Experience village life in the scenic hills of Strelets, Bulgaria

Details

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  Description

  Want to live a simple life in a simple village and live more like the locals do? Come and experience the atmosphere surrounding quite an isolated house on the edge of a small quiet village, do 'this and that', and eat as much as you want of whatever fruit that happens to be growing here at the time. There can be a lot of fruit to choose from sometimes!
  
  Most likely you will have a house to yourself (or maybe with another volunteer) which is the house I have next door to my 'home' house, unless the next door house is fully occupied (which has never happened before), in which case I have a spare room in my home.
  
  
  If you want a bit of social solitude you can treat the experience as 'semi-house sitting' and essentially be my neighbour and socialise as little or as much as you want, and have no obligations as a neighbour would. We would just meet up to discuss tasks then cross each others paths during the day's duties. I can fully appreciate wanting a bit of solitude and desiring to have as much time as possible to focus on whatever personal pursuits you may have.
  
  
  If socialising and experiencing the character of the host is a major point of doing Workaway for you; then let's dance! Or more likely chat, eat, drink, play.
  
  . . . I recently got into collecting vinyl records, mainly 7 inch pop singles as that's what is cheap and available, and have been thinking of ways to get your average person interested in and enjoying mixing tunes together. However, I'm a workaholic, and always feel too anxious and guilty to stop work and pursue a hobby. So, if 'jockeying some spinning discs' sounds interesting and fun to you, you can help me play through the hundreds of of discs I have to help me find out what plays well. I'm a fan of old amps, so I can set you up with an amp and some speakers in your room, and a load of records to play through.
  
  . . . If that's not your thing, and you prefer something more sedate, I've also been trying to get into playing board/card games more.
  
  Currently I've got the following games:
  
  . . . Simple and a bit childish, but hilarious if you've got the character for it >
  Dobble
  Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
  
  . . . Others >
  Lost Cities
  Azul
  Lucky Numbers . . . (simple, easy to quickly understand and get into)
  
  Plus probably others that do not come to mind right now.
  
  If you do Catan, I've been looking for an excuse to get it, I would get it upon request,
  . . . plus I would consider getting any other suggestions.
  
  
  If you are quite 'rock and roll' and like a bit of a drink along with some deep philosophical discussion and/or ranting, I'm no alcoholic or regular big drinker, but go through stages of having a regular 'tipple', and will always have occasions of 'getting a bit jolly', but can also barely touch a drop of drink for weeks/months. So I can go either way. I would/can adjust to whatever company I keep.
  
  
  I have a similar attitude towards food. Generally I am conscious and focused on eating very healthily, but occasionally I can gorge myself on a load of rubbish, or go through periods of beings a bit naughtier with what I eat. The point is, you will be under no pressure to conform to a particular diet, or under no restriction or judgement for the way you would like to eat.
  
  What food I make for myself can be quite repetitive and sometimes simple/basic (but healthy) in order to not spend too much time preparing and cooking food. However, if you are not a big on cooking, would have me do it for you, and would not want to eat in a way that is as simple and as repetitive as me, you can be my inspiration to put more effort into preparing food. Probably I would not feel comfortable enough to make you eat like me anyway! When I have put effort into making food in the past, I have had genuine thoughtful compliments (not just politeness). Though also don't be surprised if I accidentally make something a bit weird/crazy and underwhelming.
  
  
  
  - About Me/Us -
  
  I am Sam (English man born 1978) and I stay for periods here usually with my pet dog Lyuda (a nice medium sized dog). I bought this place at the end of 2020 with my then partner Janne (Dutch woman born 1983) who is still my amicable colleague and still comes to stay from time to time.
  
  We are probably slightly eccentric people, but you probably have to be to get the house we did in the village we did and live like we do. I speak a fair bit of Romanian if that's of any use or interest to you, and Janne speaks Spanish (if she is here!)
  
  I also do Workaway as a worker and have a worker profile:
  If the link doesn't show below, my user name is 'muel2002' and you can add this in place of your username in the web address for your worker profile in order to be direct to mine.
  
