Turkey
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*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️FLUENT or NEARLY FLUENT LEVEL OF ENGLISH REQUIRED
ANYONE EXPERIENCED IN DIY PROJECTS FOR PAINTING WALLS, FURNITURE, AND OTHER CREATIVE, SIMPLE, DIY PROJECTS FOR HOMES AND WHO CAN SHOW PROOF OF THEIR WORK, WILL ONLY HAVE DIY WORK , so you won't have to split your days with diy projects and house and pet caretaking, it will be one or the other.
UPDATE 09 JULY 2019 ---
HEY!!! This we are looking for a COUPLE only right now who will be available before 25 JULY for 2 weeks to watch over the home, two dogs and 2 cats while we are away.
The home will be stocked with food and we will give 500TL for you to go out and enjoy touring the city on us while we are away.
In return you will be cleaning the home, not deep cleaning, daily chores,feeding and loving the cats, and feeding, loving, and walking each of the dogs individually.
There is an extremely disappointing selection of persons coming into Istanbul from workaway, all with intentions that don't involve actually appreciating or caring about seeing the city here, no plans, etc. We are over that, sick and tired of it.
ONLY respond if you meet the values that we have defined below and have references with workaway and any other work exchange type of accounts.
All we will need is a copy of your passport and the references for verification. We will be here to greet you when you get here and prepare you for what you will need to know while you are here to stay. In addition, if you choose to, we will graciously open our home to you for rest and relaxation for up to 10 days after we return, food included, without any expectation of you to do any work inside the home or with the pets- you will be our guest.
If you want to come before that, you will be working as indicated below. 4 and 4.5 days a week, beginning with deep cleaning and light pet care, moving into daily chores and more pet care. Your days will not exceed 4hours each and we will try and incorporate your hours together as often as possible. Your days off will be all in a row and together 3, 3.5 and 2.5days off on rotation depending on how long you are here.
UPDATE ------ UPDATE-------- UPDATE
JOIE MARIE is WRITING:
Over the next few months I will be mostly alone in the home with the pets. We now have the Marmaray that has officialy been opened, and we are just steps away from the pass to it. The Marmaray will connect you to Istanbul Old City, at Sirkeci in about 15minutes! Its runs every 8-15 minutes at the moment.
Unless you are staying directly in old city, there is nowhere in Istanbul where you can stay and arrive more quickly to Old City. Here you have the comfort and fast pace of the Marmaray, all the while waking up and coming home to the BEAUTIFUL and quaint suburban unincorporated area of ALTINTEPE Mahallesi SAHIL, or the seaside neighborhood of Altintepe.
BEYOND Old City, you can reach ANYWHERE in Istanbul in 10-60 minutes. Basically, via the Marmaray.
If u want to change your pace and scenery, we still have the direct ferry boats that can be found at the Iskele or port which is 5 minutes walking distance from our home. Its takes 45minutes ish to reach Karakoy, a part of the old city tour. If If you will come as a language student, part time student, or such, you can reach all main merkezi's (or city centers of popular neighborhoods), by connecting via Marmaray.
Beyond this, we are a 20 minute walk to the fast Metro , underground, so all the areas on the highway side of the cities.
Our mahalle is beautiful and our merkezi shares the best of both worlds, the old culture, and modern culture, and trendy contemporary is popping up bit by bit as well, in art, coffee shops, and endless eateries.
YOUR TASKS WILL
Include:
4.5 days of work. Giving you 3.5 days off in a row , on rotation.
Currently we have Melegim, Tarcin, Elma, and Elfie, one dog and 3 cats.
and my baby girl, the black dog named Raso... said RaSHo.
If Cumhur is in his studio, he will have Melegim with him. it's nearby, when his schedule needs, you will be scheduled to walk Melegim.
Otherwise they stay over with us.
You will be on a strict schedule of early morning dog walking, which will start at 615am in summer months, late May thru September and you will be tasked for caring specifically for Melegim, and you will not have to walk Raso but here and there, as something extra for her incase I am having a long day or if we agree to it so that i can make an appointment or if I have an opportunity to change my work schedule in order to take on more work. Esp as Cumhur will often not be available over the next few months.
DEEP cleaning.
Daily chores.
MEALS will be provided as described below.
I have a few city tours scheduled, they are for free, but theres some tip asked if available. And u will be more than welcome to come to these, we will organize ur schedule around it.
