Category Archives: Uncategorized

Holiday Party for Au Pairs!

A wonderful holiday party for the Suffolk County Au Pair in America Cluster on Sunday, December 14th at their Community Counselor’s home.

International Feast with dishes prepared by the au pairs and the Counselor, Cindy Garruba.  A grab bag gift exchange, gifts from Cindy to the au pairs and just lots of holiday fun!

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Last Pumpkin Picking before HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is Friday, October 31st!  This is the last weekend to pick your own pumpkin at a local Suffolk County Farm.  Check out this link for a great selection of farms to visit: pumpkin farms

stolen pumpkins

Time to Enroll in Classes!

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Au Pairs need to take 6 credits or 72 hours of classes each year in America. Host families contribute $500 towards the classes and the transportation back and forth.   Check out the local options in the right hand column of this blog under education.

It is time to enroll in ESL, Suffolk Community College and in the UCLA online class.  Au Pair in America has the only State Department approved online class!

Au Pair in America went Canoeing on the Nissequogue River

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Today, Sunday July 27th, Cindy Garruba and Eileen Friedman enjoyed canoeing the Nissequogue River with 25 au pairs from their Long Island clusters.  Rain was in the forecast this morning and this evening, but the daytime was perfect for canoeing.  2 to 3 au pairs matched up in canoes for the 2 hour trip.

We passed families of swans and one group even saw a water turtle!  A few tangles into the reeds growing along the river bank and then everyone got the hang of it.  At the end of the trip, some of the group picnicked at the Paul T. Givens park near the famous Smithtown Bull.

3 of the au pairs were at their very last cluster activity with their Long Island friends.  They each had spent at least one year on Long Island, one is heading for a 2nd year but in Connecticut this time.


Our August activity includes some host families, too!  What could be more American than an evening of baseball?  We will be going to a Sunday evening Long Island Ducks baseball game!

Au Pair in America Summer & Water Safety

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IMG_20140608_143723On Sunday, June 8th the Suffolk County, LI Au Pairs had a cluster meeting at their Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba’s beach house on the beautiful North Fork of Long Island.  They spent time enjoying the summer weather, even a few took dips in the chilly Long Island Sound!  Everyone got to know each other a little better, many new au pairs meeting current au pairs for the first time!

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The meeting heading inside for some serious talk on summer and water safety.  A former lifeguard and swim instructor, Cindy reviewed basic water safety since all the au pairs will visit the beautiful Long Island beaches or swim in their host family pools, many while caring for their host children.  We also reviewed first aid, sunscreen usage, hydrating in the heat, what poison ivy prevention and explained ticks, lyme disease and more.

IMG_20140608_161432Presentation of awards and certificates followed the safety lesson.  Cindy is presenting Justine Probst, German au pair, with a Global Awareness recognition certificate.  Justine did a lesson on German culture in her host child’s second grade classroom.  A wonderful way for children to learn first hand about another culture!

4 au pairs will be heading home soon and came to their last cluster meeting.  Thanks for all the love and support you gave your host families and fellow au pairs this year!

Jarka from Slovakia; Ramona, Chrisi & Jessica from Germany are heading home

Jarka from Slovakia; Ramona, Chrisi & Jessica from Germany are heading home

We finished up with strawberries, blueberries and cream.  It is strawberry season on the local Long Island farms!  Then a few last pictures on the deck.  Everyone had fun!

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Brazilian Au Pair Shares Her Culture with Kindegarten Students

WIN_20140516_141411 (2)Susette Araujo Sousa from Brazil visited Minnesauke Elementary School to share her culture with her host child’s Kindergarten class.  Mrs. Sheridan welcomed her and the students were excited to listen and learn!

WIN_20140516_141511 (2)Susette showed off the Brazilian flag colors and explained their meanings.  Green for the earth, gold for the minerals and blue for the sky!

She talked about Brazil’s pride in the World Cup and lots of the students talked about playing soccer!

brigaderosThe children loved the brigadeiros that Susette brought to share!

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Monika’s Poem Read at Graduation!

10291045_10203906619934703_5100655762279433533_n (2)The one poem read at the Suffolk County Community College ESL graduation ceremony was by Au Pair Monika Vuic from Croatia.  Monika is the au pair for a family in Mt. Sinai.

Way to go Monika!

Time Keeps Flowing

Time keeps flowing

Years have passed,

But what matters

Is in our hearts.

