the beginning.

my initial plan for this blog was to keep it as something to show my friends and family what i'm up to while i'm here in italy. as i got the project started i became more and more interested in blogging. recently i decided to use this blog to not only document my time here for friends and family, but as a way to connect with others in the au pair community too. in my curiosity as to what exactly was already out there in terms of blogs concerning the au pair world i came across kacy's blog. she later asked through my formspring widget about how i got started with this job, etc. i have been making a little mental list over the past few days of the posts that i would like to write to help integrate my position as an au pair into the blog, but for some reason the answers to kacy's questions were nowhere in that list. and what better place to start than the beginning? so, here it is:
i first became seriously interested in working as an au pair over a year ago when a good friend of mine went to spain for the summer as an au pair. with the drama of the proceeding year all thoughts of travelling abroad completely escaped me... until one day i saw a facebook update from my other friend, ayana, announcing that she would be spending a year in germany. she told me about the website that she used and i immediately signed up.
the site is called great au pair and it really is wonderful. it's easy to use and you can register for free. (however either you or the family must be a paid member in order to view each other's contact info). i created my profile about march 21st and i left home for italy on may 14th! everything has happened so fast that's it really is hard to believe that i've been here for more than two weeks already! it's also a little sad, because that means that i am already 1/6 through my stay here.  for those not interested in doing the math that means i will be here for three months. without a visa my stay here is limited to 90 days, and getting a visa seemed like a nearly impossible task. i had enough worry over getting a new copy of my passport!
though the time is going by quickly, i'm certainly grateful for what i've got while i've got it. i was very fortunate to find a great family. they have two girls who are ten and eight. they are really great people who are interested in showing me everything that i can see here and are always eager to include me in what they are doing.
over the next few days i'll be posting more about my daily life here, my recommendations for selecting a host family, being an au pair, and more. in the mean time feel free to submit any questions and comments! you can leave them here, in my formspring widget, or my e-mail. also, if you are an au pair it'd be great to here how you got started, where you are, etc!