Author Archives: Cindy Garruba

APIA NYC SCAVENGER HUNT

Sunday October 21 the New York and Connecticut Au Pair in America Community Counselors hosted a NYC Scavenger Hunt for 250 au pairs!

Everyone met on the steps of the main NYC Library for the send off.  They spent about 3 hours searching for the items on the list, snapping pictures of themselves in places all over the City. Each team had 6 au pairs.

When they returned to the library, the Counselors were ready with candy bars for each of them, raffle tickets for those wearing their APIA T-Shirts, and scoring teams to tally their lists. 

3rd Place

2nd Place

1st Place

The top 3 teams won cash prizes donated by the Counselors.  Everyone had fun and learned a lot about NYC.  We hope they return often to NYC to learn more about this great City. 

Community Counselors meeting while Au Pairs do the Scavenger Hunt

Young women from countries all around the world come to the USA as au pairs with Au Pair in America every year.  They live with a host family, take care of children up to 45 hours a week, learn our culture and share theirs with us. 

Wet but fun Wading River Fall Festival

On Saturday, October 13th Wading River’s Fall Festival went on despite a rainy start.  Au Pair in America Suffolk County had a table that was well attended by local families.   The day began with the Zombie Parade!

Viviana from Colombia helped Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba explain what an Au Pair is and how APIA can help busy Suffolk County families with their childcare.  Viviana is a 2nd year au pair who is having a great experience in the USA.  She told families who stopped by about taking care of her host child, teaching him Spanish and how much she has learned about our culture while sharing hers with her host family.

The rain did stop and the event was enjoyed by all who attended.  Meet Suffolk County APIA Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba on Sunday, December 2nd at Stony Brook Village’s Holiday Festival.

 

Scarecrow Fun in Stony Brook Village

Visit Stony Brook Village this October to see all the scarecrows made by creative community groups.  Au Pair in America entered the contest with Au Pair Annie and friends.  Our Scarecrow is #107 just to the left of the Post Office!

Au Pair Annie is holding 8 au pairs from countries in our Suffolk County Au Pair in America cluster.  Her banner has the AIFS moto, “We Bring the World Together”.  Au Pair in America is a division of the American Institute of Foreign Study.  Check out AIFS here.

Mia from Croatia, Dana from Germany, Sara from Panama,  helped Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba, with the Scarecrow.  Their energy and creativity was lots of fun!

Back to School & More for Suffolk APIA Au Pairs

Suffolk County Au Pair in America Au Pairs Cluster Meeting September 2018 at Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba’s HomeCluster meetings are so important for au pairs to meet each other,  form friendships and connect with their counselor.

We start the meeting with a craft.  It gives the au pairs time to socialize and to be creative.  They paint ornaments we will use to decorate our International APIA Peace tree at the annual holiday festival in Stony Brook Village.  This is an event attended by au pairs and their host families on the first Sunday in December.

Every September Cindy shares tips to make back to school and routine with host children easier for au pairs.  We review minimizing morning madness, communicating with school through the backpack & how to use it effectively, bus stop and bus safety.  It is also Baby Safety month, so we review tips on how to keep little ones safe. 

There are a few distracted driving and bus safety videos watched that really emphasis how to be the kind of driver who pays attention to the road!  These videos really demonstrate why everyone should stay off the phone while driving and how to keep kids safe!

We got the chance to wish Ana good bye after 2 years as an Au Pair!  Ana has a trip planned around Europe before returning to home to Peru! 

After the learning part o the meeting is done, there is time for dessert and socializing.  Everyone learns, eats and makes new friends!

Canoe Trip Sun to Storms back to Sun!

On a sunny Saturday afternoon 21 Long Island Au Pairs and 3 Community Counselors headed out on our annual canoe trip on the Nissequoque River.  Postponed one week due to storms we were all excited to have a fun afternoon on the river.

8 Canoes headed out with 2 to 3 au pairs per canoe.  Most had never canoed before and they had to get the feel of the paddles and put the strongest au pair in the rear to captain the canoe.

 

Counselors Cindy Garruba, Eileen Friedman and Captain Kristi Halpern joined the group and gave some guidance as they canoed along side the au pairs.

About half way into the trip dark clouds covered the sky and soon a series of intense downpours rained upon the group. Several of the canoe teams pulled to the side and had to dump out their canoes, take shelter and wait for the storm to subside.  After awhile the storms subsided and blue skies returned.

Drenched and tired, we all made it to the end of the river.  Counselor Andrea Wax was waiting for us to return, she had reassured au pairs who called her during the storm.  She took pictures of the returning teams.  Everyone had an unforgettable experience and said it was fun, even with the storm.  Au Pairs from Au Pair in America are adventurous young women ready to tackle any challenge they face!

 

Fun Street Fair & 4th of July Fireworks!

