Join our multicultural family in Arequipa, Peru

Details

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  Description

  We are an international, open-minded family who loves meeting people, exchanging ideas and sharing experiences. We’ve lived in eight different countries across several continents before eventually choosing Arequipa, Peru, as the place to settle down and raise our daughter.
  
  I’m a former automotive engineer who changed paths to pursue photography, filmmaking and the arts. Today we run a creative audiovisual company, and our family is also involved in a small primary school for children from low-income families. During the summer, we spend time at our family villa by the Pacific Ocean, so depending on when you visit, the experience can be quite different.
  
  We are a vegan family, and this is simply a natural part of our everyday life. We enjoy cooking and discovering new food, and we’re always happy to exchange recipes and introduce people to some of the amazing plant-based ingredients and dishes you can find in Peru. You don’t necessarily have to be vegan yourself, but we appreciate people who are open-minded and respectful of the way we live.
  
  There isn’t one specific “job” we expect from a Workawayer. We prefer to get to know you, understand what you enjoy doing and what you’re good at, and find a way in which we can genuinely help each other. Depending on the person and the moment, that could mean practicing English with children, helping around the house or with cooking, sharing a skill, helping with photography, filmmaking, social media or one of our creative projects, getting involved with the school, or simply helping us with everyday family life.
  
  In exchange, we can provide accommodation and, depending on the arrangement, meals as well. For us, however, Workaway is much more about cultural exchange than simply exchanging hours of work for a place to sleep.
  
  Meeting people from around the world has been part of our lives for many years. We have extensive experience , and I’m currently an ambassador in Couchsurfing. We’ve hosted people, travelled extensively and built friendships with people from very different cultures and backgrounds. Having someone from another part of the world sharing our home and daily life feels quite natural to us.
  
  We speak several languages and are genuinely curious about other cultures. We enjoy good conversations, food, art, photography, cinema, music and discovering different ways of seeing the world. We can also introduce you to a side of Peru that can be difficult to experience as a regular tourist: everyday family life, local places, our friends and projects, and, when possible, life by the Pacific Ocean.
  
  I also have around 15 years of personal experience exploring Peruvian traditional and ancestral medicine. I’m not a healer or practitioner myself, and I don’t serve or administer any medicine. However, it is a world I know quite well through my own experiences. If this is something you are genuinely interested in, I can share what I have learned, explain some of the traditions and cultural context, and help point you toward experienced and trustworthy practitioners.
  
  We’re especially interested in people who are independent, curious and open-minded. You don’t need to fit a particular professional profile or arrive with a specific skill. Bring something of yourself — a language, a skill, an idea, a recipe, your culture, your creativity, your stories or simply your perspective.
  
  If you stay with us, we don’t want you to feel like someone who simply came to work for us. We’d rather share a little part of our lives with you, learn something from each other, show you our corner of Peru and, hopefully, by the time you leave, feel that we genuinely got to know each other.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Elderly Companionship

  Teaching

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Hospitality/Tourism

  Light maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House & pet sitting
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  Interests

  

  Music

  

  Gardening

  

  Languages

  

  Photography

  

  Plant care

  

  Carpentry

  

  Art & design

  

  Performing arts

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Hiking

  

  Beach

  

  Fitness

  

  Team sports

  

  Camping
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Cultural exchange is probably the most important part of hosting for us. Having lived in eight countries across several continents, our family has been shaped by different cultures, languages and ways of seeing the world. I’m also a current ambassador, so hosting travellers and sharing our lives with people from different backgrounds has been part of our lifestyle for many years.
  
  Staying with us means experiencing everyday life in Peru from the inside rather than only as a tourist. We can introduce you to our friends and local community, Peruvian culture and food, interesting places around Arequipa, and, depending on the season, life at our family villa by the Pacific Ocean.
  
  We’re a vegan family and enjoy cooking and exchanging recipes, especially discovering dishes and ingredients from other cultures.
  
  We also have plenty of knowledge and interests to share. I work professionally in photography and filmmaking and previously worked as an automotive engineer, while our family life is closely connected to arts, music and education. If you’re interested, there are many opportunities to exchange skills around photography, filmmaking, creativity, languages and entrepreneurship.
  
  I also have around 15 years of personal experience exploring Peruvian traditional and ancestral medicine. I’m not a practitioner and don’t administer medicine, but I can share my personal experiences, explain some of its cultural context and, for those genuinely interested, help connect them with experienced practitioners.
  
  At the same time, we want to learn from you too. Teach us something from your country, cook with us, share your language, music, ideas, profession, stories or simply a different perspective on life. For us, the best cultural exchange happens naturally — through conversations, meals, projects, trips and everyday moments together.
  
  We hope you arrive as a traveller, but leave as someone we genuinely got to know.

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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

  We don’t have one fixed role for our Workawayers. We prefer to get to know each person, their skills and interests, and find something useful and enjoyable for both sides.
  
  Depending on the time of year and your experience, you might help with English or creative activities at our family’s primary school, spend some time helping with our daughter and family life, help with cooking or everyday household tasks, or contribute to our photography and filmmaking company. If you have skills in photography, video, editing, design, social media, marketing, websites or other creative areas, we’d be very happy to exchange knowledge and work on something together.
  
  We also really appreciate people who bring their own skills and ideas. Maybe you can cook something from your country, teach us or the children something, make or repair things, share a language, create something, or introduce us to something we’ve never tried before.
  
  During the summer, when we spend time at our villa by the Pacific Ocean, the help is more related to everyday life there — cooking, keeping the house organized and sharing responsibilities.
  
  The idea is not to have someone doing the same task every day. We’d like it to be flexible and based on what is happening at the time, what you enjoy doing and what you can bring to the exchange.
  
  Some things we’ll do together, while others you can do independently. We value initiative and people who can see where they can be useful without needing a detailed schedule for every task.
  
  Most importantly, we want this to feel like living and sharing with us rather than simply coming to do a job. We hope you’ll become part of our everyday life for a while, while still having your own time and independence to explore Arequipa and Peru.

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  Languages

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

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  Shared room if there is 2 workawayers or private
  
  Food will be provided, or at least the ingredients
  
  The house in the pacific ocean is in Camana, Cerrillos

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  What else ...

  We live in Arequipa, a beautiful city surrounded by volcanoes and a great base for exploring southern Peru. In your free time, you can discover the historic centre, local markets, countryside and nearby mountains, or travel to places such as the Colca Canyon and other parts of the region.
  
  We want you to have enough independence and free time to explore, meet people and have your own experience in Peru. We’re happy to help with local recommendations, transportation and places that are less obvious to tourists.
  
  Our home is international, informal and family-oriented. We have a young daughter, so you should be comfortable sharing a home with a child and with the normal rhythm of family life.
  
  We are vegan and our home food is plant-based. You don’t need to be vegan, but we expect this lifestyle to be respected at home. If meals are included in our arrangement, they will normally be vegan.
  
  We appreciate people who are independent, responsible and tidy, but we’re not interested in creating a long list of house rules. Communication and mutual respect are much more important to us.
  
  If that sounds like you, we’ll probably get along very well.

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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

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

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