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85 %
Last replied
13 Nov 2024
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Description
We love it here, in South East Bulgaria and you'll love it too! We are Donna and Jean-Paul, JP for short! We love it here because we have peace! We are originally from the UK, however we relocated to southeast Bulgaria in 2020 to start a new life!
We live in a small village only 40km from the borders with Türkiye and Greece - so very well connected! We have a traditional house with about a hectare of land. We have 2 rescued dogs who are amazing, and we also look after a barnful of local cats! Speaking of barns - we have several and are planning to make effective use of these in the future.
The climate here is amazing – encompassing stunning winters and glorious summers. We are at the top of our village, so when we leave the house, we can start walking uphill and keep going forever! The landscape is endless and stunning, and we often see birds of prey and even wild horses!
We also love entertaining, cooking, music, reading and loads more. We love people and enjoy spending time with friends and strangers alike!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Interests
Sailing / Boating
Architecture
Events & social
Self development
Technology
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Movies & TV
Charity work
Culture
Blogging
Photography
Music
Writing
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Books
Art & design
Animals
Mountain
Yoga / Wellness
Outdoor activities
Nature
Hiking
Cycling
Dancing
Fitness
Camping
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Before we left the UK, we had many years’ experience of hosting foreign students from places such as Germany, Poland, Czechia, Brazil, Thailand to name a few. We are qualified TEFL teachers too, so communication in English as a second language is no problem for us, it’s what we do...well!!
Though born in London, our heritage is mixed with a smorgasbord of Irish, Scots and French/Polish. We lived in London until our early to mid-30s – great for music, culture and generally it met all our cultural needs. It became too expensive, and we decided we wanted to have a bit more personal space, so we moved to East Sussex and lived in Hastings for several years. Our professional backgrounds are housing, social care and community development, and we have also had street food and event businesses. JP is also a therapist and coach (mindfulness, mental fitness, nutrition, and more!). The move here was great for us as we integrated well into town, rather than city life – music scene down that way is great too! Whatever your politics, Brexit and personal issues made us rethink our future and we wanted an adventure – Bulgaria is a great central location to the Balkans, East meets West and a place that took us out of our comfort zones – we love a challenge. What we love about this place is that its post-communist and while in the EU it is still sometime away from joining the Euro; yet, as a country, it’s growing. The population isn’t huge, 7m although many Bulgarians who left for the bright lights and GBP are fast returning and we’re seeing an increase in tourism, not just Sunny Beach or Bankso but to more rural and ancient destinations – there is so much to do here. Bulgaria is steeped in ancient history, from the ancient Thracian civilisation to the Ottoman Empire as well as allegiance with USSR post World War II. Now a member of the EU the country is improving, albeit in little steps and it’s evident in what we see around us every day. One minute we’re standing in an ancient Thracian tomb, the next we’re queuing up in a post-industrial municipal office or we’re in a modern shopping mall. The alphabet is Cyrillic, and the language is tough to learn, but we’re getting the hang of it – malko po malko (little by little).
We have many interests and passions which we’d love to share with you!
Help
We have a number of projects we’re keen to get going with! Any help you give is for our personal needs, not for any current or future business objectives.
We have a couple of barn roofs that need repair. Nothing major, tiles need replacing and a bit of structural tasks. Bulgarian roofs are constructed using wooden beams (not like the UK) these are sturdy wooden timbers, in their natural state – photos to follow. The roofs aren’t high but are sloping and sit on buildings made from red and mud bricks. We don’t expect anyone to work at height however – the work can be done from inside the barns! We have plenty of ladders and tools and need help getting the tiles off, the beams fixing and then put tiles back up again! All our projects will include us - we don't expect anyone to do the work for us, but with us. We learn new skills along the way, enjoy team work and generally have fun along the way. We have some bigger barns, with pretty decent roofs – these don’t need repair, but we’d love to point the walls, level the barn floors using mud and move towards using these barns for guests in the future. One of the barns is currently our “games” room – a full sized table tennis table as well a dartboard, punch bag – oh yeah we have a gym suit in another barn – nothing flash, but we have the gear – so if you like a work out, HIIT or any other fitness we’re with you!!
We want to build an Earth Fire (cob) Oven as well – food is our thing, help us construct it and we’ll cook up feasts for you!
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Bulgarian: Beginner
German: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We are happy to share our English language skills, particularly as we are both English teachers! If you speak another language, we always want to pick some up (particularly Bulgarian, Turkish, or Greek but it isn't vital!).
Accommodation
Our house isn’t big but is well equipped! Depending on your style of adventure we can accommodate you in a basic barn or tent. We can provide tents, mats, sleeping bags, and other bedding. We also have a couple of bivvy bags if you fancy a night under the stars! Or, if you have your own means of SUV, Camper, or Caravan, we can hook you up to the main electricity we’re humble but accommodating and we have plenty of space outside for parking. Our house has a great wet room and a fully functional well-run kitchen. We have a washing machine and are great cooks! We will provide 3 meals a day for full time Workawayers. If you are vegetarian this is great! We can provide vegan food but prefer to offer vegetarian. We may be able to accommodate special dietary needs - please ask! You are welcome to eat with us, watch TV/Netflix. There are times when the village water may be turned off, but this is increasingly rare and seldom goes off for more than 24 hours – but we have a well and in the summer and warmer months this ice-cold refreshment is very welcome, mains water on or not! As the summer and autumn months are hot, we do NOT permit outside fires, we have plenty of BBQs and hopefully a wood oven before too long, but forest fires have been known so the municipality clamps down on fires outside for the reason of preserving life, to man and beast alike.
What else ...
While our village is quiet, there are plenty of things to do locally as there is a great deal of history and culture in the region. The ancient city of Plovdiv is only an hour and a half away by train, and there is a great mix of the ancient and contemporary. Plovdiv was European City of Culture in 2019.
We’re only 5k from the nearest town. There are many bars, restaurants, supermarkets, and retail. There’s an excellent train service to Sofia, Plovdiv and Istanbul and it’s easy to access other mainline stations to get to other places in Bulgaria. This region is renowned for touring cyclists and motorbikes – the scenery is breath taking, and the wine region is good too!
We have a car, bikes, and an early morning bus shuttle into town as well as it being a nice walk on a cool morning!
We enjoy good food, and good wine (and zero alcohol too!) – we’re easy going. We’re not luxurious by any means! We try to do out bit for the environment and recycle as much as we can. And are open to shared ideas of sustainability.
We do respect privacy – having shared houses with others in the past we understand the need for personal space, both yours and ours but at the same time we enjoy the company of others. Our home is our sanctuary, so if you’re looking for a workaway from the humdrum of busy life – once you’re inside the gate you have privacy - that’s why we came – we escaped traffic, commuting and the competition of life.
We want to share what we have with you and ask that in return you share your skills, time, and ideas with us.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Good internet access and space available to work in the evenings and weekends and if jobs don't need doing!
Space for parking camper vans
Shared kitchen and wet room as well as use of washing machine. Hook up available and off road, private and secluded camping area.
Can possibly accept pets
Friendly, sociable and well behaved dogs.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
