Help restore our country house and garden while enjoying a peaceful lifestyle close to Alicante, Spain

Details

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  Description

  We are family....as the song says!!!!!
  Gaia and José, Italian woman and Spanish man who met four years ago in the "Camino de Santiago" and our 5 years old son Balam Felice who was born from our love!
  Last but not least we live with Baraka, a lovely 13 years old lady-dog full of happiness who's always by our side (or are we by hers?!).
  We travelled since we met, and now we want to renovate our country house.
  We live within a very nice and quiet valley called "La Foia de Castalla", 816 m above sea level, 25 minutes away from Alicante in the Comunitat Valenciana. Our house is close to Onil town, Castalla own and Ibi Town, the bigger one (24.0000 inhabitants).
  We have some land, 14 olive trees, 4 walnut trees , 2 almond trees and a cherry tree, many plants and flowers and a veggie garden who wishes to be a permacolture one :)))))).
  Great open landscapes, surrounded by mountains and small towns, pine trees, oaks, great biodiversity (many birds!!) and friendly people live tranquilly and keeping their traditions alive (Paella is just one of them!!!!!).
  We're surrounded by fields with olive, almond, walnut trees and several crops (oat, wheat, artichokes, pumpkins, etc.)
  We also have a pool, hammocks, bicycles, very nice walks, and you can come with us to visit the small towns when we go there.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You're welcome to participate to our family life, to improve your Italian or Spanish, I (Gaia) also speak English, France and Portuguese (would love to improve it!) and as I'm dog trainer I can give you many tips about how to train dogs. We can also play and sing together and make some music.
  José speaks Spanish but he succeds in being understood in many languages! We can teach you how to make a Paella and a good pizza too (our neighbors are an Italian/Spanish couple and own a pizzeria in Ibi).
  The place we're living in is very calm, with dry hot summers and dry cold winters. It is full of local Culture, in a Bi-lingual region (Castellano and Valenciá), plenty of cultural activities and along the year many "Moors and Christians" Fiestas and different fiestas too. Paella is just one of the typical yummy food you can eat here, and José cooks a special one!
  Right in this valley, during the past, some companies gave birth to dolls and toys and fastly attracted several people coming from other parts of Spain to work within Toys factories (just google Famosa, Rico, Reig and have a look!).
  Now factories are still on the run, but many ones, due to the strong worldwide competition, started producing other plastic goods and several metal goods as moulds for car parts, etc. Ibi was Toys town and Ice cream town, so, after having eaten a yummy Ice Cream you can get to know much about the history in Onil and Ibi dolls and toys museums.
  Foreign people are not only Benidorm's lovers; many of them, mostly coming from Great Britain, fall in love with the easy going life in the valley and when they retire they decide to come to live here; there is an urbanisation called "Castalla International" where many of them find their place.
  You can also find people coming from other parts of Europe!

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Our countryhouse is almost restored, but still many things to do and optimize, changing windows, painting (with lime!!!) fixing fences, and more! So welcome creative builders, painters, plummers, carpenters and smart and handy people with competences that may help us to do it better! Welcome also artists and all kind of smart people that can be handy too, and want to be longstayers!
  We are also after other projects as creating a permaculture/food forest environment and would love to build a 5 stars chicken pen. We can also need your help to empty our space, getting rid of things we don't use anymore, and sometimes to look after Balam Felice, who's a lovely and smart little boy, while we can be busy in other house chores.
  
  Finding a longstaying person/couple that we can trust would be a must for us, and we could also ask him/her/them to be housekeeper/s while we go to visit my family in Italy
  Please, be aware we'll share our house with you, and we have a son and a dog, so it's necessary you like a "living together" lifestyle, keeping clean and tidy both your room and common spaces and helping with cleaning and cooking.
  We don't accept any drugs/alcohol abusers but you'll have plenty of outdoor space if you want to smoke and you're welcome to have a beer or a glass of wine with us.
  We found very handy to get to know each other during 2/3 days, to understand whether we can both be in a good connection, otherwise no worries and everyone can follow his/her own path :)
  
  Please, be aware that we like having daily meals together, we can cook and you'll be asked to clean and tidy up after or vice versa, and we kindly ask you to keep your space clean and nice as common space too. Of course it'll be up to you in your van or tent but having a son we try to present him good example to follow.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Portuguese: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  Interested in many languages for me (Gaia) to practice and for my son Balam Felice to learn english or having the chance to improve his italian language
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  Accommodation

  We offer different kinds of accommodation:
  - a room with a bed (it's a room we use as a studio)
  - a place in our property for your van if you prefere to keep on living there
  - a place to put your tent (during warm season, from May to late October)
  Always available share toilet with shower!
  
  We have a WiFi internet connection and plugs to recharge mobile phone or a computer, we just don't want to host "energy vampires" (people with too many devices and recharging them 24h/24h) 'cause we believe that saving energy is good for us and the planet.

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  What else ...

  During your time off you can chill out, have a walk around the paths enjoying the environment, play with Baraka, read our books, play the guitar or going to visit the small towns I described. No public transport around, but we can give you a lift or you can ride our bike!
  During your free days you can go to the beach in Alicante or other beaches and we can help you to figure out how to get there by public transport.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  Country connection, not as fast as optical fiber but good and availabe 24h/24

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  Space for parking camper vans

  After hosting a couple with "Alice" a 8m x 2m (3,2m high) old english schoolbus we can say we have space for big vans!!!

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  Can possibly accept pets

  As we have a dog and a 5 yrs old son, and we receive many friends with children, we invite you to come with your pet just if he/she is really well behaved and not aggressive at all. Thanks for understanding:)

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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