Hola todos!
I have had a wonderful last four days! Friday afternoon we went to San Vicente. We headed straight to the beach and then dinner at "Dora's" the local place I have now been to four times. It's walking distance from all the beaches and from the beach house. The next two days were pretty much the same. Wake up go to beach. Go to lunch and then go back to beach and then go to dinner then go home. It was so very warm and sunny I worked on my tan and read cheesy free books on my iPad. It was awesome. I could definitely do that everyday and it is getting more and more tempting to stay the first week of August with them! A lot of Moni's friends were also there. Some stayed with us and some didn't. All except one couple brought kids so that was great fun. I also continued English class while we were there. Which was half better and half worse than usual. Better because Moni was there so they had to listen, at least a little, more than usual to me. The bad part was that class was on the beach and all their friends were there with them sooooo they were even less excited for class. But nonetheless, we all made it through and came home on Sunday night.
I was pretty sick on Sunday night and wasn't feel well during the day in Monday so after arguing with the boys about turning off the tv I went to my bed for the remainder of the day. Moni came home and we got ready I go to Santiago for the festival of San Juan. It is basically celebrating the summer solstice. I was expecting to celebrate on Tuesday but we went to a party right away. It was super interesting and fun. There were a ton of people there and so many kids who of course were playing soccer and doing other crazy kid things. Everyone was super nice and I got to talk quite a bit of Spanish. One of the hosts offered me a beer and I told him I couldn't drink because I was an au pair. He was confused. As was I. In my "contract" it says not to drink around the kids but every time we go to an event on the weekends the family always offers me something so I've been really confused what to do. Later he was making sangria and told me it only had a little bit of wine and I could drink it and be fine. I took it this time and then asked Moni if it was okay. She said of course, so I guess it is okay as long as I'm not taking shots at the house during English class??? Oh well.
Anyways, some main points of the festival:
There is always a big bonfire. In Coruña on the beach they have a bunch of fires all through the night and day. If I am ever here again during this time I would like to go to the beach and celebrate!
The main dish is sardines cooked on said fire. I tried them and surprise I don't like them. They had a lot of other little snack foods that were really good as well like tortilla and chips and salsa.
They had little tiki torches and all the kids grabbed sticks and lit them on fire and ran around in the almost pitch black. Not dangerous or a fire hazard at all so no one was worried.
Then at midnight the real fun starts. They make the fire bigger and everyone starts jumping over it. You are supposed to jump three times and it rids all the bad spirits you have and cleanses you for the year. It was fun but kind of scary because the fire was about 2 feet high and I was wearing rain boots and my long jacket which are both hard to jump in. Nico jumped about 100 times so everyone who didn't jump won't have bad spirits either. We left at around 1:00 and spent the night at Manu's parents house. Their house was like a dream. So beautiful. When I woke up this morning and explored it I was in total awe of it's beauty. It had a beautiful outside yard filled with a rose garden and trees and grass and so many different kinds of plants. Inside it is three stories complete with an indoor pool! There is so much beautiful artwork everywhere and it is clean but it looks like people live there. Fancy but super homey at the same time. So awesome!! I loved it so much! Wow! I can't stop thinking about it. The outside is so plain but so majestic and they have a beautiful dog too.
We had English class in the living room and I found out that Moni's parents who live in Madrid are neighbors with the royal family. I basically freaked out. If you know me well you know I have a slight obsession with royalty and all that comes with it. I love to visit palaces and castles and could stay in the Kensington palace gift shop for days just looking. I did a whole project in the Spanish royal family for a class so I have to find a way to get to her parents house.
We spent the next part of the day at lunch with some of their friends. It was at a nice hotel and restaurant. The food was good and it was pretty nice outside so all in all it was a nice day. We drove home to Coruña and will "start" another week tomorrow. The boys don't have school so we will see how all day works out!
Everyday is getting better. I'm thankful for my strong positive attitude and my never ending supply of love from my family and friends at home. I'm glad I am on this adventure and know it will bring something good in the end!
Check out all my pictures of Facebook that go with this post!
Missing everyone especially the fam on family vacation but hoping everyone is having a great summer!
I love you all!
Un beso!