  
  I also served as a supervisor for another Workaway host and am mentioned in the feedback:
  Again, if the link doesn't show below the host id number is 837699821335, or search for ' Lisa Teleorman '
  
  
  It is mostly only me who spends time here now, but at any given time, it's still possible that there may be just me or Janne here, or both of us, (or neither of us); and there are different options on how you can spend your time here depending on what the circumstances are.
  
  
  - The Story -
  
  In 2020 we drove around north central Bulgaria looking for a house to buy. We found a village we loved, then we found and bought the only house in it that we found suitable enough. It's an old house (not shown in pictures) made of wonky wood and mud bricks that needs a lot of work, but we love it! After we got the house our neighbour said we could use his house and land as we pleased, so we then ended up using 100% more property than we had planned on using. We then also came into stewardship of the neighbouring property to the other side of us (which we primarily house volunteers / guests in, and is the one in the pictures), so we now have 300% more property to use and see to than originally planned for!
  
  
  - Getting Here -
  
  If I am here and you do not have your own transport, I can come and pick you up from Gorna Oryahovitsa or Veliko Tarnovo where there are train stations. Or some other place of equal distance if you are staying there.
  
  If you don't have your own transport and you will be house sitting, there is a bus service to the village from the municipal capital town of Gorna Oryahovitsa that itself is well served by transport links.
  
  The bus service to Strelets is relatively new and quite infrequent, and I am still trying to learn exactly on what days it runs.
  
  
  The time table at the bus stop in Gorna Oryahovitsa displays the following info:
  
  Leaves for Strelets from Gorna Oryahovitsa . . .
  Wednesday & Friday at 12:00
  Saturday & Sunday at 8;30 & 16:50
  
  There are no details/times for its travel from Strelets to Gorna Oryahovitsa.
  
  
  The time table posted on the village town hall Facebook page says the following:
  
  Friday twice a day . . .
  To Strelets >. . . 7:50 / 17:30
  From > . . . 8:50 / 18:30
  
  Sunday & Holidays
  To Strelets >. . . 17:30
  From > . . . 18:30
  
  
  
  - House Sitting -
  
  There may be an opportunity to house sit and maybe along with looking after the dog. That's if we are able to be here when you would arrive, and we would be due to leave and return in a workable time.
  
  For housesitting you will need to buy your own food.
  
  If you do end up house sitting you just need to do whatever needs to be done to service and maintain the property on a day to day basis; e.g. feed the dog if it's here, let people read electricity and water meters, keep the vegetation under control. If we already have specific dates in mind we put a note in [brackets] at the beginning of this text.
  
  It would be advantageous to have your own car so you can more easily go to a better location to do food shopping, and also access a cash machine. You could most likely survive by just shopping in the three local shops, but it's not something we would want to do.
  
  
  - Fruit -
  
  Depending on the season the available fruit could be:
  
  Mulberries
  Cherries
  Plums (at least 4 varieties, enough to lose count at least)
  Pears (2 varieties, if we are lucky)
  Apples (4 or more varieties)
  Peaches
  Figs
  Blackberries and/or Raspberries
  Grapes (red and white)
  Walnuts
  Almonds if you are really lucky

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Light maintenance

  House & pet sitting
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  Interests

  

  Culture

  

  Sustainability

  

  Carpentry

  

  Hiking

  

  Dancing

  

  Nature

  

  Pets

  

  Charity work

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Music

  

  Gardening
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You will see what it's like to live in a simple small Bulgarian village up in some hills. Most people do all they can to live of the land they have. We ourselves (when we have the opportunity) like to try and grow some vegetables, herbs and maintain the couple of orchards that we have, one small (barely an orchard really), the other quite big.
  
  Sam has lived and worked in a few different countries including being an English teacher in Korea and Georgia, and a dog sledder in Arctic Norway.
  
  Janne has lived in South America during her anthropological studies for her University degree, and has also spent time living in Ghana. She also spends a lot of time travelling back and forth by train between The Netherlands and Romania/Bulgaria, each time going on a slightly different route and exploring new places.
  
  . . . . so . . . we have some stories to tell.

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  Help

  There is always garden and property maintenance and organisation to do to keep things under control, but there is so much to do, just let us know what you like doing, or tell us if you think of something that can be done, and we'll see what we can come up with.
  
