Dear au pair

We are a four-member family based on Teruel, Spain. We lived in in Framingham, Massachusetts, for one year (2017). We have two children, Africa (5) and Martin (2). Our daughter Africa learned English after one year at the preschool in USA and we want her to maintain it as much as possible. That is why we have decided to host an au pair. We have already been hosts for a couple of au pairs and we are so happy with the experience. Should you need to talk to one of them, we can put you in contact with the one we still have with us.

Something about us, Guillermo (47) is a professor at the University of Zaragoza in Teruel, and Nuria (39) works as a speech therapist in an elementary school. Nuria is also working as a part-time lecturer at the University some days, in the late afternoons. We are very reasonable people, friendly, welcoming, open-minded and always open to dialogue. We love travelling, outdoor sports such us hiking, etc.

We want you to stay most of the time with our daughter Africa, practicing English by means of playing games, going to the playground, etc. She has taken a lot of English this year in the USA and we want her to maintain and improve it with you. Your initiative in this matter will be also appreciated. Martin, our little kid will join us too. He is so clever and we think he will learn English so fast.

Concerning your schedule, this is our first time as hosts, but we pretend that weekends to be task-free for you. The schedule would also be flexible. We are very reasonable people, open-minded and always open to dialogue. In principle, you will be with the kids in the afternoons (Monday to Friday). Of course we would be very happy if you join us in whatever activities we may be enrolled in!! travelling to other places, visiting relatives, etc. We want you to be part of our family and we will be so happy to do as many things as possible for fun. The most important thing for us is your happiness.

Our home is an apartment with 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms. It is rather spacious for all of us. There is a paddle court and a swimming pool in our community. It is located in a residential place close to the town center. There is public transportation available to reach the different places in the town although you can go to most of places on foot. You will have your own room, and a bathroom too. We will provide you with a desk table and internet connection so that you can study.

Teruel is a small town (36.000 habitants), located between Madrid and Barcelona, more or less. It takes near 4 hours by bus to reach both cities. It is also very close to Valencia (1.30 hour by bus) a big city (the 3rd in Spain). There are plenty of things to do in our town if you are an active person (sports, skiing, play any instruments, riding a bike…). Should you love art and history, this is one of the most famous places in the world for “Mudejar Art”. We have the most important Mudejar towers in the world (the 4 towers are World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO). Furthermore, Teruel is the safest town in Spain (in spite of the fact that Spain is very safe country). You can even walk late in the evening without any problem. Please find a web to learn some more about “The city of Love” (http://www.turismo.teruel.es/?lang=en_US)

As far as activities and places of interest, Teruel has a university campus where you will be able to find some foreign people and you will make some friends for sure. There you will meet a lot of people, and maybe you can exchange Spanish/English lessons (people will be so happy for that). There are also Spanish courses. By the way, there are some people coming from US, Canada or UK who spend the academic year as language assistant at elementary, middle and secondary school, so we can put in contact with them. As you can see, despite having a small town, it appears to be full of foreign people!!! So you will be able to make as many friends as you want. You will realize that people in this area is very warm and welcoming, and also very helpful.
We would like to know about your expectations and what you are expecting of us. We can schedule a meeting via Skype for example.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Nuria and Guillermo.