Changes and Transitions

There has been a lot going on for us in the last two-three weeks. We haven't said much because we've been trying to work it out. It came as a surprise to us that Maryuleth, our au pair, was not happy in Charlottesville. She had made friends easily early on and spent most of her weekends out with friends. But after she returned from vacation in May and the university students had left Charlottesville for the summer, Maryuleth began to feel that there just wasn't enough night life and shopping in town to meet her needs. She explained to us that she felt quite lonely and unhappy about having nothing to do that she enjoyed during her free time. She told us she wanted to move to a big city. We offered to help her in various ways but we could not change her mind. Maryu has done a great job with the kids these past 6 months and we thank her very much for that gift. As of yet she has not found a new host family. She has a bit of time left to find one and the au pair service has some prospects for a new placement for her in a city- which one is hard to say.

Meanwhile, we have been talking with the au pair service and working on finding a new au pair for our family. And we have found Zoraima!


Zoraima is from Valencia-Cordoba, Columbia and has been living with a family in New Jersey for the last 6 months. She is leaving her family because she was unable to find appropriate educational opportunities in the area she was living. All au pairs are required to fulfill 6 credits or 72 hours of classes as part of their visa. Charlottesville does have some excellent educational opportunities to offer and very near where we live. We were interested to learn that Zoraima wants to be a school teacher. She loves children, has experience with infants and has worked as a tutor. We are looking forward to welcoming Zoraima to Charlottesville and into our family this weekend.