So you want to be an au pair

I recently spent five months working for a family with two small children.

Being an organised nerd, I spent months and months researching how to be a great au pair, how to find the right family, how to make sure everything goes smoothly, what to do when ish hits the fan and whether or not to go through an agency (read that last bit with an ominous tone)...

How not to live your life

An excerpt from today

Me: This week's work schedule is all over the place. I should sms my employer so that she can tell me what hours I need to work this week, especially in the light of the fact that the past four days (a long weekend with a public holiday), I was at their every beck and call because of their hectic shifts and had hardly any time to myself.

*I text said employer*

*cri cri*

*hours pass*

*cri cri*

Employer: Oh look! A text from my rather important nanny on whom I depend to run half my life. I'll only reply to her first question. Never mind the others.

Why I actually moved to the UK

Yesterday, Rhodes University held its Graduation ceremonies. Loads of my friends and classmates attended it,and I would have too, had I stayed in South Africa. On her way to this ceremony, a Rhodes student was raped and then stabbed to death, around 6pm.

I scrolled down my Facebook news feed with my heart in my mouth, looking for the woman's name. I thought of all the girls I know who could have been coming from the same city she was travelling from. I thought of the horror her parents must be in. I thought of how dressed up my mom got when she came to my first graduation.