Her new life began at 7:00 am, at a huge airport in one of the enormous cities. It was a city of great hopes, where people spoke a different languages, where some other flowers are blooming, and where the wind smelled different to home. Lisa's heart pounded because she was no longer in her calm, quiet provincial town where she grew up. She was in a restless, noisy, huge city.
Having successfully gone through many hours of registration upon arrival (and finding that she understood the foreign language of this country—sleepless nights at the University were not a waste of time), Lisa stood with what little luggage she had in her arms and high hopes in her heart. A little checkered luggage tag served as the identification mark by which the host family could recognize her, as agreed in their correspondence. Now knocking with her tiny heels, Lisa rolled her luggage through the airport. She could not calm down as the excitement did not leave her, because today, after landing in this big city, a whole period of her life had ended, and tomorrow a new one would start. All of it was unusual and unknown.
Finding a secluded place, Lisa sat modestly on a gray iron bench and peered into the crowd. Her eyes searched for her host family, whom she knew only from a little picture she had seen on the Internet.
An ocean of deafening sounds and boiling city life surrounded Lisa. A huge crowd of people arrived at the city lights like moths. It was a promised city, a fertile ground for unfulfilled ambition. People were running and running. People from all over the world were now landing in the airports of this big city of big dreams, which held the key to their possible plans, hopes, and illusions. They fled, paced or walked thoughtfully across the airport. They came here to their friends, relatives, loved ones, and colleagues.
But Lisa sat alone on a cold iron bench, without any friends or family waiting for her. She was alone in this the airport now, in this three million big city, where it could seem impossible to feel alone, surrounded by people. Here, Lisa had no one except for her host family.
Suddenly, Lisa saw a couple with a child weaving through the crowd.
A brunette woman with a six-year-old girl approached her. Clara and her daughter Nataly, she supposed.
"Lisa?" asked the woman with a Hollywood-style smile.
"Yes?"
"Yes. Very nice! Come with us."
And picking up Lisa's small suitcase, they made their way through the endless crowd of newly arrived tourists and passengers and headed to the car.
Passing through this endless stream of people, Lisa could not believe that she had finally arrived. The rhythm of the airport now echoed in her heart. The huge city was full of lights, supermarkets, shopping malls, different smells and colors, illusions and reality, beggars and millionaires. It was the city that never sleeps, a city where life is always boiling and raging.
But a half-hour trip in the car led them to a quiet and green area of the country, where life was not raging, but calm.
"Welcome," Clara greeted, graciously opening the car door to her new guest.
"…to this beautiful house," Lisa wanted to add as she stepped out of the car. She stared in bewilderment as she was now standing in front of a huge three-story mansion. It had the most beautiful architecture Lisa had ever seen in person.
Previously, she had seen such houses only in soap operas. It looked like the kind of house that would be on the cover of fashion magazines. She imagined celebrities all lived in houses like this one.
Lisa was truly struck by the beauty and she couldn't help but think to herself that she was lucky to be staying in this home. Now, she would get to live inside one of those beautiful homes she saw on the blue screen TV that stood in the small room of her parents. The house even had a garden surrounding the front. When she started looking around, she noticed there were many cars in the driveway. One of them was a bright red Ferrari. There were two Cabrios, then a bunch of other cars.
"We've got five bedrooms and three bathrooms over here in the main house." Clara pointed out the window and Lisa saw a big blue swimming pool, and behind that another house. Her heart thumped hard.
Lisa followed Clara into the main house. She looked around and saw all the antique furniture. It was all made from redwood. The bathroom was done in marble. Inside the bathroom was a private sauna. Clara lead Lisa into the kitchen, where the children were sitting. The kitchen counters were a similar marble to the bathroom's. Through the kitchen window, Lisa saw the whole garden. In the center, was a beautiful apple tree.
Lisa was introduced to Clara's children. The youngest child was a two-year-old baby boy. Nataly was six. Then, Nick was nine. Finally, Julia was the oldest at twelve-years-old.
Dinner was already on the table, awaiting the tired and worn down guests. It consisted of a baguette and some salad. Clara set the table, placing a dish at each seat. The redwood table was a huge and had more than enough space for everyone to sit around it. Over the course of the meal, Lisa was asked many questions. It was mostly about her travels and her studies in school.
"Lisa, do you have any experience with kids?" Clara asked her.
Lisa nodded. "Yes, I do. In fact, I have a teaching degree."
"That is good," Clara replied with a detached air. During the meal, Lisa noticed how greedily the children were chewing their salads. The two older children were in a separate conversation about their plans for the following day.
"Your duties are going to include helping out with the children, including their lessons," Clara said.
