Week 14

Monday (11/10/14)
Today we moved to the other house, which is just a ways down the hill from where we were originally, AND Tamara's mom arrived with her dog, Asia, and cat, Luna. There's no internet at this house. KILL ME.

Tuesday (11/11/14)
I called my parents tonight to get an update on my dad and also... with a huge desire to completely break down. You know those times when you talk to your parents and they start in on how proud of you they are and that life is just glorious, and all YOU want to do is cry and go on about how you don't think you can do whatever it is you're doing anymore? Yeah. I never considered backing out or going home, until now. I never thought that watching someone else's kid would be so challenging. I mean, I HAVE being doing this for 12 years. Granted, not on a daily basis and never with a child that didn't eventually (and rather quickly) warm up to me. To say I'm frustrated and abundantly overwhelmed with trying to keep my cool, stay polite, and keep my mouth shut, whilst getting beat up almost daily by a two year old, is the understatement of the year. I did feel a little better though, getting to hear my parents voices and knowing they are surviving without me haha. My dad's also much improved so I can stop freaking out about that. 

Wednesday (11/12/14)
Dolores and I went out for lunch today. Peter's sick of restaurant food and Tamara wasn't hungry. We found a little place a stone's throw from where we live and I had some amazing fajitas and tried a traditional Spanish dessert. 

I was thinking this would be more like
crème brûleé, but I misunderstood the description.
It was still pretty good, despite the freezer-burn

In the evening, Tamara and I went out to dinner while Dolores watched Svenja and Peter had Poker or Soccer with the men. 

Thursday (11/13/14)
Three months. 

Friday (11/14/14)
We all went to breakfast this morning to Harriet's Tea Room & Restaurant (ranked on TripAdvisor at #4 of 78 restaurants in Costa Adeje) for another English breakfast. This one was WAY better than Hemingway's. The sausage was edible and you had an option for a fresh slice of tomato instead of a nasty canned one (still didn't eat it though haha). So if you are ever in Tenerife and you have a hankering for a real, traditional English breakfast, check out Harriet's Tea Room!  Afterwards we went to the beach for a little walk.

Isla La Gomera 

In the distance, the peak on the left is the active volcano El Teide

Sunday (11/16/14)
Man I am so weepy this month. I totally broke down after church in front of this one family, cause we were all talking and they started asking me about friends and if I'd met anyone to hang out with and then they said they were planning on planning out an activity for the "young" people in the ward and the dam behind my eyeballs exploded. The daughter was so sweet, all like "Oh my gosh, don't cry! Do you like cats? Do you want to come see my cat?" hahaha I am a 24 year old woman bawling, and in all seriousness yes, I want nothing more than to go see this 17 year old's kitten. I miss Kreuzlingen. I miss the Elders and Daisy; I miss Tania and her family; I miss Switzerland. I have absolutely no friends here and I feel totally cut off from my friends and family back home with extremely limited internet access, which I have to search for outside the house. Anyhow, this little family took pity on me and invited me over to hang out. We played on their Wii haha, watched a movie, and then the mom and daughter and son (who just got back from a mission in... SWITZERLAND) showed me around Los Cristianos a bit. Afterwards, they dropped me off at home. They are SO friendly and charitable. They made me feel so much better. So grateful for such a tender mercy. 

xoxo,

     Rebecca

Week 5

Monday (9/8/14)
I thought today was going to be a hard day or a sad day for me... but it wasn't. It turned out to be really wonderful. The sun was shining and the family and I spent some time together enjoying said sunshine by the pool. And there was a gorgeous sunset.

Tuesday (9/9/14)
Crazy weather today. Fog, rain, hail, sunshine, thunder and lightning... Schweiz is giving Utah a run for it's bipolarity! I don't think I've ever experienced such drastic weather changes all in one day!

Wednesday (9/10/14)
This afternoon I went on a bike ride with Peter, Tamara, and Svenja! I haven't ridden a bike in years - it was SO much fun. We rode to Mammern (5.2 km or about 3 miles) and stopped at the Gasthof Adler ("Gasthof" means restaurant) for something to drink and a treat. "Apfel Shorley" is Tamara's typical choice, and I really like it as well. It's just apple juice with carbonation haha; like Martinelli's, but not as sweet. I actually like it better than Martinelli's. Tamara and I also had some bomb.com desserts. I'm so bummed that I didn't take my camera. Lesson? ALWAYS TAKE A CAMERA. 

It was such a beautiful day! Best. bike ride. of my LIFE!

Thursday (9/11/14)

Please stop a moment. 
Breathe. 
Remember... 


