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| Best View Point - Bunkers |
December 2013, I was halfway through my first year of university. I was a fairly shy, introverted gal. I was not fond of my life at the time, nothing was exciting me, I had boy drama, wasn't enjoying my job, and my uni major was not for me. I felt stuck and unhappy, I needed to escape. I was going on a family holiday in about a month and i figured it would sort me out, but it was not enough. I finished my first year of uni, and decided to take a gap year to 'figure it out'. During this period of time, I worked 3 jobs to pay off my student loan as quickly as possible, and in my free time hung out with my new friends from work. During this period of time I really enjoyed myself, I wasn't too worried about anything other than making it to work on time. This still was not enough. I grew a lot in this year, I was more open minded, free spirited and out going. I also came to realize that Niagara was not the place for me. I knew I needed to get out of the area, but I had no idea how, where, or what to do. I had heard of au pairing before, but never really considered it. My best friend and I talked about travelling and dreamed of living the surreal lives of au pairs, but of course that seemed far fetched. In February 2015 I decided enough was enough, the cold winter was killing me and I needed a change. I logged into my au pair world account that I had made but never used, to my surprise I had heaps of messages from families all over. I didn't know where I wanted to go, but I knew I wanted to be in Europe so I could potentially travel around on my free time. I was hoping to land myself in a warmer climate, so I responded to the messages in Spain. I knew very little about spain, I knew madrid was the capital, that they spoke spanish and the weather was fairly mild, I was already sold with the weather. After 2 months of talking to various families I gave up, none of them felt right and I wanted to make sure I was going to be going to a place I would be comfortable. 2 weeks later I received an email from a family in Barcelona, I decided to give it one last go. 3 months later I was landing in Barcelona, greeted by the sweetest catalan family living in the Gracia district. I was living a dream, with most of my day free, a well behaved and fun to be around little boy, incredibly kind host 'parents', and a full 4 bedroom flat all to myself in the centre of this incredibly eclectic city. I walked around the first week with the company of my dad with a childlike wonder, the city had me in awe, the magnificent buildings like none I had ever seen before, all with the jaw dropping landscapes surrounding this city, the mountains and the sea. Even to my last days I walked the city with a sparkle in my eyes. This city little did I know at the time would have such a massive impact on my life. Not only did I meet some of my best friends while in Barcelona, but I learned so much about myself, and I fully enjoyed all of my time, If I had an hour free I wouldn't sit inside playing on my phone, I'd walk to parc guell and admire the city from the aerial view, I would go to the market an get myself a fresh coconut juice, no time was ever wasted here, something about just existing in this sitting could have brought a tear of happiness to my eye. Of course living off of 300 euros a month was not easy, as the first few months I was a little too excited and spent all of my savings, but myself and my other au pair friends made it work. Even if a friday night out meant a bottle of 2 euro wine at the park and then going to a club before 2 for free entrance, where there was a will their was a way. By the time I had to leave Barcelona, I had realized I had gotten everything I was looking for out of my experience, I learned what really interested me, saw what truly made me a happy soul, made friends that I know will last a life time, found new passions and interests, relaxed and just enjoyed living. Barcelona became my second home, and I owe that all to this incredible fairy tale experience I was lucky enough to have. Now, I has been nearly 1 year since I left Barcelona, and within about 2 weeks of me being back in Canada last september, I planned my next au pair adventure in Italy, where I am currently writing this from.
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