Dear Host Family, my name is Vanessa, I am 21 years old, my birthday is on September 23rd and I was born in Osasco, a city in São Paulo. I liked living there because it is not away from the center of the city and there are many things to do there that I really liked. We have a lot of different parks, museums, theathers and places to go, take the kids and to have some fun. There are people from all around the Brazilian States and other countries living here. São Paulo is known to be the Grastronomical Center here in Brazil, there is many amazing restaurants to go and enjoy. I lived with my mother's parents who raised me with her, but unfortunatly she passed away in 2005, we were very close and it was and still is hard for me, but it has taught me to deal with my emotion and to be brave for the rest of my family. After that my father took me to live with him in London for about 6 months, and that was a great experience for me to learn to deal with missing the rest of my family and to learn a lot of things in a different culture, now my father lives here in Osasco, and my little sister lives with her mother there too. Me and my grandparents are super close and I love them very much, they took such good care of me and I was able to take care of them too. I also have an aunt that I am very close (my mother's sister), she is like my second mother and I tell her everything about my life. They are very supportive about my decision to be an Au Pair, they know is the best experience in my life. I have had a little dog, Spock, but he passed away a few years ago, and now at my aunt's house we have a beautiful black and white rabbit named Cindy. She is so fluffy and cute!! On weekends and holidays we all used to gather to have lunch or a barbecue. It was really fun to have everyone together, specially because of the kids. When they are around we cannot stop laughing and there is always something to do with them. I have helped my aunt to care for them since they were born, when I was 11 years old. Being there for their growing up was and still is very rewarding to me because they grow up so fast! I also have taken care of a newborn for the first two months of her life, and of 2 kids that are 10 and 9 now but when I took care of them they were 5 and 3 years old. They loved to play all the time they were home from school and to listen to my stories, I helped them with homework, bath and all the meals. Also, I worked at a kids buffet, I really like entertaining the kids with a lot of different activities such as jumping rope, puzzles, drawing, dancing, singing and many other things. I can describe myself as a very responsible, patient, caring, loving, cheerful, mature, honest, creative and open minded person. I love to have fun and see the kids smiling at me. In my free time I like to listen to any tipes of music, swimm, go to parks to do a picnic and ride a bike, watch some movies, go to museums, libraries, theathers and to a beach or a ranch. I also love to read good books, specially fiction or fantasy books, I am drawn inside the story and I think that kids really love to listen to them too, I love to read to them because they always pay so much attention and connect with the stories. March of last year I came to the US to live with a wonderful family here in Florida. It has been the best year of my life so far. They treat me like I`m their family and I feel the same way. I take care of two amazing boys here, aged 5 and alsmot 8 (they were 4 and 6 when I got here), they both are the most precious children I have ever taken care of and I can’t even describe how much I love them. Here I do most activities with them during summer, as well as taking them to swim classes and other school year activities. I love to just hang out and talk to my host family and to share knolewdge and experience. I hope to help you with the growth of your kids and make your everyday life easier as well as being a part of your family. Hope to hear from you soon. Best Regards. Vanessa