful hugs and kisses, and a 14 hour journey... I arrived in Spain! I  am living in a small village- Matadepera- with Susagna and Toni and their two children Roger (6) and Anna (3) who are all just amazing! We are about 20 minutes from Barcelona and this place is beautiful. I am surrounded by nature and the mountains.  Toni also has two older daughters who do not live with us but who we see almost daily--- Rosa is 21 and Imma is 19. They all made me feel like part of the family instantly :) As in INSTANTLY...I landed in Barcelona at 8:30 last Wednesday morning (2:30AM Indiana time) and with a little jump, a huge smile, and a great hug I was greeted by Susagna :) I knew immediately that this woman does not stop. Ever. Her energy is contagious! After our 2 minute introduction we went and had coffee with Susagna's brother in the airport, went and saw a cathedral in Barcelona, went to visit Susagna's mother--who can't speak English but is the sweetest thing you've ever met---and then visited her VERY pregnant sister Gemma who is due with twins in 3 weeks! :) All before noon. At this point I had been awake for over 24 hours and probably wasn't making much sense but we headed for home to meet Anna and Roger who were home from school having lunch and oh I loved them instantly :) All smiles and not really knowing any English they seemed happy to have me here...I just knew it'd be a good fit. Then I slept for what seemed like an eternity. (16 hours to be exact).

The past week has been somewhat quiet around here.  I've been struggling with jet lag for the first time in my life so I've been sleeping a lot.  Most everyone had this past Monday and Tuesday off for the All Saints Day... and when there's a holiday in Spain the towns go to sleep. Susagna and Toni took off for a vacation in the North above Portugal with friends and Rosa, Imma and I had the kids Friday and Saturday until their grandma came to get them for 3 days so they could be with their cousins.

The area of Spain I am living in is the Catalonian region which is a culture I never knew about.  Everyone here speaks Catalan which is similar to Spanish and they have their own traditions. The tricky thing about this is that the kids speak Catalan, not Spanish so I am learning both.  For All Saints Day the Catalans celebrate Castanyada.  The typical celebration includes roasted chestnuts and making a delicious treat; panellets which as you can see, we did :) It was great! The kids really enjoyed making them....okay I was totally loving it too :) and the end result was delicious.  I tried a roasted chestnut--- not for me. We went to Rosa and Imma's mother's house to make them with the kids.  This Halloween instead of my typical dressing up and embarking on a trick-or-treating adventure,  I hung out with new friends. We sat on the porch outside of our house while we ate panellets, had beer, and sang songs...some in Spanish & Catalan (yeah I just listened to most of those..) and some in English.  Rosa's friend plays the guitar so he brought his along and we spent the entire night and into the morning eating, talking and singing.  Don't worry I was thinking about all the adorable ghosts, goblins, princesses and Dr Seuss characters back home who were filling their buckets with candy :)  There are more and more people beginning to celebrate Halloween here - as you can see Roger was given some "spooky" Halloween gear from Rosa & Imma's mom that he loved!  I have decided after this year that I can't live without Halloween though and no matter where I am in the world next year, I will celebrate it.  The year isn't complete without a little BOO-ing! :)

Rosa and I went out on a driving adventure yesterday.  Luckily she's a calm person. I am getting one of the family's cars so that I can take the kids to and from school.... and it's a manual of course (I'm in Europe!)...now all of you who have been in a vehicle where I am driving a stick shift knows that it usually takes me a bit to accomplish the "smooth" ride. (stop laughing at me Kels and Ty- at least we MADE it to Texas Roadhouse) Well I hopped in the driver's seat, put it in gear and went! Only stalled it 3 times! and those were all on hills- not to mention I parallel parked (WHAT?!) People in Spain drive a tad bit crazy anyhow so I'm confident no one will notice the American fool on the road for the next 6 months :)  We returned with both side mirrors and no added dents so I considered it a success.  We'll see how many laughs the little guys get with their crazy au pair driving them around....

I have already begun to teach the kids English and am loving every minute of it.  Roger knows some English and is doing a great job reading! but Anna doesn't speak it at all.  They have really been loving a book called Animal Boogie that I've been reading to them...complete with lines like "Stomp STOMP Boogie Woogie Oogie!" Seriously... hearing them say it in their little Catalan accents might just be a new favorite of mine. Roger and I have been playing UNO a lot but he already knows all of his numbers and colors so we'll have to step it up a little next week.  Anna and I are somehow managing to communicate although neither of us understand a word the other is saying :)  She hasn't quite come around to repeating me yet, but I know she's listening.  Toni heard her the other day playing with her dolls saying "I teach you English" and in Catalan saying "I want you to say these English words."  Doesn't sound like a lot but I was pretty excited :)..I mean convos with the dolls are pretty important in a 3 year old's life!  I'm working on getting into a Spanish course as soon as I can and Roger is my teacher of Catalan.  I think the 3 of us will be a pretty good team.  All of the adults in the house speak English and I feel so lucky that they do! Not very many people speak English here and I feel somewhat ridiculous for coming to Spain without knowing Spanish...but honestly I had prepared myself for this before I arrived.  It will take some time but hopefully soon I will be able to communicate! Well at least talk in 3 word sentences to the kids :)

Overall, I am very happy with where I am right now!  I know I'm going to love my time in Spain and although I'll miss all of you dearly 6 months will fly right by. :)  It's really great knowing I can create a blog for all of you so that we can stay connected while I'm away...Hopefully I keep it up ;)  Stay tuned for more Spanish adventures coming your way.... It's past midnight here and this lady needs some rest. Buenos Noches!

xxxx