Help us create a self-sufficient family life in the Sicilian countryside, Ragusa, Italy

Details

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  Description

  We are are a family: Irene and Daniele, our children Selene (2011) and Giulio (2013) and some other nice animal friends (at the moment our dogs Pioppo and Lyra, some cats, a donkey, Serafina, a sheep, Genoveffa, some hens and some indian runner ducks). After some years around, we decided to live in a small house in the Sicilian countryside, trying to produce our own organic food when possible and to enjoy nature and simplicity. The house is very small but it's surrounded by a nice garden, rich of fruit trees, plants, an orchard and we have access both to the wilderness, crossing an alive bridge on Irminio river (fresh to bath in, during summertime...) and to the Baroque charm of Ragusa Ibla, "climbing" a little hill (15 minutes walking). We are not isolated but part of a little village: we chat and socialize with our different neighbors almost everyday...good manners and respect for common life are a must.
  
  Besides everyday countryside and home tasks, Irene is working part-time with a nice organic agricolture and community project, while Dani is growing his dream of becoming a bee-keeper, but in the while he's very busy also collecting olives and gardening.
  Our production is mainly for self sussistance..
  
  After a long experience in hosting friends and couchsurfing, it has arrived the moment for us to share the efforts together with the joys with our guests! We work hard as country living requires, and we aspect our guests to be willing to share this style. We are not the right hosts for freeloader tourists: who comes here has to be curious to share country living with its efforts and joys, not only to travel without spending money.
  
  We would prefer minimum 1 week stays, but we're waiting for changing our mind

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We'll be glad to share with you what we are learning everyday, living our apparently simple life: producing some necessities, from food (ah, italian food, but mostly vegetarian...!) to furnishings, knowing our special territory (we love to trek in the nature and we found many little treasures we''ll be happy to show to adventurers!) and community.

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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

  WHAT WE ASK YOU
  We ask you to help around 25 hours per week, with flexible timetables: we live a quite messy life!
  Moreover we ask you to share our daily routine...we are not an hotel or a restaurant: keeping common spaces clean and cooking are tasks we hope you are ready to share with us.
  We need help specially in our everyday tasks, both in the garden, depending on the season (planting, watering, harvesting, preparing land, pruning, making wood for the fire and the oven, caring for animals) and in the house (extraordinary cleaning, processing food, making bread every 10 days...). We would appreciate help with our children care, too (for example teaching english, music, art or sports in funny ways)
  Since we have very busy periods, it may happen that sometimes we will assign you tasks to be carried out independently.
  PLEASE REMEMBER: VOLUNTEERS MUST KEEP THEIR SPACES AND COMMON AREAS CLEAN AND TIDY AND MUST CLEAN BEFORE LEAVING. MOREOVER YOU'LL BE ASKED TO USE COMPOST TOILETTE AND TO USE ONLY NATURAL BIODEGRADABLE DETERGENTS AND COSMETICS (we are trying to reuse our waste water)
  
  SIDE ACTIVITIES
  We have a nice group of friends, hoping to change the world starting from our gardens, and we meet twice a months to share intensive job turning in our respective places...it can be that you will have the plaesure to join us in one of these collective work days!
  Since march 2021, we are carrying on a shared garden together with other friends and we're working intensively on it almost once a week plus some little caring every day. Helping with this activity will be one of our guest's task
  Moreover there are some projects we are working on and we'll be happy to share with the right people: developingn our tree house, a compost toilet, a solar dryer, transforming our water tank in a little bio-lake, find a way to use wisely our little space, restore our camper, create nice labels to start selling out production.
  If you want you could help with beekeeping, too, but depending on your experience and Dani's timetables.
  In special periods we could be committed to harvest products (olives, almonds, carobes, hazelnuts...) somewhere else and you will be wellcome if the conditions permit it

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  French: 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

  !! For the moment we are not well organized for hosting properly in winter season: we could host you in a small, rustic and magic tree-house by the river. It's just a bit more confortable than a tent (with matrasses, but not electricity nor heating). And Sicilian winters in our area are not as warm as you could imagine: we had -5° some nights, and very humid air. We know that for some of you, wild travellers, that's not a problem, but if you apply for wintertime, we expect you to be prepared and well equiped.
  
  Especially in cold times, we'll have to share our everyday living (quite small) spaces (kitchen, living-room and bathroom), so we expect you to be prepared to it and respectfull of common spaces and times. Since we try to re-use our wastes, we divide liquid and solid: compost toilette for poop!). Moreover we take our electricity from solar panels: that means that you are asked to think about the energy you need and to organize a bit, trying to consume more in sunny daytimes. Just ask us and we will be happy to help you re-thinking your energy consumption.
  
  We also have a third bed in childrens' room or a couch, even if it's not the best for your - and our - privacy...or, exceptionally, our van on the road.
  Unluckly the access to our land is very narrow, so we can host only little vans (classic VW style). Bigger vans should park on the road, 300m away from the house.

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  What else ...

  We are 2 km away from Ragusa Ibla (where urban buses from Ragusa stops frequently), very closed to Ragusa Ibla train station, but unluckly the trains (Siracusa-Noto-Modica-Ragusa) are stopping there only in the weekends of the high season...there are very little buses (going to Noto or Catania), stopping there, but only if you waive visibly...walking home from Ragusa can be very nice, but the opposite way, uphill, is quite hard, specially in the summer sunshine. If our plans fit with yours, we could pick you up to Ibla or Ragusa, but we ask you to consider to try to be autonomous as much as you can.
  If you think some mosquitoes can be annoying for you (not much for us), don't forget a natural repellent, cause sometimes there are many and we don't use it.
  We are not stricly vegetarian, but we don't eat much meat. Our meals are mostly vegetarian and organic, with autoproduced or local high quality ingredients. If you come here, we hope you can appreciate our cooking, but if you don't, please feel free to provide yourself for your meals, to integrate ours with ingredients we don't use or to share your recepices!

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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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  Can possibly accept pets

  To be agreed. If they suite with dogs, cats, hens and children... And we have a rule, valide for our animals too: not at home!

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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