I decided to go to London because I wanted to improve my English. At the time it was popular to be an au pair. You get pocket money, 25 pounds a week, you have a place to stay; you learn English and get to know young people like yourself. I planned to study English and work in London for six months.

The first family I found as an Au Pair was terrible… I didn’t feel like a part of the family. The children were very young, and I did not connect with them. I had to eat in my room, and I only got one meal a day. I practically lived on chocolates until dinner time. As you can understand, I didn’t stay with this family for long!

In my ESL school, I spoke with the other girls who worked as au pairs and found out everyone had the same problems. They told me to find another family. My English was still very basic, and when I met with a second family, I realized how bad my English was! I asked for the time, and didn’t understand the answer. Today I can laugh about it, but back than it was embarrassing! In addition, I didn’t like the neighborhood. It wasn’t central. This cannot be London, I thought to myself. I spoke to the agency, and they promised me they would find me another family.

Like in fairytales, the third family I found was great. They lived in a central neighborhood that was close to my ESL school. The family was Jewish-American. They were very nice and very kind. With them I had a feeling that I am part of the family. We ate our meals together and they didn’t send me to sit alone in my room.

This was a lovely time. I made friends at the ESL school, and we went to parties together. I was living the life. But when I returned to Portugal for a vacation my parents didn’t want me to return to London.

Photo by Sabrina Mazzeo