Left by Workawayer (Mariia) for host
Staying in Andres and Clara’s family have been my first experience working away from home and so far I can say it went awesome!
Firstly, I want to write few words about the village where they live, Sant pol de Mar. It is a very beautiful typical Spanish village just on the coast with wonderful sea around it, so I could enjoy much time swimming
… read more and chilling at the beach. It is very small but for those who like peaceful atmosphere around it is definitely a good destination. I liked this location a lot: quite close to Barcelona (which I loved as well) and easily reachable. I did not expect my host parents would provide me with a professional camera, bicycle and travel tickets to the nearby places, I am thankful for these things a lot.
Secondly, the flat and the room where they accommodated me was really nice, with lots of light and spacious living room with a fascinating balcony and common swimming pool. All the food as agreed earlier was provided and Andres and Clara introduced me to Catalan/Spanish traditional dishes which was an interesting cultural exchange and a tasty one! Together with them I could practice and learn a little bit of Spanish and even Catalan and they shared with me a lot of information concerning life in Catalonia and Spain which was very interesting to listen to and think about. Besides, my host family took me on several trips to some absolutely lovely places nearby Sant Pol (such as Tossa de Mar, Terrassa, Canet de Mar) and every time there was some traditional holiday they went there a whole family to see it and I could experience it as well together with them. Additionally to these adventures, I had a chance to live for one week in a small house nearby France and Andorra surrounded by mountains with adorable views. We did some hiking together to the forest rivers, hills, small villages and even few times we drove to the top of the mountains and I found this experience fantastic. The views were wonderful!
I can’t leave the feedback on this point without saying anything about the girls I had to babysit sometimes and my host parents. The girls were super cute! It was a great experience for me to babysit Ona (I have never been a nanny for such a small baby (only 1.5 years old)) and I learned a lot about different ways how to approach her or understand her desires. She is funny to observe and she is a friendly girl who loves to play and explore new things. As for Laia (3 years old), she is very interested in the things around her and likes to ask lots of questions concerning them which is also fun. She is an active kid and all the time she was doing something (drawing, singing, dancing). I think I have never seen the kids cuter than these two :blush: I did not stay alone with the girls for a long time, the parents were always near in case something is wrong. However, the only problem I could experience with Laia is that I could not understand what she says or what she wants me to say or do because I do not understand Catalan language and cannot speak Spanish well. But, most of the time everything still can be understood without words and it was not a big trouble :blush:
And finally, few words about Andres and Clara: I did not expect to have so lovely host parents! With Clara we could discuss lots of various things all the time and we always shared our life stories with each other, she is very friendly, helpful and supporting woman and I am thankful to be living with her for almost 2 months. With Andres it was as well very interesting to have some talks about his biography, interests and skills and he was helpful in lots of things and was always giving good advice on my travel plans. With this family I did not have any disagreements or negative moments at all, only positive and happy memories left. I feel grateful to get to know this amazing family and spend June and July in their home. I hope to see you some day in future and wish you all the best :D
