18 and still wanderlust… Au Pair job #2

October 12 2018

Having spent a couple weeks back in South Wales after Lampedusa, I soon found myself another family to work for, this time in mainland Italy, in a town called Terni. I worked for mama Laura and papa David (pronounced Dafydd, which I loved being from Wales).

I had a lovely couple of months with many trips to Rome on my days off. Took me a while to adjust here for some reason, but as soon as Laura and I spent some time alone shopping I felt really relaxed as I got on very well with her.I must admit it is difficult to recall all the funny things that happened during my time here –  I must find my old diaries to fill in the gaps. *to-do*.

But something that does stick out in my mind is the death of David’s mother. She had lived in a house at the end of the garden which was found via a flowered path and long driveway. I regularly took the girls down the house to visit their Nonna, even though she was mostly unresponsive I knew their Nonna was aware of the girls presence and must have felt some comfort from their visits.

The amount of cars that went in convoy to Nonna’s funeral was immense. With beautiful flower arrangements covering them all and mass people going to attend her funeral it made me realise how strong the communities are in the little Italian towns and villages. It was rather beautiful and I can only imagine a strength to the family at such a difficult time.

Ok, just remembered a funny story – so it was only in the Summer of 2009 where I passed my test, after the *cough* 5th attempt.. uhhh so when I found out I had to drive a lot whilst working in Terni I was shaking like a leaf. However on arrival of seeing the car I was LOVING LIFE… check out this little gem of a vehicle. And in orange too… ohhhh boy. <3

However, a lesson in life my friends is to not assume for fear you will make an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me’ (or as I say “for fear you will make an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘I” – oh how ironic). In fact the reality of my driving life in Terni was a little different and took the form of this…

This 7-seater lump of lard, slightly different my hopeful orange love bug was what I was expected to drive around in for the 2 months I was there.. THIS!!! And on the wrong (right) side of the road. My driving fears came true on a cinema trip with the girls to watch UP when I accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up on the bloody motorway. I got back to a panicked mama Laura who was wondering why we’d taken so long but she  burst into laughter when she saw my fright-filled, pale face.

Coming from a family back home that can stress over the most minor detail growing up, I was expecting a bollocking when I returned so late, but got quite the opposite – what a relief. Although a quick phone call home to mum and dad and I soon got the expected row – but hey ho, got to be kept on my toes I suppose.

I got the chance to befriend a couple other Au pairs whilst here who were working for friends of my Italian family – so was able to go on some lovely trips including Perugia and Terracina. The orange slatted blinds of Perugia remind me of the real Italy, gorgeous and warm in colour whilst rustic in fashion. A few images of these places feature below.. 🙂