Longe de casa a mais de uma semana.

Descendo do avião eu senti um frio na barriga inexplicável.. tudo era real. Eu estava a milhares de km longe de casa, em um país diferente, com uma língua diferente, cultura diferente.. tudo diferente . O medo do desconhecido estava comigo, junto com a alegria de finalmente viver algo diferente na minha vida.

Logo que sai do avião eu senti o frio do fim do inverno de New Jersey. Graças a Deus não cheguei no inverno, eu não teria roupa pra sobreviver aquilo. Chegamos no hotel de treinamento e naqueles dias eu pude fazer amizade com meninas de diferentes estados e países.

Ficamos 5 dias no hotel em treinamento. Eu ia na piscina todas as noites sozinha pra meditar. (pobre que não tem piscina precisa que aproveitar quando tem) Lembro de pensar que tudo parecia meio surreal, que logo eu voltaria pra minha família e pro meu Brasil festeiro. Mas quando ia dormir e acordava no dia seguinte eu percebia que tudo tinha mudado de verdade na minha vida e eu não seria mais a mesma pessoa que era no Brasil. Fui a primeira vez no shopping com o dinheiro contado, queria comprar tudo que via pela frente porque tudo parecia tão barato mas eu não tinha dinheiro pra aquilo. Então só comi um Burguer king mesmo e descobri que até mesmo o Burguer king é melhor no Brasil. (todas as comidas são melhores no Brasil).

Hora de ir pra minha nova casa. Dallas, Texas. A cidade dos cowboys e faroeste.. só que não é bem assim. Eu estava animada para conhecer minha host family, com muito frio na barriga e medo também. Eu não sabia exatamente o que esperar. Quando eu cheguei, meu host dad (Brian) veio logo ao meu encontro juntamente com o Charlie (meu host kid) segurando um cartaz com meu nome, bem aqueles de filme mesmo, foi engraçado ver isso. Ele me ajudou com as malas e entramos no carro. Eu ficava impressionada com tudo que via. Dallas não era cidade de cowboys, Dallas definitivamente não era tipo faroeste. Dallas era uma cidade extremamente moderna e enorme. As estradas eram largas e haviam milhares de viadutos e túneis. Prédios modernos e lojas, restaurantes e prédios históricos (presidente Kennedy morreu em Dallas pra quem não sabe). Chegando na minha nova casa, fui recebida pela minha host mom (Courtney) segurando o Jett (host kid).

Eles me receberam muito bem, fizeram milhares de perguntas, das quais não me lembro bem porque meu inglês estava travado naquela época. Tudo era tão diferente, a casa, o bairro, os carros.. até mesmo as árvores. Parecia que eu estava num filme de drama porque a quantidade que chorei naquela noite eu nem me lembro. Eu estava animada e com saudade da minha família. Me sentia meio atordoada e bem cansada mentalmente. Me despedi e fui dormir. Acordei no sábado com a pior dor de cabeça que eu senti em toda minha vida. O plano era passear com eles mas a dor que eu sentia era tão grande que pedi desculpas e fiquei chorando de dor no quarto sozinha. Nem tudo são flores pessoal. A mudança de clima, altitude, o estresse, a comida.. tudo começou a fazer efeito na mesma hora e resultou nisso. No domingo saímos para almoçar e passear e foi tudo muito legal e estranho ao mesmo tempo. Era muito difícil entender o cardápio então eu pedi pra eles escolherem a comida por mim. Conversar com eles sempre foi muito natural e gostoso mas eu ainda me sentia um passarinho fora do ninho.

Na segunda feira que eu entendi como meus dias seriam difíceis a partir dali e que a vida de aupair não é tão fácil quanto parece.

English Version

Away from home for over a week.

Getting out off the plane I felt butterflies in my stomach... everything was real. I was thousands of miles away from home, in a different country, with a different language, different culture... everything different. The fear of the unknown was with me, along with the joy of finally living something different in my life.

As soon as I got off the plane I felt the cold of New Jersey. Thank God I didn't arrive at winter season, I wouldn't have enough clothes to survive that. We arrived at the training hotel and in those days I got to know people from different states and countries. We stayed at the hotel for 5 days in training. I went to the pool every night alone to meditate. (Poor persons like me who doesn't have a pool needs to enjoy it when we can) I remember thinking that everything seemed a bit surreal, that soon I would return to my family and my partying Brazil. But when I went to sleep and woke up the next day I realized that everything had really changed in my life and I would no longer be the same person I was in Brazil. I went to the mall for the first time with my limited money, I wanted to buy everything I saw in front of me because everything seemed so cheap but I didn't have the amount of money for that. So I only ate a Burger King and found out that even Burger King is better in Brazil. (all foods are better in Brazil).

Time to go to my new house. Dallas, Texas. As we know The city of cowboys and the western... but it's not like that. I was excited to meet my host family, with butterflies in my stomach and fear too. I didn't exactly know what to expect. When I arrived, my host dad (Brian) soon came to meet me along with Charlie (my host kid) holding a sign with my name, like those we watch in movies, it was funny to see that. He helped me with my bags and we got into the car. I was impressed by everything I saw. Dallas wasn't cowboy town, Dallas was definitely not the Western type. Dallas was an extremely modern and huge city. The roads were wide and there were thousands of viaducts and tunnels. Modern buildings and stores, restaurants and historic buildings (President Kennedy died in Dallas for those who don't know). Arriving at my new house, I was greeted by my host mom (Courtney) holding Jett (host kid). They received me very well, asked thousands of questions, which I don't remember well because my English suck at that time. Everything was so different, the house, the neighborhood, the cars... even the trees. It felt like I was in a drama movie because how much I cried that night I don't even remember. I was excited and missing my family. I felt kind of dizzy and quite tired mentally. I said goodnight and went to sleep. I woke up on Saturday with the worst headache I've ever felt in my life. The plan was togo walk with them but the pain I felt was so big that I apologized and I was crying with pain in the room alone for the rest of the day. It's not all flowers folks. The change in weather, altitude, stress, food... it all started to affect me at the same time and resulted in that. On Sunday we went out for lunch and walks and it was all really cool and weird at the same time. It was very difficult to understand the menu so I asked them to choose the food for me. Talking with them was always very natural and enjoyable but I still felt like a bird out of the nest.

On monday i understood how hard my days would be from there and that the aupair life is not as easy as it sounds.