Stay at my home and exchange languages or help me around the house in Sicily, Italy.

Details

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  Description

  My name is Benito, I was born in the UK but now I am living in Italy, I am looking for people to join me at my home and help with basic tasks, I am learning Italian and Russian, I also speak Spanish. I am doing some repairs to the house whether helping with repairs is your thing or a bit of language exchange, it doesn't matter! I hosted a lot of people on Couchsurfing before, and I am an avid traveler so it's so nice to meet new people. I am looking for people who want to enjoy a relaxing village lifestyle and maybe learn Italian. The village is very small, but I do have a car anyone can use. The house is also a huge house with enough private space for multiple people with your own key/private space.
  
  The house is a 3 story house with private areas, so you would have your own place, I have pretty much everything needed here, TV's, a big kitchen with a lot of stuff for cooking (It's Italy haha) We don't have Wifi, but I always use my phone and a SIM card that I can provide to hotspot, it's unlimited and 5G this works I would say 99% of the time unless it really starts to rain then sometimes we get a little cell phone blackout, but it doesn't happen often.
  
  I can accept couples, solo travelers, or anyone like minded who wants to have a break away from the chaos. I have recently got my Italian citizenship so I am in the process of learning Italian here and getting my driving license and doing some training courses probably until around August, the town has a little university and a small language school.
  
  At the moment the village is pretty cold, but we have a lot of things to do locally, lots of things can be reached by car such as a really big park that's used for Mountain Biking, local eateries, the only thing is this time of year Sicilians are quite reclusive so people go out in the day time and in the night time the village can be a little bit of a ghost town as most people drive to other places such as Sciacca, Menfi, etc.
  
  I have an electric bike that can be used to get around locally in the town, and also an electric mountain bike, Sicily is pretty bike friendly and if you look on google maps many villages are accessible nearby by mountain bike such as Sambuca Di Sicilia, Menfi, Montevago.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  DIY and building projects

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  House sitting
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  Interests

  

  Culture

  

  Animals

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Hitchhiking

  

  Languages

  

  Books

  

  Cycling

  

  Hiking

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Fitness
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Santa Margherita Di Belice is a very small Sicilian town, it's surrounded by grapes and olives, the people are friendly, right now it's winter so its a little cold, but in the summer time it's over 35 degrees and a vibrant little town. Right now in the winter people mainly go out in the day time, so there isn't much night time activities, there are a few restaurants and cafes, but it's nothing crazy. I do have a car and there are many bigger places nearby as well as some amazing nature to see.

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  Help

  I am doing some repairs on the house, so I would like some help with basic repairs, also I am looking for someone who speaks Italian, Spanish or Russian so I can practice if repairs aren't your thing.. The house was built by grandfather it's around 30 years old, it has everything you could need to live, the village itself is a very small village we have pretty good temperatures for Europe also, 14 degrees in the day and lows of around 5 at night.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  Italian: Intermediate
  Russian: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  I have a moderate understanding of Italian which I am learning right now, my Spanish is pretty fluent but I would still like to brush up on it. My Russian is pretty bad and I need to improve it.. I can help with English/Spanish and some Italian..
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  Accommodation

  The house has 3 floors. So I can offer private accommodation if you want your own space, the second floor has 3 rooms, the downstairs has 2 bedrooms and the last floor has a small room that can be converted into a bedroom but due to the current cold weather it's not recommended. I also have a hammock on the terrace.
  The house is always stocked full of food, there is a lot of pasta and canned goods, also the fridge always has something, I can buy and prepare all food or volunteers can tell me what they want me to buy..

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  What else ...

  I have a car you can use, an electric motorbike for local transport and also a e-bike which I usually take to the mountains, if you like nature, food, and Italian culture you can enjoy exploring other villages nearby, visiting Menfi and the beach, many places are accessible in a very short time, Palermo is a 1 hour drive away, Sciacca is 20 minutes away.

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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

  I don't have fixed internet, but I can provide a SIM card with unlimited data with 5G, which can be used as a hotspot, which is what I have been doing with zero issues, sometime if we have thunderstorms we do get blackouts but it hasn't happened for a little while..

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  Space for parking camper vans

  There is parking outside and I can offer electricity and water from the house, but I can't say it would be very comfortable, it would be better to stay in the house and park outside, but my village is a very safe village so nothing will be stolen.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  I can accept trained pets with no issues, our neighbors do have dogs, and the village sometimes has stray dogs and cats which can be a little bit aggressive to other dogs.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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