l'au pair americana, the american au pair.
I moved to Rome, Italy in the winter of 2008 as a live-in nanny, or au pair, to an Italian family. Besides please and thank you, I only knew three other words in Italian: Via Anapo 29 (ventinove), the street address of the family I agreed to work for.
I had submitted an application to an au pair agency out of Nova Scotia in October, and then waited anxiously for a reply. I had moved back home with my parents after graduating college five months before, and with little variation to my daily schedule, needed a serious change. To me, staying at home for an indefinite stretch of time was synonymous with stifling the creative spirit and/or dying an old maid in our depressing basement. So I convinced the director of my graduate creative writing program at MSU that I would meet all my semester requirements as I was living and working in Italy. And I tried to downplay the part where the children I would be taking care of were triplets, age six. Never mind that not only could I not speak Italian, I had never really babysat. If I survived, it would make one hell of a story.
So I ordered my schoolbooks, packed two suitcases with everything I thought I'd need for six months abroad, and settled my arrival date with the signora who would be my host mother.
Then I flew to Italy.
Caitlin! It's been a long time haha... I am so excited to hear about this adventure you are on! I am in Australia right now, working with a church for two years. I finish in August and have been contemplating what to do after. I'm very interested in nanny programs to other countries. I'd love to know more details about what program/agency you went through and how that all worked. And what you think of it now that you're there. Maybe you should email me, or get some really detailed blogs going! Either way I'm excited to hear more about this!
ReplyDeleteJamie (Canham. I don't know how this comment will tell you who I am...)
hijamiekay@gmail.com
It's been a long time, Jamie! I'm glad to hear you're doing well. Australia must be fantastic! When I was thinking about au pairing, I skimmed through several agencies online and then emailed a couple that looked promising. One of them, a Canadian agency that coordinates with Spain and Italy, ended up being more reliable getting back to me. I just cross-referenced it with accredited agencies listed online, and then got started on an application packet. I got an offer about a month after I sent it in...and because I was so antsy, I took the first offer. The agency is called Scotia Personnel Ltd. I plan to blog more about life as an au pair, but I can tell you that not only was it the "great experience" people kept insisting it would be, but also, it was hugely fun. It's like any job, I guess; it is what you make it. I've actually been back home for going on two years, but I stayed for six months.
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