  If you want a sample list of specific things that currently need doing (or always need doing), please see below:
  
  'Pointing' - putting fresh mortar inbetween bricks and rocks, specifically the outside toilet at the moment.
  Repairing and maintaining walls, and gaps in property bounderies, currently including improving a fence/boundry with extra wire and rocks to stop goats getting in.
  Collecting, moving and organising roof tiles to be used later on roof.
  Clearing up barn space of unwanted items and debris.
  Digging up tree stumps
  Digging up weed vines.
  House and garden improvement and maintenance
  
  There are many other specific things that need doing that may or may not have a higher priority than what has been listed above. However it would be too convoluted and involving to go into it here. For more details please get in contact.
  
  Also, if you are searching for hosts in order to do a particular thing that you are interested in doing, please get in contact and maybe I can accommodate you.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Romanian: Intermediate
  Bulgarian: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  Sam is a certified (CELTA / TESOL) English teacher, and has taught at state schools for 1 and half years in Korea and half a year in Georgia, and would be happy to do what he can to help you out with English. If you happen to know Romanian, then Sam would gladly accept any help you care to give in helping him learn more!
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  Accommodation

  You will most likely be staying in your own house with your own kitchen.
  
  
  Water:
  
  Note that there has been water rationing each year starting from 2023, and sometimes there can be no tap water for a day or two. Consider that this short of thing can happen in many Bulgarian villages. With proper preparation it has never been a huge problem for us or the house sitters that experienced this last year. What we do is just fill up lots of containers with water when the water is running.
  
  We also have a well on each of the two properties, and a spring about 300 metres away.
  
  
  Sleep:
  
  You will have your own room, and probably your own house next to ours if there are no other volunteers staying (which is likely). The house primarily used for guests consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a shower room / toilet. It has a washing machine and a fridge. In fact the house you will have will be better than the one we will stay in!
  
  The two rooms at the volunteer house can each accommodate two people. One of the rooms as a small double / large single that can sleep two small people, plus another single bed.
  
  There is also another room at my house (not a very nice looking one) that has a single bed and another sofa/sofa bed, that may or may not be able to fold down and actually function as a sofa bed, and may or may not be a double bed if it can fold down properly.
  
  
  Food:
  
  If Janne is here and we are cooking for you, note that Janne is a pescatarian which pretty much makes Sam one also when at home.
  
  If you prefer to cook for yourself that's fine I can supply stuff for you and if you want to offer me some it's very unlikely I will say no :-). If cooking is a challenge for you then I can do it!
  
  
  Internet:
  
  There is internet here via the mobile network, so we have a standard set amount of traffic totaling 100 GB per month. It's fast enough for streaming video.

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  What else ...

  I really like my village. The area is quiet, and you can see the mountains when the air is clear, mostly outside of the summer period. You can walk 5 minutes up the hill where there is a big forest and panoramic views of the surrounding hills and the mountains in the distance.

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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

  Not entirely sure what constitutes a 'digital nomad' and the ability to host one, but we can provide you with your own room with a desk/table, and an internet connection via the mobile network which is good enough for streaming video. We have an allowance of 100 GB bandwidth per month.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Depending on how particular you are, smaller campervans / motorhomes can be catered for on our property, or outside next to the road. If you park on our property next to the house you would be staying in / using, the limiting factors are the steepness, size and surface of our driveway. There is no surface as such, just grass with maybe hidden rocks underneath the grass. If it gets wet, it can be tricky to get enough grip / momentum to get out of the driveway. There is shade in this spot for the first half of the day. There are two options for parking next to the road. You can park up close next to the house where there is next to no shade and may cause problems for tractors getting past. Or park further away in a spot where there is good shade but is next to a fork in the road that sees cars / tractors passing from time to time.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  If it is a dog you have, it just needs to get along with our dog. Usually if our dog sees we like another dog, it knows that it needs to tolerate it, but it can be a bit jealous and possessive of its territory and owners (food sources) to begin with. If it's a cat you will bring it will probably be chased away by our dog to begin with, but it can learn to tolerate cats.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

  

  Ludi

  Medium sized cute friendly dog, that can bark a lot, might do what you command her to do, and will steal your food if you leave it unattended.

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