Winter, winter, winter...

....Or rather, the lack of it.
I have been very fortunate in my time in Cantabria, in fact, I was told that Cantabria is much like the Lake District, in that it rains...A LOT. However, since I've been in this lovely province I think it has rained perhaps a total of 3 or 4 times, and considering that the day after tomorrow is December this is very lucky.
That isn't to say I haven't been cold here, the mornings here are deathly, though perhaps not the quite the same as home (a cool 5 degrees when I take the kids to school) and this morning the kids had hats and gloves on for the first time, but as soon as it hit about 10.30am the coldness had gone and all that was left was beautiful, clear blue skies and warm sunshine.
I was out in the little town of Somo on Sunday, I walked down about 3 O'clock, it was warm enough to be wearing leggings a t-shirt and light jacket, but I was so glad I had the foresight to put a warm hoodie in my handbag! Without it I'm sure I would have ended up with pneumonia! Standing watching my friends at the skate park, whizzing up and down in the bitter wind was not exactly warming!
I've realised the longer I've been here, that there are so many different people here, from many different places, I hadn't realised that there were so many people from Argentina here, I know of at least five off of the top of my head, and that doesn't include their families! The Santander area really is very popular and attracts people from all different walks of life, I met some french people on a night out, english au pairs, canadian au pairs, germans and more french people, it really is a very multi-cultural place, and although when you talk about Santander people often think of the bank I do genuinely think that it is a very up and coming place, the one to watch so to speak.

Hola!

I know, I know there hasn't been an update on here since I arrived in Spain on the 11th October, and all I can do is apologise, but here is my first official post from Spain.

So much has happened I just don't know where to start, the family that I'm living with are in a word, lovely. Marije  - Marije is the Mum of the family, she works for Santander bank and is one of the friendliest people I've come across, she frequently tells me that I'm not someone who works for her, I am her family, she does her utmost to insure that I am happy and to make sure that if I ever need anything she will do whatever she can to help.
Miguel - Miguel, is the Dad, he's ex Army and now works at his parents farm which is across the road from our house, he's a man of very few words and speaks zero english but he is, like his wife friendly and welcoming.
Carla - 10 years old, Carla is just brilliant, she's kind and caring, hard working and friendly, like all 10 year olds she can be a handful, but she always has a smile and something nice to say. I've never known a ten year old to do so much school work! she's always studying or doing homework and has frequent exams!
Abraham (Abram) - 5 years old and absolutely hilarious! He's a vibrant, happy little man who's favourite word is "boobies" or "booooooobs!" I've give him english lessons all through the week and I've really noticed an improvement in his language which makes me very happy! He's always laughing and having fun, theres never a dull moment with him around, over dinner one evening he told me the following: "When you're asleep tonight I'm going to sneak into your room and wee on your pyjamas!" I wasn't sure whether to laugh or not! I'm really, really happy here with my new family, I was very touched to find out that they consider me to be one of the best Au Pair's they've ever had (I am one of 7) and that they have all found me "so easy to love".

Me with the kids on Halloween!
(attractive silver lipstick!)

I live on the outskirts of a small village called Suesa, in a beautiful, large, 3 story house, with a huge sprawling garden and the security system of a spy's dreams! The house wouldn't stand out in a luxury home magazine, everything is modern and just so, nothing is ever out of place and everything is always pristine, even the kids bedrooms. My bed room, is comfortable, I have 2 single beds, a walk in wardrobe thats probably the size of my entire room at Chester last year, and an en-suite bathroom.

About a miles walk from the house is the town of Somo, here there is one of the best stretches of beach in Spain for surfing, and there are regular surfing competitions at weekends, there are numerous bars and restaurants, supermarkets and a great market every friday, from which I got myself a fabulous pair of (now broken, I sat on them) "Chanel" sunglasses and a large beautiful "Prada" handbag. From Somo, theres also a regular boat service to and from Santander, which at €4.40 return makes it cheaper than a single to Kendal from Milnthorpe on the bus! Now, I do like the boat, its reliable and easy to get however...I will never again make the mistake of taking it on a windy day! I've never felt so sick in my life! Definitely not an experience I wish to repeat! Though the strategy of sitting in the middle seems to make the ride seem a bit smoother!

I've made lots of friends over here, spanish and english alike, I met one of the most hilarious people on my second or third day here, a Canadian girl called Maranda, she is just turned 18 but I would have sworn she was more my age, and is a true Canadian, she loves all thing country! Maranda will be staying with me in england this christmas and I can't wait. There is a bar we frequent called the Koori, its australian themed and the regulars (ourselves included in this title) are some of the funniest and loveliest people I've ever met! I don't think I've paid full price for a drink there yet! I don't know what it is, but wherever Maranda and I go we seem to end up making friends or getting free drinks/food/phone numbers?! I have yet to meet anyone who has been anything less than welcoming and friendly, the people round here are always happy to have a chat and a drink!

Me and Maranda at our favourite bar Koori.

The drinking and partying out here is on a whole other level, I mean you wouldn't expect less from a nation who's most popular drink is "Calimocho" a glass of red wine and coke, and as disgusting as it sounds its actually one of the most tasty drinks I've ever had, on a nice hot day with ice its amazing! And the tequilla....what can I say? its so much better here than it is at home! One tequilla, two tequilla, three tequilla FLOOR doesn't seem to exist, more like 10 tequilla, 11 tequilla, 12 tequilla MORE! Normally when you go out to a bar in the uk on a saturday night last orders are around 3, not in spain, they "shut" at around 4.30 but keep the bar open until everyone has decided they've had enough, this often leads to not getting home until almost 7am!

Theres so much more I could say, but I'm running out of time now as I have to go and pick the kids up from school soon, so I'll head off now, and update again this weekend, I'm heading to Santander tomorrow afternoon and hopefully to the beach on sunday.