It doesn’t matter

How old we are:

Achieving our goals

Will get us far.

Let’s mark our lives

Fulfilling our dreams,

Achieving our goals

Will get us far.

Let’s mark our lives

Fulfilling our dreams,

Loving nature and feeling its streams.

Always remember and never forget

We’ve come this far

And we’re not done yet!

A beautiful future awaits

Because we are in front of open gates.

Time keeps flowing,

Years will pass

But what matters

Is in our hearts

By Monika Vuic

Au Pairs Graduate from ESL Program at Suffolk County Community College

WIN_20140516_191101WIN_20140516_205413 (2)Suffolk County Community College has an excellent ESL program for adult students.  Many Au Pair in America au pairs choose SCCC for their required college classes.  Since there are 5 levels of English classes to graduate from the ESL program, often au pairs will extend for a second year because they want to complete the 5 levels.

WIN_20140516_205130WIN_20140516_205847SCCC held ESL graduation on Friday, May 16th at 7 PM at the Van Nostrand Auditorium on the Grant or Western Campus of the college. The ceremony was very moving with several graduates telling stories about their journey to the USA and why they came.  The au pairs all dressed up, many host families came to watch their au pairs graduate.  This Spring 10 Suffolk County Au Pair in America Au Pairs graduated from the ESL program.  Congratulations to Adele Mosquero, Priscilla Rodrigues, Nikoleta Todtova, Victoria Morales, Anais Nivon, Monika Vuic, Ramona Etzel, Linyan Feng, Natalia Jaramillo, and Andressa Mendonca. As their Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba was happy to attend the ceremony and congratulated each individually with a rose.

The State Department requires each au pair attend an accredited College or University for 6 credits or 72 hours of post secondary education for each year in the USA.  Host families contribute $500 towards this education requirement.  One semester of ESL satisfies the requirement, but many au pairs attend for several semesters.  Au Pairs can stay for 2 years in America.

APIA Counselors are the Best Trained!

WIN_20140508_135450Au Pair in America Community Counselors, Stamford & London Offices and our Foreign Partners gathered in Chicago May 7 – 10 for our Conference.  We were led by Ruth Ferry, executive director and senior VP of APIA USA and Linda James, senior VP APIA UK.  They inspired and led the group, along with William Gertz, President and CEO of APIA.

WIN_20140508_103609 (2)We learned about new systems and innovations, managing situations that arise, cultural communication and so much more.  Connections through out the group were fostered and understanding increased.

We stayed at the Drake Hotel, a beautiful art deco hotel right on Lake Michigan.  Our gala the last night was a big hit and everyone dressed as flappers or gangsters!

IMG_20140509_193245Selecting Au Pair in America for your childcare needs will allow you to have the best supported Community Counselor, staff and foreign interviewers.  We have ongoing training throughout the year with webinars on many topics.  There is always someone available to help a family or au pair when needed!

The State Department sent representatives to participate in the conference.  APIA is determined to abide by all regulations and considers the partnership with the State Department key to our success since 1986!

2nd Graders Visit With German Au Pair

DSCN0989German Au Pair, Justine Probst visited her host child’s 2nd grade classroom to talk about her country with the students.

She showed the students a traditional dirndl dress she made for October fest.  She said she wore it to Octoberfest here with her host family!

She engaged the students by asking them questions about Germany.  Many knew it is in Europe.  Justine showed them where on the world map.DSCN0997

DSCN0992She brought a German flag and some of the children knew the colors before she even showed it to them!

She brought some euros and explained that most of Europe uses euros for money.  The children all got a chance to see and touch the money.

They learned some words in German and even sang the song “Happy Birthday” in German!  Justine kept the children interested and they were engaged in her lesson.

Au Pairs from Au Pair in America are encouraged to share their culture with American students through a program called Global Awareness. http://www.globalawareness.com/

Au Pair in America au pairs not only provide childcare but are also active in their local communities. Global Awareness, a unique volunteer program sponsored by Au Pair in America, is designed to foster a greater knowledge of the diversity and variety of cultures the world has to offer.

Au pairs go into elementary school classrooms, libraries, local bookstores, cub scout and brownie groups and other areas of interest to children to share their culture. One teacher recently said “60 kids will go home today knowing more about the world than when they first arrived at school this morning”.

The au pairs present a wide variety of topics and all the presentations are interactive and fun for the children!