Sailing, getaways, boating, rafting, hiking, swimming... all within reach at non tourist prices ... art classes, music lessons.
Guitar lessons. Dance lessons. etc
SO MAKE SURE YOU ARE COMING TO ISTANBUL WITH A PLAN, I want someone or a couple who is coming with a plan defined, something they have organized to do during their stay and for while we will schedule around.
NON Negotiable are morning routines, which will get you out of bed 4 and 4.5 days a week as its on rotation.
I prefer Slovakians, Russians, and alike as I am always blown away in all the areas I work in, by the generous help, love, and detail that these cultures put into everything they do. Hard work and dedication is VERY IMPORTANT TO ME in this job.
YOU will have a single bed, in a small bedroom, an empty dresser with 4 shelves, and a open wardrobe with one rod.
You will only have to share this room with Tarcin the cat, she has a throne in there, so you MUST love cats.
All the other cats will be my responsibility aside from morning routines you have that require some cleaning up after them.
PLEASE READ and RE-READ my profile as much as you need so that you CLEARLY UNDERSTAND my needs. If you think you will be a good fit, please message me.
WHY WE ARE USING WORKAWAY__________
With recent changes to both of our work schedules, we have slowly become disorganized and behind on house projects, as well as had to sacrifice our dogs time outdoors, because we need to be out of the home.
We are looking for help in specific areas of our home and with our pets, which you will be made aware of after your first few days of arriving. If you are here, we rely on your cooperation, and without it we cannot get done what needs to be done in our home or with our pets. This defeats the purpose of having a workawayer, You are not offering us free help. Where we live water, heating, gas for cooking, and food has inflated 40-200% for the cost of having 2 persons in our household extra each month, we can hire local help. That is not why we are using this platform.
We want to share in your culture, and while we dont have a lot of time, we do this by hosting guests, and the simplest, but most way we often do this, is sharing meals and good conversation , and we use intention to make sure the time for this is available.
INTRODUCTION TO WHO WE ARE_____
I, Joie Marie, 34 years old, American, and living in Turkey for 7 years. Normally my partner, Cumhur, is living with me when his work and training schedule allow for it.
Cumhur-39 years old, I will be working often, sometimes during the day and into the late evenings, and we will only see eachother in passing. Please be kind to the rules we made for the house, because its important that they be followed.
PLEASE READ THIS PROFILE. The details are relevant. We have had the perfect guests, the greatest guests, and very good guests through other work exchange program, but since joining this platform, we have had a few guests show up who assured us that they fit the qualities we need from our guests, but who demonstrated exactly the opposite once they settled into our home.
Kucuk Melegim has actually been with us for 1.5 years now and I (Cumhur) took her in, and Elma has been with us for 1yr. Melegim is a dudley lab and has a charachter polar opposite to Raso, a Belgian something-or-another who is Joie Maries first baby from when she was rescued 6 years ago, and Elma is one of those cats that think theyre a dog, and for Elmas case, this seems due to the fact that he was raised by Raso and Melegim, as Tarcin, the fluffy orange cat, is an alpha and refused to be bothered :D
Elfie was taken after being grabbed and dropped by a dog. He recovered on his own only after 5 months and has now joined us as part of the family. He is so much fun to have around. His temperament in gentle and so loving.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR IN A WORKAWYER and WHAT WE CAN OFFER________
NO SMOKERS ALLOWED ... NO İNDOOR SMOKİNG OR BALCONY SMOKİNG ALLOWED. WE have a quiet friendly home that we treat as an open space so we all fit more comfortably. We share space, keep things very clean and up off from the floor (except for laundry days :O), find a space for everything. We have a hidden treasure as a flat considering whats available in Istanbul. We are surrounded by green and we will be happy to welcome someone who needs some time to collect and organize themselves. Not looking for freeloaders. NOT looking for persons to come and set up a home office while they are here. It is STRESSED that you MUST BE COMING TO ISTANBUL with a plan. I want someone who is here to be in this country and enjoy the city, at the least and has the plan and financial secutity to do it. We have mostly been used ONLY as a stopover, to persons who are here just waiting wanting to save money and live for free until they move on to somewhere better. We won't tolerate someone coming into this home who lays around all day, sets up a home office here, or/and doesn't make a regular effort to go out on their time off and EXPLORE, or enjoy a language course or a traditional, cultural course, or participate in local activities.