Hold those you love close, tell the people you care about that you love them. How precious is this life which hinges upon moments that change instantly, our entire world. Remember to "be excellent to each other" ... "for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

On a more cheerful note...
MY UNIVERSITY DIPLOMA FINALLY CAME! It's official, I conquered college with a sweet CGPA of 3.62 which means I also graduated CUM LAUDE baby! Woo hoo! And yes, I'm tooting my own horn, because I deserve to after working my butt off all these years! :) I demanded that my parents email me a picture, since I won't get a chance to actually see or hold the real thing for quite some time. So proud of myself for sticking it out!

Friday (9/12/14)
Today I had to go to Frauenfeld to the migration office and do stuff (photo, fingerprints, signature) to get my work permit/ID card. I made it to the right bus stop, but then I got SO lost trying to figure out where the actual building was. I finally stopped at a corner stop light after wandering for probably 20 minutes, and I'm standing in the rain with my iPad out trying to read this map (like that is gonna do anything - we ALL know how good I am with directions and map-reading), when out of NOWHERE this man crosses the street and walks right up to me. He starts talking to me in German - I'm thinking he's asking ME for directions - so I say "nein spreche Deutsch" (totally the wrong way to say it, but people get the message AND they believe me haha) so then he's asking me what I do speak so I tell him English and he breaks out in English and asks me what I'm looking for! Relieved, I pull out my letter from the migration office and show him the address I'm searching for and after telling me I'm going the wrong direction, offers to take me all the way there, saying he's headed that direction to get home anyway. HALLELUJAH! Ok, now people, don't get me wrong. I'm not an idiot. This could have been a bad situation. Not gonna lie, I thought a couple times when we were walking (with my iPad out in full glory) "please don't rob me. please don't rape me. please don't murder me." None of the above happened. Obviously. We walked and talked under his umbrella and he took me right up to the door of the migration office building (which was in the opposite direction that I had been going), and wished me a pleasant day. I couldn't help but think of the 3 Nephites who are roaming the Earth still...  What better disguise, than this "rough around the edges" but good-hearted man?  I'll never see him again; I don't even know his name. But what an amazing example of being excellent to his fellow man. God cares, and his "helpers" come in all kinds of forms. 

Saturday (9/13/14)
HAPPY MONTH-A-VERSARY TO ME! :D

How did I celebrate? By working on updates for YOU people! All day. ON my day off. You guys better read these.

Sunday (9/14/14)

Played the Swiss (or German?) version of the game "Sorry!" tonight with Peter and the boys. They SLAUGHTERED me. Good times. :)

xoxo,

     Rebecca

My First Week

Ok. Sorry for the delayed update! I’ve been dying haha. Not literally, but jet-lag is brutal man! The struggle is real! Anyhow, here’s updates for the last few days.

Wednesday (8/13/14)

I made it! :D

This is the face of a girl who is SO happy to be done flying! (for the time being)

I flew from Salt Lake City, to Dallas-Fort Worth, then JFK in New York and FINALLY to Zürich. It was absolutely perfect. I had no problems at all, even though apparently I almost missed the connection to JFK, but until I got to the terminal and they told me they were getting ready to close the doors, I was unaware haha oops! And in New York, my flight was ALMOST delayed for 2 hours, but only ended up being about 20 minutes thank goodness.

I kept falling asleep on each flight, then waking up thinking hours had gone by… but they hadn’t. I swear time slows down in the air. It’s crazy. Thankfully, during my longest flight, no one was seated next to me, and you bet your little tushy I sprawled out like an animal.

When I finally arrived I loaded my ginormous suitcases (by myself) onto a trolley – I was a little surprised no one stopped or offered to help my little 5-foot self hefting these 60+ lbs suitcases that are like almost ¾ my size… but you know, whatever. I don’t need a man! …moving on – so yes, suitcases, trolley, and then I found the family waiting for me in the greeting area. Hallelujah! I was so nervous I wouldn’t find them and I’d have no way to get in contact with them (airport wifi is THE WORST fyi). They had just gotten there like 3 minutes before I walked out; guess that 20-minute delay in NY was worth it! ;)                                                           

Ah, it was SO great to finally have these people right in front of me, in the flesh. They were extremely warm and welcoming. We ran a few errands, then headed home where they gave me a tour of the house (which is gorgeous, albeit completely different than a typical American home) and let me unpack. Um, I’m in love with my room and bathroom. It’s a lot bigger than I was expecting, which was a lovely surprise, and it’s so… stylish! I will post pictures of them, and the rest of the house, later. For now, here is a picture of the view from the house:

I live in a postcard. SO beautiful here.
(Taken Sunday 8/17/14 - finally a sunny day! It's been rainy all week.)

