Adventure Time!

I know, I know...it's been over two months since my last post and I'm not sure that I have an acceptable reason. Afterall, so much has happened. The main points are that I have been skyping with the family that I chose to au pair for and that I have done my assignments and exams and moved out of my house. I went to Finland on the 26th of May after staying in England for the weekend to visit Jenny and grandma and have my eyes tested. The weather wasn't very nice in Finland most of the time but when it was, it was really warm and beautiful! I went on a few cycle rides and went to the cinema twice with mum to see Maleficent and Grace of Monaco, which were fabulous! At the end of the second week, we went camping in Naantali near Turku which was really nice in the archipelago. On the Thursday following, it was mum's birthday so I surprised her with presents, cake, dinner, spa and a movie. She really enjoyed that, even though it was raining that day. The World Cup 2014 football started that day aswell so I watched that (23:00!). Mum left on Saturday morning so I had the house to myself for a couple of days, of which consisted mostly of watching the football. Spain was completely slaughtered by The Netherlands (so now I don't like The Netherlands) and England were not doing so well either. On Sunday, France was playing and they did really well, so I might have to start cheering for them...

On the Monday I took the bus to the airport and got on a flight to Stockholm. Sofia met me at T-centralen and we walked to the apartment from there. We spent the next two days cycling around Stockholm (which was beautiful when not raining), and we also went to the cinema to watch X-Men: Days of Future Past. On Thursday, Sofia drove us and P.O. to Örebro, the first time I've seen her drive (she's been able to for 4 years!). We watched more football and the following day was Midsommar (which is a HUGE deal in Sweden). We drove into the countryside to some friends of the Nyman family (minus Oskar who was in Copenhagen) which was just beautiful! There were 25 other guests who were all Swedish of course but they were very friendly. There was another girl our age who brought her Canadian friend along so I wasn't the only one who couldn't understand anything! We had a great time making flower garlands and dancing, playing competitive games eating lots of fish, and lots of chatting. We were there for a good 12 hours before Sofia and I decided to leave in the Saab. I felt queasy that night so I had to spend an hour by the toilet bowl. I think it was the fish. The following day Sofia and I cycled into town and realized all the shops were shut because it was a holiday. We decided to go to the cinema and watch 22 Jump Street. Amazing! But obviously not QUITE as good as the first. The following day Sofia took me to the train station and I made my way back to Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Tim and Mum came to pick me up from the airport and two of Tim's friends were at home. We had dinner and had a ping pong championship. I opened my presents from mum and dad. Two eyeliners and a Sekonda watch! Just what I wanted! It was so nice until I put it on...it was two small! We spent around 2 hours trying to fix it and in the end it fit and I was so happy with it! I went to bed at around 2am.

I woke up the next day at 7am and had a shower. Had my breakfast and did the rest of my packing. I got ready for the day. Tim's friends Tanzee and Chris woke up and Tim followed after. About an hour after their breakfast, mum made lunch and had to stuff it down our throats before Tim, mum and I dashed off to the airport. Mum came in with me and we checked in my bags and got my boarding pass. I gave her a big hug and said our goodbyes. I got on the plane soon after that and hadn't realized the diversity of the passengers...all ethnic groups! I found the spanish flight attendants to be quite sassy but it didn't bother me. The flight was really long! 4 hours and 10 minutes...I found it hard to keep myself occupied. The landing part was the worst experience I've ever had on a plane. We were practically falling from the sky and not only was I scared (which I never am on flights) but I felt terribly sick and got very very sweaty. Anyway after 20 minutes of finding somewhere to park the plane we made our way (on the bus) to the main building to get our luggage...that was a further 25 minutes and I was starting to worry whether the family would still be there waiting. I finally got my suitcase and came out into the meeting point. The whole family was there! Jacinta was a lot taller than I expected and the kids were so cute! We came out of the airport and made our way through the car park, Angel holding my hand. The dad (also Angel) came from home and Jacinta came from work so they had two cars to pick me up.

I went with Jacinta and Ester back home and on the way Jacinta was telling me about a 19 year old student who lived on a couple of floors below them and how he was always asking when I would be coming (!!). I think I will meet him later. We went past the inevitable Santiago Bernabeu stadium which was showing the match at that time (Spain vs. Australia) just outside on a big screen. We had to ask Ester to read what the score was and she said it was 0-0. We got home and I had a tour of the apartment...very modern! I got my own little room and en-suite bathroom next to the kitchen, exactly like in Aberystwyth! Not long after Angel was asking whether I needed a new sim card to which I replied yes. They were very helpful and we actually went on a hunting spree around the neighbourhood looking for the best deal (which happened to be from Movistar) but we eventually had to go to 3 different branches since the others did not have that sim card I needed. The third branch we went to took us a long time to get served...about an hour! We finally got the sim card and we made our way back to the apartment, stopping to get bread.  When we got home I played a card game with Ester and Angel in which had pictures and you had to make a short story using what was in those pictures. Ester started and I told her that if she does it in English then I would do it in Spanish. I had a lot of difficulty and it turned out that my Spanish was about the same level as Angel's English. We had dinner soon after (22:30!) which consisted of some delicious anchovies in garlic vinaigrette, with some different types of ham, bread and cheese. We cleared up and said goodnight to the kids. The parents told me about what sort of things I could do the next day, what to make for breakfast/lunch and when to make them. Soon after I said goodnight to them too. I unpacked my bag and got into bed. Turns out the internet doesn't work in my room...

Today I woke up at 8am. I realized the dad was still at home and the mum was at work. I asked about the shower and he said that if I were to have a shower I should wait until the kids are up. I had a shower anyway after he left, thinking I could make it quick, but I heard a knocking at the door halfway through. I put my clothes on half wet and attended to Ester. She wanted to try my clothes and makeup on so I let her. I took some photos aswell because the clothes looked so funny and big on her! Angel was occupied with my laptop playing How to Train Your Dragon and Candy Crush. They didn't have much in the way of breakfast and they didn't want lunch until quite late (2:30ish). They watched TV for a few hours before that and I had to rush them through lunch since their dad would be home at 3:30 to take them to the dentist. It was quite hard to get them to eat their food, but once I threatened them by taking their melon dessert away they settled down! After they left I had a few hours to myself so I skyped Mum and Sofia and told them what's been happening. Jacinta will be home soon, but I will write what happens next in the following post. I don't know when that will be.

Me on Midsommar with my flower garland