Last week in majadahonda ---opps, almost forgot!

I know I know: 2 blogs in 5 minutes!!! But I forgot I wrote this one already also. Love y'all and promise galicia will come!!!


The difference between an AuPair and a drill sergeant.

This week has been insightful. I learned thAt there is actually a very fine line between being an AUPAlr and drill sergeant and this week I crossed it. There are 2 ingredients to this: parents out of town and an injury. 

Rewind: i havent been updating so you may not know this but when we got back from Galicia, Verónica and marcelo left for warsaw to set up the house and get a jump start on moving everything in. Sooo I stayed in majadahonda with the kids, chelo & Vicente. They moved in to the house with the kids and Duna and I left every evening after they were asleep and returned every morning. (Duna is the dog)

Okkkk, Back to the story. Well this week the difference was that I was CONSTANTLY giving orders or saying no you can't do that or eat this even though you hate it, yada yada. In addition to giving orders constantly, it was extremely hot this week so we spent the whole week in the pool WHICHHH I could not enter because of my healing leg (which is infected...). Therefore, I couldn't even be that much fun!!!! I couldn't play in the pool w them so I was just giving orders. Cas wanted "Aboo" all the time (chelo- abuela is grandmother so the kids call her Aboo), men and I had pretty much the same relationship as always, one second besties the next enemies sooo that wasn't really affected, Marcelo was great, he really stepped up since his parents weren't there. And that leaves us with Gonzalo. I would say he didn't like me this week but that's putting it nicely...he despised me. Which KILLED me and worst of all I understand. I was all of a sudden all work and no play!! In addition to his grandparents being there so he autonatically decreased his age by 2 years and would only eat for Aboo and only wanted to listen to her. Awesomeeeeeee. I think I got one kiss this week from him and it was forced... I literally told him I wouldn't give him a toy he wanted until he gave me my kiss haha. Normally I get at least 15 a day...

Other than gon breaking my heart all week, it was really fun. I spoke a ton of spanish which i really needed to do :)

True life: I am a murderer

We are here safe in poland but still don't have internet so I will make this brief since I am literally standing in the rain under a store stealing their Internet...waiting for them to come outside and remove me. Ironically te name of the store is home sweet home. Thank you for all the emails (MINUS JOHN, freaking reply to my 100 emailsssss. I know college is great but PLEASE fill me in!!!!!), keep them coming :) I promise when we get Internet I will write you all back individually (ESP thank you Mandy for your incredibly sweet on, made my day). Love you all. I'm safe, composed this one in bed the second night:

I feel like I am in Alabama, which sounds like a great thing, right? Except it is my least favorite part of Alabama.... Mosquitoes. We have just as many if not more here.  Some of you may not know this, but I have sweet, sweet skin that supposedly is like sugar for them. (thank you granny very very much for this gene haha) This leads to two things: I have bites covering mostly the most awkward places of my body (ankles, collar bone, knees, etc) and I am such a brutal murderer. If they are in a close enough proximity, they are dead.

Sending love from Warsaw 

(..... And hearing a distinct buzzzzz from my bed ahhhhhh!!! When I get to heaven, the existence of mosquitoes will be at the top of my "whyyyyyyyy???!!" list)

Life.

Okay, so I know I haven´t been updating the blog.  This week has been crazy annnddd I planned on doing it but my blog wasn´t working. Legit...it wouldn´t let me post.  Andddd I don´t have pictures so I´m not even going to write about Galicia yet, but I promise I will!

Today we said good-bye to everyone in the neighborhood, but it was about to storm and barely anyone was there so our good-bye was a lot less dramatic and a lot faster haha.  They have such good friends in the neighborhood and they are all so nice to me.  I love seeing everyone.  I have become pretty good friends with one of the girls that lives in the neighborhood and babysits the kids sometimes.  Everyone loves Maria.  She really is awesome and her boyfriend Danny is just as cool.  They play with the kids as much as I do and are great with them.  So this week has been really beneficial for my Spanish...not that I have necessarily learned anything new, but I have been practicing a lot more.  And just having a conversation with someone my age is great because I have definitely been in family zone for a while.  Don´t get me wrong, I do love every second of it and I am going to miss them in incredible amounts when I head to Sevilla, but at 22 it is nice to be around people my age.