Au Pairs from APIA Suffolk County enjoyed the “Alive on 25” Riverhead Street Fair.  Community Counselor Cindy Garruba invited her cluster to spend the evening enjoying the music, street vendors, and food trucks along Main Street in Riverhead.

There were antique cars and the au pairs enjoyed posing with them!  We all loved the ones that reminded us of the 50s and 60s! 

We strolled along the Peconic River and looked at the boats docked waiting for the fireworks to start.  Everyone was treated to a Ralph’s Italian Ice by Cindy.  Chocolate was the most popular flavor!

The fireworks was the highlight of the evening.  Au Pairs were surprised by how great the display was and how many people gathered to watch.  We talked about the reason Americans celebrate the 4th of July.  The Au Pairs enjoyed hearing about how much Americans value the birth of our nation and celebrating our Declaration of Independence back on July 4, 1776!

Saying Good bye to Au Pairs

Community Counselor Cindy Garruba wishes Caroline from Brazil good bye

Every au pair must return home to her country when she completes her Au Pair in America program.  APIA wants to support au pairs as they take the step ahead into the “real world”!  Some au pairs are heading to University to complete a degree or earn a masters, some are heading into the career world, and some might be heading onto another world adventure.

Anais from France at her good bye coffee

What ever our APIA au pairs are about to do, we want to prepare them as best as possible.  Au Pair in America has started a Re-entry Resume building program for our au pairs.  Field Reps/ Community Counselors, Cindy Garruba and Robin Leon have developed tools for au pairs to use to build their resumes.  They have taken skills au pairs learn and translated them to meaningful terms to use on their resumes.

Caroline from Brazil with her Education Certificate

Luggage Tag Good bye Gift for Au Pairs

Counselors host cluster meetings or good bye coffees for au pairs as they leave.  They now can add resume building into these farewells.  APIA au pairs also earn education certificates when they complete their required classes.  Once they return home, they also receive the Completion Certificate.  Many also earn Global Awareness certificates for sharing their culture as lessons in US classrooms, youth groups, or organized groups.  They often earn ESL or TOEFL certificates, too.  Many au pairs from APIA love volunteering and earn Volunteer certificates from APIA.  All of these certificates build their resumes, too.

Au Pairs from Au Pair in America are always a part of the family and we send them off with a good bye luggage tag that says:

“I’m going places with Au Pair in America!”

 

 

Summer & Water Safety is Important for Au Pairs on Eastern Long Island!

On Sunday, June 10th the Suffolk County APIA au pairs met at their Community Counselor’s home for their annual Water & Summer Safety Cluster Meeting.

  When the au pairs first arrived they painted beach rocks to symbolize their country flags.  June 14th is Flag Day and Cindy Garruba, the Community Counselor, thought this would be a good opening activity to give au pairs an opportunity to interact with one another and be creative.

Though the weather was cloudy, some of the au pairs did spend a little time on the beach before the safety lesson.

The lesson included summer safety tips on using sunscreen, warnings on sunburn, sunstroke, poison ivy, ticks and Lyme disease, mosquitos, and basic first aid for cuts & scrapes. 

Every au pair on Long Island is near a beach, many have host families with pools in their backyard.  Cindy, a former lifeguard and swim instructor, discussed safety around pools and on beaches.  The biggest emphasis was on preventing accidents from happening! 

After all of the important information was shared and discussed, Cindy served strawberries and cream.  It is Strawberry season on Long Island and many of the farms will have festivals this month.  The biggest festival is in Mattituck from June 14 – 17. 

The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America is ready for a fun and safe summer!

 

Busy Week for Suffolk County Au Pair in America

Pizza & Sunset was the theme for our May Cluster meeting on Thursday evening.  We gathered at West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook.  Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba, brought lots of pizza and bottles of water. Everyone enjoyed visiting with each other and sharing time together.

The sunset was spectacular over the Long Island Sound.

Friday night was ESL Graduation from Suffolk County Community College for 2 of our au pairs were among the honored graduates.  There are 5 levels of ESL classes at SCCC.  Many au pairs never complete the highest level, but those who do have achieved a very high level of English.  Congratulations to Viviana and Julianna, both from Colombia!

On Memorial Day, we participated in the East End Arts Street Chalk Festival on Main Street in Riverhead!  Au Pair in America sponsored a square, the proceeds goes to the arts council.

Suffolk Au Pairs Celebrate Mom’s Day

Suffolk APIA au pairs prepared an International Cookbook for their host moms for Mother’s Day.  They provided their favorite recipes from their countries and pictures with their host moms.

Au Pairs from Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, France, Germany, Panama, South Africa, and Thailand contributed recipes and gave the cookbook to their Host Moms as a gift.  Feeling like part of the family is an essential part of the Au Pair in America program!  

Special thanks to all the au pairs who contributed and their wonderful host moms.  Thank you for sharing your cultures, your homes and your friendship!