I unpacked and my very first meal in Europe… pizza! haha :)

I was out at like 7:30pm. Yay jet-lag!

Thursday (8/14/14)

Awake at 5:30am. UGH.

Today some of Tamara and Peter’s friends stopped by to visit on their way home. It was a little awkward for me at first, but eventually, it wasn’t so much and I tried to follow along their German, but they kept switching back and forth between German and English for me.

Later Tamara took me and Svenja to her sister’s house to visit her sister (obviously), nephew, dad, and step-mom. Her sister was SO nice and offered me all sorts of beverages and refreshments. She had these delicious fruit cakes that we all ate and I tried to follow along all the German conversation (their parents don’t speak English). Tamara and her sister kept translating for me every so often, which was very sweet. They were all very kind and it was actually a lot of fun, even with the language barrier.

P.S. “Cake” is not cake like in America. It’s not as sweet (which I’m fine with) and it was like… pie meets custard meets fruit. With a cheese-cakey texture… sort of. haha. It’s difficult to explain, but it was DELICIOUS. I had a piece of a cherry one and then the sister was having her 3^rd piece and offered me another one for the third time and I couldn’t keep saying no haha so I tried some of the plum one.

Tamara "made" this on Sunday. A little different, but you get the idea

Friday (8/15/14)

Oh Friday.

Friday was rough. Like “what the freak am I doing here, God?” rough.

It wasn’t that anything bad happened… I think it was more of just reality setting in. I’m not in MY country. I’m all alone. I have no friends or family here. And I won’t see my friends of family for 1 year. 1 YEAR! That’s a dang long time! I’m also still very tired, and I cannot express to you the frustration of seeing a person, a normal human being, smiling at you, and you at them, and then they speak, and it is complete GIBBERISH to your ears. AGH! I SO badly WANT to communicate and understand. I keep reverting to Spanish in my head, and then it’s like, just kidding, that doesn’t work either! *grumble grumble* I hate to admit it… and when I say hate, I mean loathe… but this experience is definitely going to be much more challenging mentally and emotionally than I thought.

On a positive note, I put together this awesome desk chair Tamara bought for me, all by myself! With a little help from Peter at the end cause the little knob things at the bottom of the chair legs did NOT want to go in. He even struggled a bit with them. I feel so accomplished haha!

I've got mad skills

I also went on a walk by myself in the evening to explore the area I’m living in a little bit. I couldn’t find anything of interest – it was pretty dead. And I was afraid if it got too dark, I would get lost so I was only gone 20 minutes or so.  

Saturday (8/16/14)

Today has been a lot better. Tamara and Peter dropped me off in Frauenfeld so I could explore a little while they went to the gym (they took Svenja with them). It was such a surreal feeling knowing that I was wondering the streets of this little town in Europe, alone. I couldn’t help but think about my Dad’s utter terror at the idea of his “little girl” exploring the big-bad-world by her lonesome haha. It was fairly uneventful though (don’t worry Dad!). I walked and watched for about an hour and a half, looking at the little storefronts and bistros. I even found a tiny little famers market (no idea what it’s called here) and if I’d had some smaller bills or change, I would have bought something. AH! There was a bratwurst vendor in front of a grocery store where I sat for a bit… SMELLED SO GOOD. I was afraid they wouldn’t have any change for my massive bill, but it looked so good.

I walked back to the bus station and sat where Tamara and Peter dropped me off to wait for them to return. While I was waiting, this guy came up to me with some sort of petition asking me to sign it… All I know, is that it had to do with handicapped people. I kept trying to tell him I didn’t speak German, but he was one persistent bugger. Then I thought he was telling me he was deaf cause the motion he was doing, means “deaf” in ASL… but then I was like, that doesn’t make sense cause obviously he can hear me! haha. Ugh. I could have signed something that says we should throw handicapped people into the sewer and make them live underground, and I wouldn’t know it. It gets better though hahahaha I think he was telling me I was very sexy… AND THEN, he just straight up asked me for sex. BAHAHA. He kept saying sex, but, you know, language barrier and all, I thought I was misunderstanding or something, and I looked confused so he said, “Sex, you know? Um… you, me, sex?” and then my brain was like OH! hahaha and I laughed and shook my head no. He took the rejection a lot better than most American boys. Ah, Europe! :) 

xoxo,

     Rebecca

Packing & Moving

Phew! 

Today I spent a couple hours moving stuff from my apartment back to my parents' house. So tired! haha. As someone who has moved 10+ times, can I just say that packing/moving SUCKS. It makes me want to throw out all of my stuff... but I'm too sentimental to actually do that. Now I must sort through everything to see what I am actually going to take with me to Switzerland and what my parents get to store in their house :P they are so nice!

