I have a nana!

Ladies and gentlemen, I officially have a nana.  THANK YOU for that!  It has been a long time coming, and my house is so grateful since it has been begging to be cleaned for weeks... is that gross??

It has been kind of chaotic trying to find someone.

Here is the long story: I know there are many people out there looking for work, but it was extremely important to me to have someone that came with references, specifically that I could trust.  First, I asked all the Antofagasta expats I had been in touch with, and I got one response (someone's nana for over 10 years knew someone).  My landlord also brought over the nana that has cleaned the house I am living in for other expats and that he's known for years, and I really liked her, but she has a 5 month old baby who she wanted to bring with her.  That was not ideal for me.  While waiting to see if she could find a "sala cuna" (daycare), I interviewed the nana's friend, and liked her, but lost her since I waited a few days before responding.  The sala cuna didn't work out, so I then lost all my prospects.  The landlord's nana had a name of someone, but she was unresponsive after a few days, and I lost patience.  SO, I went through an agency called Nanas Antofagasta (they even have a website!), which was recommended to me by another expat.  I had a very good experience with them.  They were very attentive to my needs and brought over two nanas I chose from a list to interview (at the same time which was awkward...).  One from Peru and one from Bolivia.  The agency is very professional and does background checks and makes sure all the papers for the nanas are in order.  They also check references and provide me with all that information. 

Here is the short story: I ended up using a professional agency that does background and refernece checks and coordinates interviews (ie, brings them to my house).

I would like to take a moment to say that all the interviewing is done in Spanish.  It is difficult to say the least...

So, today is the first day my new nana is here and I am tumbling over my words to explain to her what I want to have done, etc.  It is helpful that I had a nana in Santiago who was very good, and she kind of "trained" me, so I know what to expect and what to tell the nana here (her name is Carmen and she is from Peru, married a Chilean with a 4 year old daughter who is in school).  She is very sweet and good with children - Sadie is already comfortable with her - and Carmen is not afraid to ask me questions about what I want her to do (which is good!).  I just hope she is a hard worker and can CLEAN!