Help a family with daily life and explore beauty of Catania, Italy

Details

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  Description

  **AT THE MOMENT I AM SEARCHING A WORKAWAYER STARTING BY BEGINNIG-MID OF MAY 2024**
  
  Dear Workawayer we live in Catania (Sicily - Italy); my family is composed of my two children Francesca (16 yo) and Alessandro (15 yo), and me (Valeria 53 yo). I teach at the University of Catania in the master degree of Pharmacy and my children attend schoool. Moreover, we have a lovely old german shepherd and 2 cats.
  We live in a beautiful and comfortable mansion on one single level with a large garden around and a swimming pool. The conformation of the land is typical of the Etna's area. The endemic vegetation, the Mediterranean scrub and fruit trees find space among the centuries-old lava stones. The villa is very close to the city center (15 min walking and 10 min by bus) and located in a residential area of the upper area of Catania. The bus stop is very close to the house, 50 mt.
  
  The focus of the volunteering is sharing different cultures and having help around the mansion. The type of help is mainly focused on garden/simming pool maintenance and help around the house with cleaning mansion. In addition, upon request by the workawayer, we can mutually agree on DYI and building projects. The garden is huge and there is always something to do! I would say that our family is very easy going. We love the outdoors, going to the seaside, traveling, playing with children, and staying with friends. I have plenty of experience with workawayers and with au-pairs since we had more than 30 in the past 15 years. All of us speak fluently English and I speak also Spanish.
  The city of Catania is directly on the sea. The weather is generally very warm and lovely and it is possible to go to the seaside. In Catania, by night during the whole week there are some nice pub with live music and many college students coming from Sicily and many Erasmus students coming from foreign country. It is possible to attend class of Italian language and improve/learn this beautiful language. In addition, the city is near Etna volcano (the biggest active one in Europe), Taromina, Siracusa and Piazza Armerina, all of them beautiful place for one day trip.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  The travellers can benefit from the cultural excanghe by being soaked in a true Sicilian family. They can learn Sicilian cooking, culture and, why not, some italian.

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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

  The property as you can easily from pictures is very big and comfortable.
  It is appreciated previous experience with in helping around the house with regular cleanings and gardening tools such as lawn mower, blower, etc.
  
  Your help is requested for a maximum of 4-5 hours per day on a 5 days basis in the following activities (mostly depending on the season):
  Help around the house daily with general cleaning such as do the dishwashers and the washing machine, iron the loundry, vaccum and mop the floor, etc.
  Maintenance and cleaning of the swimming pool and the surrounding terrace: daily (only during the summer)
  Feeding pets: daily
  Take out the garbage: daily
  Remove the fallen leaves: daily (mostrly during the summer)
  Manually remove unwanted weeds in the garden: twice a week
  Watering some parts of the garden 3 times per week (mostly during the summer)
  Keep your own bedroom and bathroom cleaned: daily
  Cooking meals: couple of times per week (not mandatory)

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate

  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

  PRIVATE BEDROOM WITH A SMALL OFFICE ON THE MEZZANINE FLOOR, AND A PRIVATE BATHROOM. No air conditioning in the bedroom. STRONG INTERNET CONNECTION

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  What else ...

  Catania - sandwiched between the Ionian Sea and a volcano, is a city shaped by lava Catania. After dark, it really came alive. Bars open up and spill out onto the sidestreets left vacant in the daylight. Streets fill out with young people and students and bands play their live music. There are plenty of unforgettable experiences to live in Catania and in Sicily. Below some of them:
  Appreciate Sicilian Baroque
  Spend a Morning at the Fishmarket
  Visit the Ampitheatre of Catania
  The Monastery of Benedettini and the Church of San Nicolò l'Arena
  Visit Bellini Theater and Piazza Duomo
  The Flea Market at Piazza Carlo Alberto di Savoia
  Taste Etna Wine
  Devour amazing Sicilian food and Catania’s street food (arancino, cannolo, cassata siciliana, etc)
  Taste an amazing Italian pizza
  A Day Trip Catania Beaches, La Plaja, Aci Trezza or Aci Castello
  A Day Trip to Mount Etna
  A Day Trip to Siracusa
  A Day Trip to Taormina
  A Day Trip to Piazza Armerina to see the ancient Roman villa

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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

  The workawayer will have a private small office with free internet available

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  It depends on the pets.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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