We do not turn the heat on unless it reaches below 10c inside the home. or 50F, which without any wind is pretty warm. But if you are one of those people always cold, this positions is not for you. When the heat is turned on, its turned on for a few hours at night. The heating system here is hot water, working with natural gas, and takes a long time to heat up. Once the house is warm and we tuck in, it goes off. This is ordinary in many homes in many countries, but if you arent use to it, this position will not be suitable for you.
Not looking for someone without experience. We do check references... by the way, we will ask for references. :D
I dont just mean experience with pets, I mean life experience.
We need someone ASSERTIVE, has attention to detail, experience in cleaning a home and values doing it, can take instructions well and carry out tasks without direct supervision.
ASSERTIVE: we have 2 cats, 2 dogs, and an occasional rescue (currently we have a disabled kitten), we have a rule that no pets are allowed in the kitchen, today Deniz almost was eaten by Tarcin because our workawayer allowed Tarcin inside and she exited to the balcony. This workawayer consistantly was found petting the cat on his lap in the kitchen, sitting beside the cat in the kitchen, or with the dog at his feet in the kitchen, as well as opening the kitchen door without taking any precaution and not noticing when the cats or dogs are sneaking in. No bad intentions or ignorance to the rules, they just simply are not assertive, and If you are not assertive many small problems will turn into one big one in this role as a workawayer here, so if you need some time to grow and gain experience, please understand that this is not the place. This is the place to use your experience and strengthen it.
HAS ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Even when our home is a mess, its an organized mess. We take charge of our own home and are able to discern different situations that a Workawayer or other guest isnt. Therefore, we set simple rules and procedures for tasks, such as cleaning the kitchen. For example: when asked to clean the cupboard or fridgerator we ask that everything gets taken out and put back where its found. One guest in a different work program took notes, one workawayer took photos, and one couple we had as work exchange guests simply laid out the belongings of each shelf on top of the table, in order, and replaced it back once the cleaning was done.
We ask that your personal belongings are not left inside the kitchen, the toilet seat is put down after each use (this is for the safety of Elma who loves to get himself stuck in there, and because we think its super disrespectful to leave a toilet seat up in someone elses home)- if you feel we are expecting too much from you because of these things, then this work program is not for you.
If general if something like this value is not something that you have had experience with, then we are not the right work program for you.
EXPERIENCE IN CLEANING A HOME AND VALUES DOING IT: we are looking for someone who has come from their own home or a shared living situation where taking care of the home was valued and the order of the home is understood. For example, understanding that sweeping and mopping is a daily chore and being proactive in doing so, making your bed before the afternoon, knowing to dump mop water into the toilet and not the shower, and to clean out the dirt and food peices left in the shower if, by chance, you do pour the mop water into the shower, and furthermore to clean up your own messes in a timely manner after they are made.
If this is not something you have experience with and taking care of a house and making it a home through daily cartaking of chores is not something you have ever taken pride in, then this is not the right program for you.
CAN TAKE INSTRUCTIONS WELL AND CARRY OUT TASKS WITHOUT DIRECT SUPERVISION: If you meet the above qualifications, then you surely will match this one. We are humbled for the guests who come into our home and help us do work that otherwise cannot get done as well without it. It is of no benefit to ourselves or the workawayers if someone unqualified comes and therefore takes 2 hours to do a task that should take one, or finishes a task incompletely or incorrectly and one of us has to return do it ourselves.
When it comes to taking the dogs outside, each of our dogs has special needs associated with their different behavioral charachter, and not following instructions can have very negative results.
We will instruct each workawayer on specific tasks in the home and with the pets, as simple as they may seem to you as a workawayer, you may not change the details of the instructions you are given.
We need to trust the workawayer has integrity and will take care of the home and the pets as instructed because the workawayer will often be doing their tasks independently.
On the other hand, we expect you to be mature adults who can freely share their ideas or concerns with us while we can deal with issues lightheartedly. I am aware of many things you may see strange or not understand why its being done as it is, and I understand that can cause some frustration, but give us a chance to explain the importance of what needs to get done, or how something needs to get done, as well as be able to change something if your suggestion accomodates a change.