Taryn
I have had a wonderful last four days! Friday afternoon we went to San Vicente. We headed straight to the beach and then dinner at "Dora's" the local place I have now been to four times. It's walking distance from all the beaches and from the beach house. The next two days were pretty much the same. Wake up go to beach. Go to lunch and then go back to beach and then go to dinner then go home. It was so very warm and sunny I worked on my tan and read cheesy free books on my iPad. It was awesome. I could definitely do that everyday and it is getting more and more tempting to stay the first week of August with them! A lot of Moni's friends were also there. Some stayed with us and some didn't. All except one couple brought kids so that was great fun. I also continued English class while we were there. Which was half better and half worse than usual. Better because Moni was there so they had to listen, at least a little, more than usual to me. The bad part was that class was on the beach and all their friends were there with them sooooo they were even less excited for class. But nonetheless, we all made it through and came home on Sunday night.
I was pretty sick on Sunday night and wasn't feel well during the day in Monday so after arguing with the boys about turning off the tv I went to my bed for the remainder of the day. Moni came home and we got ready I go to Santiago for the festival of San Juan. It is basically celebrating the summer solstice. I was expecting to celebrate on Tuesday but we went to a party right away. It was super interesting and fun. There were a ton of people there and so many kids who of course were playing soccer and doing other crazy kid things. Everyone was super nice and I got to talk quite a bit of Spanish. One of the hosts offered me a beer and I told him I couldn't drink because I was an au pair. He was confused. As was I. In my "contract" it says not to drink around the kids but every time we go to an event on the weekends the family always offers me something so I've been really confused what to do. Later he was making sangria and told me it only had a little bit of wine and I could drink it and be fine. I took it this time and then asked Moni if it was okay. She said of course, so I guess it is okay as long as I'm not taking shots at the house during English class??? Oh well.
Anyways, some main points of the festival:
There is always a big bonfire. In Coruña on the beach they have a bunch of fires all through the night and day. If I am ever here again during this time I would like to go to the beach and celebrate!
The main dish is sardines cooked on said fire. I tried them and surprise I don't like them. They had a lot of other little snack foods that were really good as well like tortilla and chips and salsa.
They had little tiki torches and all the kids grabbed sticks and lit them on fire and ran around in the almost pitch black. Not dangerous or a fire hazard at all so no one was worried.
Then at midnight the real fun starts. They make the fire bigger and everyone starts jumping over it. You are supposed to jump three times and it rids all the bad spirits you have and cleanses you for the year. It was fun but kind of scary because the fire was about 2 feet high and I was wearing rain boots and my long jacket which are both hard to jump in. Nico jumped about 100 times so everyone who didn't jump won't have bad spirits either. We left at around 1:00 and spent the night at Manu's parents house. Their house was like a dream. So beautiful. When I woke up this morning and explored it I was in total awe of it's beauty. It had a beautiful outside yard filled with a rose garden and trees and grass and so many different kinds of plants. Inside it is three stories complete with an indoor pool! There is so much beautiful artwork everywhere and it is clean but it looks like people live there. Fancy but super homey at the same time. So awesome!! I loved it so much! Wow! I can't stop thinking about it. The outside is so plain but so majestic and they have a beautiful dog too.
We had English class in the living room and I found out that Moni's parents who live in Madrid are neighbors with the royal family. I basically freaked out. If you know me well you know I have a slight obsession with royalty and all that comes with it. I love to visit palaces and castles and could stay in the Kensington palace gift shop for days just looking. I did a whole project in the Spanish royal family for a class so I have to find a way to get to her parents house.
We spent the next part of the day at lunch with some of their friends. It was at a nice hotel and restaurant. The food was good and it was pretty nice outside so all in all it was a nice day. We drove home to Coruña and will "start" another week tomorrow. The boys don't have school so we will see how all day works out!
Everyday is getting better. I'm thankful for my strong positive attitude and my never ending supply of love from my family and friends at home. I'm glad I am on this adventure and know it will bring something good in the end!
Check out all my pictures of Facebook that go with this post!
Missing everyone especially the fam on family vacation but hoping everyone is having a great summer!
I love you all!
Un beso!
Taryn
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