Speaking of my age... (or perhaps waaaayyy younger since I´m too old for Tuscaloosa these days), today is Bid Day.  One of John´s good friends rushed and so I have been actually paying attention looking our for her.  I wrote her a letter yesterday to be given to her at the house on Serious Night (the last night aka Preference Night) explaining the reasons I loved Pi Phi and how much it means to me and how much I grew from the experience and the incredible people I met along the way...And now it is Bid Day.  Wow, can I please stop growing up? I know you all agree, especially since my readers here are family and all picture me with pig-tails or a slicked back bun...haha.  Those were good times. Ohh and shout out to the bangs.  You all know you loved those things and were proud to show your friends pictures of me with the big poofy curly ball on my forehead.  I know. Don´t lie :)  And let´s not even talk about the fact that my baby brother starts University in 4 days. WOWWW!! He´s living on his own, loving life.  About to have a love-hate relationship with all things DKE (Delta Kappa Epsilon, the fraternity he is rushing).  Such an exciting time for him and his AGD gameday date (Alpha Gamma Delta)...That is what Savannah ending up going.  She is going to have a blast and even though I would have loved to see her in the Wine & Blue, I´m just happy she loved us during rush, EVEN without me there. haha.  Shoutout to John & Sav, mail me the zap of your first date  party together. Love yallllll!

As for me... Tomorrow we leave for Poland. CrAZy, CrazYY.  If you would have told me freshman year that all of my collegiate summers would be in Spain and all the places I would travel, I would have thought cool, but doubtful.  Thank you for all of the people that encourage me to travel.  (..and fund those travels...THANK YOUUUU!) Even if you had told me last summer that part of my heart would be in Poland and I would be there with it for a couple of weeks...I would have laughed at that.  Where is Poland? Is that even in Europe? What do they speak there? Yes, I learned (via Google Map, because I honestly had NO idea...) it is in Europe and Polish is not a myth..It´s real life.  It´s about to be MY life.  I downloaded an app (wow, I can´t believe I say things like Ï have an app for that¨---embarrassing.............. but truthful) that teaches you basic Polish phrases and colors, fruits, etc.  Ohh and it has a bonus guide of how to flirt in Polish...I´m sure I´ll be using that, for example I learned that:

¨Nigdy przedtem nie calowalam nikogo z twojego kraju¨...means ¨I´ve never kissed anyone from your country before¨and I learned that ¨Jestem trenerem delfinow¨means I´m a dolphin trainer and ¨Masz zmyslowy glos¨means ¨You have a sensual voice¨

Perfectly useful...I mean if I was creating an app with only 25 beginner phrases...those are hands down 3 of the most commonly used phrases in spoken language so it is CLEARLY obvious why the creater of this app chose these instead of others....RIGHTTTT.

Haha, well our joke is that Casilda will fit in because she already speaks Polish...aka gibberish.  Sooooo that´s all folks.

Love you, write again soon :)

The ART of Saying Thank You.

I just realized I talk about Veronica a lot more than Marcelo on this blog.  I think it has to do with the fact that she´s the mom and I spend the most time with her.  Also, she is like a big sister, but that being said, I feel like Marcelo is my big brother as well (or uncle or grandfather if you want to get the age difference correct...haha kidding!)

Marcelo says thank you better than anyone I have ever met.  He thanks everyone for everything they do...He NEVER forgets.  He always says, ¨Thank you Audrey.¨ I could be doing anything from taking the kids to play, to putting a dish up in the kitchen, and I smile and say ¨Welcome¨...which is then returned by another, ¨Really, thank you Audrey.¨ The other ingredient to this perfect thank you is to look the person in the eye and say it with complete sincerity and attention.

It´s not just with me.  It is with anyone we encounter that does anything to help him.  I am learning plenty of life lessons from him just by watching the way he interacts with people.  No wonder he is successful.  Marcelo has the best people skills EVER, we´re talking history of the world.  In every aspect.  He can make everyone feel comfortable, everyone laugh, everyone feel appreciated.  He does these thing for me daily. If you are reading this, Thank you Marcelo, no really, Thank you. :) 

I am so grateful and blessed to have found this family.  I adore both of the parents, all 4 kids and all 4 grandparents as well.  Noone needs to worry about me when I am here, because I am surrounded by people that love and protect me!

A Little Touch of Sadness.

I´ve been so caught up in my life here that it wasn´t until now that I realized...our post-poned graduation is tomorrow...and I´m not there.  All of my girlfriends are getting together tonight for the Graduation Party that I planned & I´m not.  I know pouting isn´t very flattering....Just a little sad. I know it could have been worse and so many people lost so much more than expectations & good-byes so these things are trivial...but that still doesn´t make it fair.

Hats off to the University of Alabama Class of 2011 & Cheers!

Londrrrrrres.

Okay the title is directly from Mencia's mouth.  Girlfriend does a trill with every 'r' in every word, every position, every language, so right now we are in Londrrrrres! (trill=rolling your 'r', making the purring sound) 

Sunday we went to mass (and I was thoroughly confused but got the complete run-down on the Catholic religion from Blanca and filled her in on the Bible Belt & Batist/Methodist).  Then boarded a boat through the Thames River and got off at London's Eye.  