PREPARED TO WORK AS DESCRIBED- this means that you will be coming prepared for the outdoor weather you will experience, as mentioned in this profile, unless there is flooding, hail, or wind that is strong enough that the weather department issues an advisory, or the temperatures reach below 5c, the dogs go outside to play. There are not much times where we need to make an exception. Therefore, understanding the weather in Istanbul is important, during the winter it can be 15c one day, and 10c the next day, or 5c at night outdoors. There is a lot of wind, sunshine, lots of rain, snow, ice sometimes can form on the ground, and that creates different terrain and conditions outdoors when you need to walk the dogs, which includes muddy and lots of hidden ankle-deep puddles :) , as well, the wind creates air temperature that feels much colder than it really is. From November- March the weather is really unpredictable and will change drastically from one day to the next and one week to the next.
All of your outdoor clothing should be all-weather, weather proof, or water proof, and WARM. You need to move with the dogs, play with them, and about 2-4kms during a 2.5 hr period. You need to make sure you have proper footwear to walk comfortably and safely in the wet weather, especially, as we get much more rain and wind than we do snow.
LAUNDRY- we live in Turkey, where most homes do not have an electrical clothes dryer. Even in the winter we put our clothes outside, and during the evening, on the really cold days, we bring in the clothing rack, and dry clothes overnight.
We always advise our guests to NOT wait until they have a large pile of clothes to be washed because we share such a limited area for drying clothes, and clothes can take so long to dry.
We use the Quick wash setting, which is 15minutes long, start to finish, and washes in 30c. Unless clothes are heavily soiled, then they will go in at 40c max on the cotton mixed clothing setting, and this can take about 2 hours to wash.
Small loads will allow you to spread your clothes out on the dry rack and ensure they are dried timely.
ABOUT THE KITCHEN AND FOOD PROVIDED______
Breakfast and one homemade meal is provided daily, as well as unlimited tea and coffee is provided during the day. All meals will be well balanced. For health and moral reasons, all of our meals are meat free and follow very closely to a vegan and whole food diet.
With that said, we are unable to cater to specific diets and our guests should be able to enjoy vegan and vegetarian dishes.
Because of the limited space and our use of whole foods and fresh fruits and veggies, as well as the storage of homemade foods throughout the week, we are unable to offer our guests space inside of the fridge. You will be provided with cupboard space, however.
Breakfast will be one or more of the following: oatmeal, amarthy porridge, cereal,; breakfast sauce, jelly, tahini, molasses, hummus; bread or rolls; and Turkish olives, seasonal fruits and veggies- normally cucumber, tomato, green pepper, orange or grapefruit,
Additionally:
breakfast potatos ,Turkish potato salad, bulgar salad, taboule salad, chickpea salad, Mercemik soup which is a popular soup to be eaten at breakfast time in Turkey will be selectively offered on a daily basis.
YOGURT will be always available
DINNER for the guests is provided mid day, around 4pm, and its usually prepared by me , Joie Marie, and left out on the stove so when guests are hungry or after they come home, they can help themselves and enjoy their meal.
I, joie Marie, promise that my food never disappoints, but picky eaters are not a good match for our household.
MORE ABOUT US______
We are Joie Marie and Cumhur, living in gorgeous Istanbul, Turkey with our fur babies.
I, Joie Marie, am working in linguistics, literacy, language arts, and other research activities involving reading, writing, and re-writing, and Cumhur is here working through an intensive ESL course, and works a part time job as a delivery driver at night, and paving his way to follow his dreams and go back the University to study Clinical Psychology. He does not always stay at the home, depending on his work schedule, but his fur babies do
:)
I have many projects that require time away from home.
As well, Istanbul is a city with many interesting places scattered around it that takes some time to commute to and from, and sometimes I spend 5 hours daily in my commute alone to and from project sites.
We are offering a room and board, preferably to a well structured couple. Preferably long term. Min.1 month- 6months.
And in exchange you will be caring for our fur babies.
5 hours a day of tasks I'd say, and which can often be done at your leisure,
I specifically say "care" for my dogs, because they need it. IT IS NOT DOG WALKING. You will learn their specific nature and needs for being fed, resting in the house, and playtime. Morning, afternoon, and night.
You can be flexible and schedule many days of sight seeing. As the girls can be left for several hours alone as long as they are taken care of properly before you leave.
