Italy
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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 dog Pioppo, 3 cats, some hens and a "half-singing" cock. 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 countriside and home tasks, Irene is working part-time with a nice organic agricolture and community project (LeGallineFelici), while Dani is growing his dream of becoming a bee-keeper.
Our production is mainly for self sussistance..
We have a long experience in hosting friends and couchsurfing, but now it's the moment for us to share the efforts together with the joys with our guests!
We would prefer minimum 1 week stays, but we're waiting for changing our mind
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
Help around the house
Animal Care
Language practice
Teaching
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...!) 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.
We need help specially in our everyday tasks, both in the garden, depending on the season (planting, watering, harvesting, processing food, preparing land for the orchard, pruning, making wood for the fire and the oven, caring for animals) and in the house (keeping clean, cooking, making bread every 10 days...). We would appreciate help with our children care, too.
Moreover there are some projects we are working on and we'll be happy to share with the right people: building a tree house, a compost toilet, a bookcase and a solar dryer, transforming our water tank in a little bio-lake, find a way to use wisely our little space and restore our camper. Since Selene is dreaming to have a horse, helping to find a way to organize for hosting one would be very welcome!
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
We ask you to work around 25 hours per week, with flexible timetables: we live a quite messy life!
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
For the moment, we can host you in a tent in the garden, or exceptionally in our van on the road. we have a common open air kitchen and we share our bathroom inside the house (untill the compost toilet is ready). If there are rainy or cold days, don't worry: we also have a couch, even if it's not the best for your - and our - privacy...
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 for us), don't forget a repellent, couse sometimes there are many and we don't use it.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
To be agreed. If they suite with a male dog, cats, hens and children... And we have a rule, valide for our animals too: not at home!
Two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
