Westport Au Pairs had fun at an International Holiday party at my house last night. Au Pairs brought homemade tasty delights from their native countries. ( I should have taken a photo of all of the food!)  There were  Italian, Israeli, Brazilian, Colombian, South African and German pastries, puddings, pies, short breads, and even an egg salad!  It was deliciously fabulous and all gone by the time everyone left.

In addition to saying hello to our new arrivals, making some new friends and saying  fond farewells to Liliana, Kaysi, Britt, and Nicole,  Au Pairs showed off their creative talents by making holiday outfits from plastic bags, holiday wrapping paper, yarn and masking tape.  My husband could not believe the talent and team work required to pull this off.  It was great fun and a lot of laughs.

Westport, CT Au Pair In America Host Families and Au Pairs gathered together at Compo Beach Sunday September 7, 2014 for our annual Host Family Workshop.  It was a wonderful opportunity to meet each other, make some new friends, hear about other cultures and connect to one another. 

Westport Au Pairs from Columbia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, South Africa and France helped children make origami animal puppets, color global place mats, and challenged older children to match country and capitals and find country word searches in the third annual Westport Mini Maker Faire, held Saturday April 26, 2014 at the Westport Library and adjacent Jessup Green.  Four thousand interested inventors, tinkerers, artists, crafters, scientists and others came together for the great technology, innovative craft family event.  Robots, electric skateboards, 3 D printers, drones, helicopters, synthesizers,  and more were present for the hands-on workshops and demonstrations for and by children.  The Westport Mini Maker Faire is a joint venture of the Westport Library and Remarkable STEAM, a local organization that promotes science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

Our February cluster event was held at the Westport Arts Center, where Au Pairs from Westport, New Canaan and Weston had a tour of  Lynsey Addario’s  Pulitizer Prize winning photographic exhibit  On the Wire: Veiled Rebellion, photos  of women in Afghanistan.  Lynsey Addario, a Westport native, is an American photojournalist based in London, where she photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine. In 2000, she traveled to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to document life and oppression under the Taliban. She has since covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, Congo, and Libya, and shoots features across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Lynsey was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the “150 Fearless Women”” and in 2010 Lynsey was named one of 20 women on Oprah Winfrey’s Power List, for her “Power of Bearing Witness”.   The Westport Arts Center is another one of Westport’s jewels!