This job is not for anyone who have problems with being assertive or outspoken, nor anyone who hasn't the confidence to take care of the special needs of each of our dogs.
We are not able to risk the safety of our dogs or the safety of the public. Therefore, if you show up and it's apparent you are, infact, NOT experienced, and if you continually show apprehension in what you are doing or redundant confusion about how to do the tasks that will be required in the daily care of the dogs, we will give you one week to leave. No hard feelings, but this is a huge resposibility.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU COME AND YOU ARE NOT A GOOD FIT______????
Again , this isn't dog walking. It is caretaking, and our fur babies are no less or different than humans for us. This determination will be made within a few days of your arrival. However, if for some reason you become not suitable, you will be given up to a week to leave our home under good terms.
The same that is written for our pets, goes for our home. If you show lack of common sense, proactivness, or ability to discern how to do the house chores as will be indicated to you, you will be asked to leave.
If you are asked to leave, the decision isn't reversible. Time is valuable and we plan significant time in our lives to accommodate personal schedules that Workawayers allow us to have, to include time away from home. We screen everyone properly before they arrive, this is not work that you can get by doing solely off of passion, you MUST have experience and qualities necessary for this exchange to be effective.
Its my belief that if you truly read this profile and are excited and confident from your past experiences , that you can and will be able to work in the specific capacities we are clearly asking for , and there won't be a problem.
We do not ask you to do something that we ourselves would not do, but farily, we do take some much needed respite when a guest from workaway or other programs have come to stay with us. In order to prove this, we have made our guests a schedule prepared 2 tweeks at a time that lists the morning, afternoon, and evening duties, and we are all a part of the schedule evenly, with our priority being to assure that the guests all have ample time OFF to rest, explore, tour, and travel within Turkey to some of the great destinations we have in this amazing country.
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Help in the house
Animal care
Help with Computers / internet
You will easily adapt to culture here without having to leave your comfort zone, living in a modern part of an very diverse and historical city.
Caring for my 2 well behaved, special needs dogs, small help with Elma and Elfie and any rescue or pet guest we may have at the time.
DEEP CLEANING
English
Small private room with a single bed or daybed in the living room, in a cute flat, in a great area. 5 minute walk to seaside.
no more than 15 minutes to all transportation to every part of the city, direct city line bus to airport, all shops and markets and everything you need can be reached by foot, as we live a short walk away from the center of our area.
ACCOMODATION AND WHAT OUR PART OF THE CITY HAS TO OFFER YOU_______!
You will have plenty allowance for privacy.
All access to every part of the city is nearby, all the while you enjoy the luxuries of the suburb - trees, green parks, miles of green grass lined seas and parks.
Some wonderful places for day trips:
Sultanahmet
ViaPort (shopping)
Ozmangazi Park, Maltepe
Bostanci Sahil
Karakoy via fast ferry, linking you to famous Galata, Taksim, Cukurcuma, Eminonu neighborhoods and more
Bursa
Eskisehir via fast train
Sahbia Gokcen airport is our closest airport. During these months you can find your way to famous seaside places like Bodrum for less than 10euro each way.
Perfect for a 3 day getaway.
YOU HAVE LOTS OF FREEDOM AND CHOİCES.
We believe in WORKİNG HARD and then PLAYİNG HARD.
We have a bicycle path at seaside to bring you from one side of the Asian coastal way of İstanbul to the Other (Pendik to Kadikoy). The city provides bicycles for rent, about 3euro for a day, monthly fees are cheaper, and many people utilize this as a reasonable means of transport.
You will find the direct bus to Kadikoy just 100m from our door step in either direction.
Our home is center from the Minibus street and sahil, running parallel to all major parts of Istanbul
We are also near the Metro which runs in the same direction, faster.
We consider walking distance 1 hour or less, and we are 20minutes or less to everything you need.
All the brand markets are along Bagdat Cadessi, the street we live directly off of, or the minibus street (also Bagdat Cd where it continues).
and you can walk into a busy village-like market center , Kucukyali, to enjoy all the eateries, coffee spots, and to pick up everything you can need for home or leisure.
You will have the best of both worlds living here! City and tourist life, and residential family life.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Two
4.5 days of work. Giving you 3.5 days off in a row , on rotation. Opportunity for daily pay when neither of us will be home, and the workawayers agree.