I'm on a little break, and I wanted to share this awesome video my friend showed me: 

Perseverance people. It's the key to life. :)

xoxo,

     Rebecca

God Bless the USA!

I'm so blessed, and so grateful to call America my homeland. I hope you all have a safe and happy Independence Day! :) 

xoxo,

     Rebecca

Happy Father's Day!

My dad and I butt heads a lot - my brother says it's because we are so much alike haha - but when it comes down to it, he's always got my back. What more could a daughter ask of her father?

I love you Daddy♥

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful, dedicated fathers and FUTURE fathers out there. Know that you are so loved and appreciated!  

xoxo,

     Rebecca

This is NOT a Prank

Yes, it's true: I'm moving to Switzerland! :D

Near the end of 2013, I learned that a good friend, whom I had the pleasure of meeting during my time in Hawaii, was going to be working THIS year in Germany, as an au pair. I was intrigued and asked her about it and how she came upon such an opportunity. She informed me of a couple legitimate, safe websites where you could register to become an au pair and look at possible families (while families in turn, register and search for possible au pairs). I decided, on somewhat of a whim, to create a profile. However, after a discussion with my best friend, and at the beginning of my senior year at school, I quickly put it aside and didn't think much of it. 

I went about my studies, trying to balance being a full-time student, dancing on my University's ballroom company, working on my senior project, three part-time jobs, familial duties, and an effort to maintain some semblance of a social life - all more than plenty individually to preoccupy my mind and my time. 

At last, after four months of insanity and chaos, finals came and went - as did graduation!

I had every intention of moving to Oregon, it was just a matter of when. I had a place to stay, thanks to the kindness of my cousin and her family, lots of other family members and friends in the area, and I felt really good about it. It felt right. And it had been an excruciatingly long time since I had had that much clarity about what I should do, so I was stoked. I even started looking into schools there to eventually pursue a Master's degree.

Well, in the midst of all of this, I decided to check my au pair profile, mostly with the intention of deleting it. Once I got there though, I decided it couldn't hurt to just see if there were any opportunities now that I didn't have school tying me down. I spruced up my profile hoping to impress some family. Much to my surprise, soon I did have people showing interest, especially after I browsed through some families and voiced an interest myself, to those who seemed like a good fit in various countries (you click a button that says "interested" and wait and see if they respond the same way or if they "decline"). Several families in Australia were inquisitive, and one in particular very much peaked my interest and seemed perfect, but after reviewing Australia's visa restrictions etc... I had reservations.

Around this time, a family in Switzerland showed interest and after reviewing their profile, I eagerly responded in the affirmative. Soon after that the mother, Tamara, messaged me. We corresponded through the website's messaging system for about five days, and regardless of having never met this woman previously, I felt an immediate connection with her, as you would with an old friend. You could tell she was just a bright, happy, giving person.

Everything seemed to be falling perfectly into place, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high too soon. 

We decided to exchange email addresses, and traded more messages and photos. Ah! Be still my heart - cutest children, EVER. 

 Baby girl <3

The BOYS

On the carousel w/ her brother. Girl after my own heart :)

We set up a time for a Skype chat where I spoke with Tamara and her husband Peter, and I was able to "meet" their daughter. I just kept falling more and more in love with the whole family. 

Silly girl with her momma, Tamara

Peter & all the kids

During the interview we all confessed we were each other's favorite "candidate" and that we were both ready to proceed with official paperwork. 

The extent of my excitement and joy was (and still is) overwhelming. Like how little kids get overly excited and so full of emotion that they don't know what to do with themselves so they just burst into tears haha. I can't believe this is really happening!  
I couldn't help but post the following epiphany to my Facebook timeline a few days later:

"Recently, Heavenly Father has brought some wonderful opportunities into my life; opportunities that have made me the happiest I can ever remember being. And I have realized, that He was waiting for me to be THIS person; who I am NOW. With this knowledge, this education, these life experiences, and THIS desire in my heart..."

*Side Note: Currently we are working on finishing up all the paperwork and getting a visa! Guess where there just happens to be a Consulate of Switzerland for me to pick up my visa... Salt Lake City, UT :) 

God really is in the details of our lives. Yes, moving to Oregon would have been good; actually it would have been great, but remember that General Conference talk "Good, Better, Best" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks? Being an au pair in Switzerland for this family, is the BEST decision for me at this point in my life. This is EXACTLY what I'm supposed to be doing, and where I'm supposed to go, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be able to continue to get to know these beautiful people welcoming me into their home, and into their lives.

xoxo,

     Rebecca

POSTS COMING SOON! :) 
Thank you for your patience!

xoxo,
     Rebecca