Lisa turned her attention back to her. She nodded to acknowledge.
"Every day you need to be in the kitchen at six thirty am. This is a strict time, not negotiable. You will need to set the table for breakfast. During the day, you will be completely responsible for the children. The older ones can manage for themselves, but you will need to help the youngest," Clara continued. Lisa nodded again.
"I understand," she replied this time.
"Also, our family tradition is to eat together at our grandmother's house. She lives about twenty miles from here. You will be required to get yourself to her home every day at twelve o'clock. If possible, we will take you with us in the car. Otherwise, you'll be required to use a bicycle to get around," Clara continued explaining.
Lisa was starting to get a bad feeling about the manners of her host family. She nodded and replied under her breath"Okay."
Clara had a superior tone while she was speaking. Lisa felt these were not the smiling people from the picture she had seen. Instead, they were arrogant people who may not be appreciative of the babysitter.
After dinner, the family offered Lisa a tour of their huge home. The little kids did not leave for a moment, showing off their toys, and Lisa was surprised to discover she knew the language and could express her gratitude. Her host family kindly acquainted her with the house, which seemed to be so fabulous and big. The house had two floors. On the second floor, there was a library. The room was called the winter garden, a children's room, and a bedroom. On the first floor, there was a kitchen, dining room, and living room.
Each child had his or her own room. The boys had a lot of sports cars as toys, and the girls had many glamorous Barbie dolls. Nataly's room was completely designed in a Barbie style: a pink dream world with Barbie dolls and a pink dollhouse. It took Lisa's breath away. Upon entering the room, she felt she was in a fairy tale. Looking around, she felt that at least some of her childhood dreams could come true. A huge marble bathroom, private sauna, plush flooring and lots of exotic statues made the house look very fabulous and glamorous.
After the house tour, Lisa distributed gifts to the children. A Barbie doll for the girl and notepads for the boys. The presents were bought with Lisa's small scholarship that she had saved for a long time. Lisa kept every cent in order to buy presents for her host family as she wanted to please her host kids and make a good first impression.
"That is it, Lisa. Now I will show you to your the room you will be staying in," Clara announced.
"Okay." Lisa mumbled, obediently following along behind Clara. They headed towards a slightly ajar door. Clara pulled it open and headed down the stairs that went into the basement.
"This is the laundry room," Clara started, motioning to the main area in the basement.
"We have a washing machine and a dryer. We also have an iron and an ironing board perched off to the side." Clara motioned towards the folded up board beside the washing machine.
"I see." Lisa replied. She knew silence was rude, but she didn't have much else to say. The next room that Clara led her into was stuffed with unnecessary junk. It was the room that held off-season decorations and out of season clothing. Clara led her past this room to another room. There were no windows in the room, so it was dark. Clara turned the light on and motioned Lisa inside. There was nothing but some broken furniture. In contrast with the rest of the glamorous house, the room was tiny, with a wooden bed, a mirror with a table and a TV, which stood there more for decoration as it was broken.
"This is where you will be sleeping." Clara announced. Lisa didn't know what to say in response. She looked around the room, placing her suitcase down on the floor.
"Well, once you're all settled in, you may want to take a shower. I'm sure the trip was long and you just want to relax for a little while." Clara offered.
Lisa nodded, looking over at her. "Thank you very much."
Clara nodded, turning around.
"There is another bathroom just over there." She pointed across the basement to a closed door.
"There's a shower and a wash basin. There is also a toilet. This will be your exclusive bathroom while you're here." Clara offered. Lisa nodded again. She was appreciative of having her own space, at least. Clara headed out of the room and closed the door behind her. Lisa looked around the room again, now that she was alone. Was this her place in her host family? Was she just another object between the laundry and some unnecessary junk to these people? She shook her head of the thoughts. She put her suitcase up on the bed and started looking for a change of clothes. She lightly pushed down on the suitcase to test the stability of the bed. This is where she would be sleeping for the next year, she thought to herself. She took out her change of clothes and headed across the basement. She opened the door Clara had pointed to. The bathroom was small. She turned the tap on the wash basin and splashed some water up on her face. It was clear that no one used this washroom. There was nothing inside of it, like shampoos or even soap. Lisa turned the tap on the shower and undressed.
After her shower, she headed back to the bedroom she would call hers. She cautiously climbed into the bed. It was fairly stable for something that looked so old. Lisa thought about her trip. It was hard to believe that just that morning, she was thousands of miles away. She was back home, with her family and relatives. She was surrounded by friends and people she knew. Now, she was in a whole new world where nothing felt the same. These thoughts crossed her mind, but exhaustion took over her body. She fell asleep immediately.