From the boat

London Eye

Big Ben behind us (no I didn't photo shop the bird in)

We saw all the traditional tourist spots.  (Yes I went to Buckingham Palace, but the Queen is currently in Scotland, so no I did not see her, nor Will & Kate...and actually I didn't see a single guard, because we went there last and the kids were crazy tired, but I saw a lot of other really cool things)  And I did take a tourist photo with Big Ben (No Peter Pan today, but we are still hoping to see him) && a red telephone booth.

We had lunch, soft serve ice cream (duh, it's the best here) & a siesta in St. James Park (beautiful).

At one point in the park, we saw so many birds and ducks flying overhead (some very scary) that it felt as if I was in the movie "Birds".  Honestly, they circled me at one point and I felt incarcerated. 

Men was oblivious to them, as she is with life in general.

Gon amazed & calling them (...then running because he was scared of them)

Marcelo too cool for school with that Mohawk (but so stinking cute)

My mohawk boys

Sisterly love (making me miss mine tremendously)

Buckingham Palace.

Mencia's view of the Palace....nap time!

Exhausted after the lonnnngggg day!

Yesterday Vero & Marcelo wanted me to experience a bit of the non-kid-friendly parts of London while the boys were at camp.  It was much easier with the girls and their strollers to go so far.  They took me to a nice lunch outside so I could see the grown-up side & didn't miss out on any sights...they are so good to me.  I saw their Times Square, the beautiful architecture, Hyde Park, the general area where Vero & Marcelo lived for the summer of 2002 overlooking Hyde Park (adorable), the main shopping & the coolest toy store ever....possibly better than FAO Swartz.  This day reminded me a lot of NYC.

Lunch, caring father...or picture that appears to contain a caring father........haha

Men loving life @ the toy store

Banana & oreo snack for Menchies

Later followed by ice cream...I think she still has oreo stains on her face here :)

Parenting isn't always glamourous no matter how esteemed the location...Hello Parliament.

This looonnnggg blog brings us to today.  Today was relaxing and wonderful :)  

Awkward action running shot

Got her! We had a lot of fun dancing to old songs on my iPod today #StandByMe #DancingQueen #BadtotheBone :)

You have no idea how long I have been trying to capture this expression she constantly makes!!!!

FINALLYYYY!

My scary 5 year-old boyfriend...

...is OBSESSED with Angry Birds & Fruit Ninja....best bribing tool EVER.

Uncle Grant & Men

Handsome

Blanca's birthday cake! Ruined thanks to me...I dropped the stroller which had the cake attached to run after my camera...that I left on a park bench...yes. this is my life.  (On an unrelated note, we have watched Mr. Bean's Holiday about 10X and you should watch it....it paints a beautiful picture of my life...)

Happy Birthday/Feliz Cumpleanos! We sang both versions.  Then while putting the boys to bed, we realized Casilda was being very, very quiet....

And this is how we found her. 

Buenas Noches...I am exhausted.

Love all around.

Parenting.

I will start this with a huge round of applause to people reading this that happen to be parents.  Also, to the kids reading this, thank your parents for all they did for you and sacrificed for you when you were little (no matter how trivial).  Seriously. And following my own advice:  THANK YOU MOMMY, THANK YOU DADDY, THANK YOU DEE, THANK YOU STEPHANIE!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU ALL.

Okay, I'm sure you are wondering "Where did all this come from?"

Obviously I am with the kids everyday, all day, so I think this a lot, but this morning especially because I went to Blanca & Grant's to help get the boys ready for camp at 7 this morning.  They were of course EXTREMELY sluggish and we were a little late.  I get home and everything is peaceful and quiet.  Normal day it seems, correct?  Now let me rewind to yesterday....Veronica went because we decided to take turns.  She got the boys to camp ON TIME (miracle getting them awake and Gon to eat breakfast) THEN came home to chaos.  Marcelo sleeps as hard as I do soooo needless to say we missed a few things here.  I wake up to the kids crying....Mencia didn't go back to sleep and decided to crawl in Casilda's crib and wake her up.  Cas normally sleeps at least another hour and in Spain Men sleeps until 10.....it's crazy here.  The thing is there is something about a mother that can do it ALLL.  I am just the babysitter.  I can only do so much because if they are hurt or tired they only want "Mama" and that is completely universal.  Also, I watch both parents run late for things because kids are slow or don't get to do what they want to because the kids don't.  They obviously don't mind, but those missed opportunities add up.  As an adult on the outside, I completely remember doing the EXACT same things.  Every time I see Marcelo pick up the oldest or carry Mencia for an extended time, I think...and that is why my dad has a bad back. (Sorry Daddy!!)

In conclusion, Parents are awesome.  Although, I must say children are too.