Looking for someone to help us practice Spanish, keep up with the house and care for our pets on the beautiful island of Kaua’i, Hawaii

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: 1 month or more

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Aloha! My name is Giselle and my husband Dave and I live on Kauai with our four children (ages 12, 9 and 7 yr old twins). We have added four new furry family members this past year (four small dogs) and we still have a cat and four chickens. Our house is very lively! Dave mostly travels off island for work, but is trying to open his own Sports Medicine Clinic and I am working as a school social worker at the kid's school, but looking to transition to the next adventure.

    We are looking to host someone to practice Spanish with our family (preferably speaking only the Spanish language). We have a hard time keeping up with keeping the house clean and organized (this is definitely an ongoing battle with four kids and four young dogs!) and especially when Dave is traveling, we need help with animal care. At the moment we are in a 90 day "intense training" phase with the dogs so if you have any dog training knowledge or even just interest, that would be a big plus. Although the kids are mostly self sufficient now, we still love occasional "kid care", which we use as a reason for "Date Night" with the main purpose of them getting Spanish practice. And If you are handy or like gardening, there are always small fixes to do around the house and yard as well and/or if you like to cook, we love to try new cuisine (well, the adults do, the kids are sometimes a little timid). We are flexible with the scope of your "job", but are generally looking to add another adult in to the mix so we are not quite as outnumbered by the kids and pets.

    **Please only message us if you speak Spanish. The idea of eliminating the possibility of meeting so many other wonderful people does make me sad, but I literally can not keep up with responses and we are pretty set on keeping Spanish going in our house. Thank you for understanding!**

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Language practice
    Gardening
    Animal Care
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We live in a residential neighborhood that is walking distance to the world famous beaches and a small shopping center. Around our neighborhood is a lot of hotels and tourist areas. Our house is full of laughter and crying almost all day every day (translate this to mean it is often loud) and our kids are typically awake from about 6:30am to 7:30pm. All of our kids are now in school and they all have activities they are involved in after school.

    We spend a lot of time outdoors both in our yard and at local parks and beaches. There are amazing hikes, snorkeling, boating, surfing and friendly happy people.

    Our island is one of the most remote on the planet and is a beautiful place to explore. The Hawaiian culture is very unique mix of different Polynesian, Asian and European influence.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

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

  • Help

    Help

    We live on the beautiful "garden island" of Kauai, Hawaii. It is truly one of the most majestic places I have known, but it is remote and not for someone who loves the "city life". In order to be happy here, you need to have a love of nature, the beach and outdoors and have an ability to "live simply".

    We are a family of 6 (plus 4 dogs, a cat and 4 chickens) looking for a responsible, patient, self motivated, detail oriented person to be a third adult around the house. Mostly to help our children learn and practice Spanish, but we also benefit from having a third adult around the house to keep up with everything that goes on in and around the house. And now that the kids are in school and activities, we sometimes need help driving them to activities too - sometimes it's impossible for us to get them to two different places at the same time. Dave had a surgery last year that resulted in him not being able to return to his full time job and I recently put in my resignation from mine so we are in a period of change, exploration, transition and discovery. If this sounds more exciting than scary to you, you might be a good fit for our house ;-)

    My family is from Peru although I grew up in the United States. I want my children to learn the language and culture while they are still young. If you would like to practice/learn English, we are happy to do so when the children are not around, but we prefer that all of your interactions with them are in Spanish. They tend to answer in English, but understand a lot in Spanish. You will also have plenty of opportunities for English practice as you explore the island or with us after they are asleep.

    When we are not around and on your own schedule, we would like you to help with almost anything you can think of...
    - Laundry (we just can't keep up!)
    - House cleaning and little projects (organizing cabinets, small fix it projects, etc.)
    - Gardening (mostly weeding, but if it's something you enjoy, you can get creative)
    - Cooking (definitely not a necessity, but a welcome treat if you like to cook)
    - Pretty much anything. There are always jobs to be done and we never have enough hours in the day so any help is always welcomed.

    If you love to cook, we would take that too! Costco cooks most of our meals here and home cooking is a treat ;-) We will always keep a list of suggestions of ideas to help around the house, but pretty much anything you see that can make the house more organized, tidy or "fixed" will be appreciated. We just don't have enough hours in the day!

    The most important attributes we require is that you are self motivated and love children and animals.

    We are a fun and friendly family and are looking forward to welcoming the right person in to our home :-)

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Fluent

    This host offers a language exchange
    We are very interested in learning Spanish and teaching our kiddos Spanish as my family is from Peru and I was not taught Spanish as a young child. I would love the opportunity to help with your English as you help with our Spanish 😊

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    At our home, you will have your own studio apartment that is in our backyard. It has its’ own bathroom complete with a lava rock wall outdoor shower, mini refrigerator/freezer and kitchenette (microwave, ninja blender, & toaster oven, but no stove) and a queen size bed with television and internet.

    You are also always welcome in our home, but will have your own quiet place to retreat to on your off time. You are welcome to eat with us (although we are not great at sitting down to family meals) or on your own and help yourself to our kitchen.

    If you have specific food item requests that can be purchased at Costco or our local supermarket, we welcome you to add them to our shopping list, but if you have specific dietary requirements that require specialty stores or farmers markets, you will be expected to fulfill those needs on your own. We do not supply alcohol or coffee (but there is a hot pot and coffee maker in the casita if you would like to provide your own.).

    You are welcome to use our washer and dryer in our house and just ask that you only run full loads or add your items in with ours.

    If you have a valid driver's license, but do not have your own car, our home is walkable to the beach and to a couple shopping centers. After that, you would need to utilize the Kaua'i Bus system or we can discuss the use of one of our cars.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    For us, given a good match, the longer you can stay the better! We have had a number of people stay with us over the past 5+ years and I don't think anyone has stayed for less than 3 months. Some have stayed as many as 9+ months and two now call Kaua'i home (we are still in touch and they are now part of our family!). A couple have come back multiple times and we really do enjoy building relationships and schedules that just flow. Having a revolving door and constantly "starting over" is more than the time in our days can handle. We are a kind and loving family with a lot of Kaua'i connections and are happy to provide references. Since you will be given full access to our most prized possessions (our kids, animals and home in that order), we will always ask for references in return as well. Thank you in advance for your interest!! We hope to meet and host you :-)

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    It’s very difficult to bring pets onto our island, however if you happen to already be here or be traveling with a pet, we would be open to welcoming both you and your non-human companion. We currently have one cat, four dogs and four chickens and are animal lovers 🥰

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    4 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 858772248974

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