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Host rating
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Last replied
13 Dec 2023
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Description
The house is an old village house in the Balkan gegion of Stara Planina, Bulgaria and private 2nd home to Jessi, her boyfriend, her dog Goehte and many friends and helpers that have joined her efferts to renovate the 4 Buildings on the 1200sqm plot she owns. It is a place with a tolerant and openminded atmosphere that has become the base for travelers, yogis, artists and people interested in building with sustainable and reclaimed materials as well as a healthy and colorful life style.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Our village is an orignal old bulgarian settling with mainly bulgarian inhabitants and quite a few traditional buildings like ours - only around 30 people live here constantly at present and many buildings are becoming ruins. We want to preserve and revive some of them and help keeping the village alive. Recently the villagers have started reviving the big community building and we want to continue to help with this too.
In the mornings after everyone has had their breakfast we work togehter or on differnt projekts. We prepare and share a late lunch. We try to pass on any knowledge about building work and learn from each other. We appreciate guests with special abilities and experienced crafs knowlede of any kind - expecially concerning the restoration of old buildings and carpentry. In the evenings we often sit together by the fire - exchange, sing, eat and chill out after the days work together. So far we have had people from Germany, Switzerland, USA, Bulgaria, France, Britain, Mexico and Italy helping with our project. We welcome anyone openminded and tolerant to cultural and personal backrounds of any kind such as religion, nationaliy, food preferences, sexual orientation and whatever else.
Sometimes we arrange little excursions together to go to the weekly market in the neighbouring village, the beautiful Town of Veliko Tarnovo (17km away) or the surrounding natural and cultural sights in this area of the balkan.
Help
We are usually working on various Projekts around the house (such as building a custom shaped bathtub, interior and exterior from reclaimed wood as well as fixing and maintaining the place - we love working with eco materials such as cob, hemp, reclaimed wood and straw, integrating bottle walls, painting, wood work, water an alternative heating installations and general building work...) and the Garden.
If you fancy coming to help, Jessi is happy to have you and will supply accomodation and basic food if you are willing to get yourself dirty and dusty. You will be required to work approximatly 4 hours a day and also do your share of the household we use together (shopping, cooking, cleaning).
We do some heavy work and also use many different Powertools and mashines - some of which may need to be handled carefully in order to avoid injuries or damage. Please note that you are fully responsible for your own health and safety if you accept any task we may ask you to do. If you don't feel comfortable or are insecure with a machine or task, we ask you to be honest and opt out of it or let us instruct you carefully first until you feel safe and able to do it without problems. If you come here we expect you to have good working clothes and shoes, as well as a Tavel- and health insurance that covers for you in Bulgaria.
If you are a professional carpenter/ plumber/ ..., we can maybe offer you a a better deal, but will ask you for references and examples of your work.
Let us know if you want to be there and what you are able to do, have experience in, knowlege of, or what you would like to learn doing, and what challenges you are willing to take on.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Bulgarian: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
Jessis Mothertounge is german but as she studied in Scotland her english is advanced and she is trying to learn bulgarian - Preferably all Guests should speak english or german to a medium level in order to communicate dayly needs but Jessi is very willing to help improve those languges and would really a like to learn more bulgarian from anyone who has the patience to teach her some.
Accommodation
We offer a bed shared bedroom with bunkbeds (up to 7 people). Or you can bring your own tent and sleepingbag and camp in the garden or barn. there is also perfect spaces for hammocks if you like to sleep under the stars...
Usually we supply 3 simple meals a day. We share the preparation, shopping and cooking between us and the guests. Should you have any allergies or specific preferences we will try to take them into account or ask you to prepare your own meals. However we can't supply any special diet foods, alcohol and zigarettes . We are openminded when it comes to food - We come from different backgrounds and like all foods and try to use local, organic foods as well as herbs, fruits and plants from our garden.
We ask you to be as tolerant to nationality, spirituality, culture, foodhabits or political and sexual orientantion of hosts and other workers as you would expect them to be towards you. We expect you to be open and honest but to avoid discussions that others here may consider as pressing or discriminating.
If you come here you must be willing to work hard and get your hands dirty.
What else ...
There is also different art materials, a slackline and yogamats available in the house... We can accomodate up to 6 People in a shared Bedroom and also have a big garden with enough space to camp.
Runya is surrounded by the beautiful Landscape of the Stara Planina Balkan and offers lots of tranquility...
Its best to bring your own transport but we sometimes arrange trips to the surrounding sights together, if possible, wheever there is time. All seasons are beautiful in this area, but it can be very hot in summer and have cold nights as well as heavy rains in spring and autum. - so make sure to bring the right clothes and shoes, and be preapered to look after a fire if you want to stay warm.
Cheap flights to Sofia are now with WiZZair/Ryanair available. From there its easy to take a bus to Veliko Tarnovo or even very cheap reantal cars... so you can come directly to Runya and can explore the area by yourself from there.... otherwise we offer to pick you up at the Trainstation in Ganchovets (the next village from here).
We are also happy to give some advice for roadtrippers to Bulgaria.
Send a message for further information to Jessica.
We Look forward to another episode of wonderful times in Runya.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
If you want to use my house as a base for your work without joining the building projects we do, you can choose to work on our digital presentation or find a way to recomepsate us that suits both sides. Otherwise we expect you to comply to our working times and see to your own work in your personal free time. Our wifi works almost everwhere in the house and part of the garden, but we cant guarantee for the providers flawless supply.
Can possibly accept pets
As long as Jessi is in the house Goethe her big serbian sheepdog is also there. He is nutered and fine with female or other nutured male dogs, but is getting older and we may need to try how your dog and Goethe get on first. Goethe does not get on with cats, but we feed many of the village ones here and have one that lives in one part of the house - so we expect your dog not to cause damage to any of them. If you bring your dog we ask you to bring your own dogfood, walk it regularly and that you clean its leftovers from the garden, and that you supply evidence for an insurance for any damages it may cause. Please be aware that our neighbours own a sheep farm and around 15 big sheep dogs that roam the village and my be a danger to your dog if he gets out of our garden. Your dog should not dig or jump fences or be left outside our garden by itself. To avoid any trouble your dog should be nurtured or kastrated.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 6 days a week
