Visit our art and music community near NYC in New Jersey, USA

Details

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  Description

  **Last Minute! 14 Oct.-15 Nov. 2024**
  Hi! We are Mercedes & Andrew, an artistic couple located in New Jersey. We open our homes and studios to artists and musicians. We are a social project, not a business, and thus do not offer payment.
  
  Mercedes is an actress, singer and musician and Andrew is a musician and artist. We both like photography and doing art projects. You can improve your English, do creative writing, experiment with cooking, do arts and crafts, or improve your ability to play a musical instrument in our studio during your free time. We also travel in a camper van that we built ourselves, and we welcome van enthusiasts!
  
  Musicians, artists, builders and dog lovers are preferred, but we will respond to anybody who answers the questions on our profile. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POSTING.
  
  ARRIVING HERE:
  If flying, you must arrive to NEWARK LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (EWR) and arrange for us to pick you up on a Sunday afternoon so you can become acclimated before the work week starts on Monday. If arriving at an inconvenient time, you can arrange to arrive from the airport via Uber, Lyft, etc. (costs about $75 USD).
  
  Now that those details are out of the way, here’s more about us!
  
  We have been operating an artist community and retreat in New Jersey since 2015 in our three homes, and trailer. Volunteers may help us continue this program in the warmer months (April through October … in the colder months/winter, everything is quieter here and you might just be the only volunteer). We have been doing some landscaping and building renovation projects. We always look for volunteers with common interests who can also assist us with day-to-day chores, dog sitting and house sitting, and we always appreciate volunteers who are into meditation, reiki, massage, yoga, pilates, tai chi, etc. We're looking for positive people with a peaceful vibe. The mood here is good for meditation or creativity (writing, playing music, drawing, etc.). It's a great place to relax and unwind in your free time. We like to maintain a community vibe. You MUST like old hippies! :-)
  
  This is a quiet place near a lake. There's a lot of nature here and many opportunities for meditation and hiking. Think “retreat.” If you are looking for a LOT of action and noise, you may be more comfortable in a city environment.
  
  For new Workawayers, we offer a stay of 3-6 weeks. We have one long-term opportunity (2-3 months) in winter 2024-2025 for a mature house sitter with excellent feedback/references.
  
  You must be OVER 21 with positive Workaway feedback OR 2 WORK REFERENCES. We are seeking those who care a lot about health and the well being of our planet, and who are flexible, care about others, and have an easygoing personality.
  
  You must love dogs. We have 2 that we rescued. Therefore, we are somewhat dog friendly but we have to discuss it before you bring a dog. Due to allergies, we can only host cats in the trailer or if you have your own tiny home (van, skoolie, etc.).
  
  Please read our ENTIRE profile carefully before you contact us. We will respond ONLY if you have answered the questions posted below. American Workawayers have specific questions they must answer. It will prove to us that you actually read our profile and that you are really interested! Thank you!
  
  PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR MESSAGE:
  (1) Are you vaccinated against COVID-19? Have you also had a booster?
  (2) What are your requested arrival and departure dates? Where are you coming from?
  (3) What CHORES are you willing to do? (see below for description of work)
  (4) Do you have a driver's license? Will you be bringing a car?
  (5) What is your level of English?
  (6) Are you over 21 years of age?
  (7) How would you feel about camping out in a tent or a trailer in the warmer months (April-October)?
  (8) Do you play any musical instruments?
  (9) What SKILLS and CULTURAL EXCHANGE can you offer? (For instance, can you cook typical food from your region or country? Teach about music, art, language, history, etc., from your region or country?)
  
  Additional questions for AMERICAN WORKAWAYERS: Why do you want to be here? We give preference to artists and musicians who really need our facilities to develop a music or art project. What do you have to offer others? Can you represent American culture from your region? Are you willing to attend community dinners and events in the warmer months when the artist community is active, which we take the time and effort to create for everyone's enjoyment? This is separate from help exchange hours and can occupy another 10 hours per week of your free time. If you don't want to participate, then please consider a different Workaway.
  
  We will reply to all inquiries that provide literate responses to our questions. *️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️A Skype webcam interview and a scan of your passport or identification is required. We also require international (or U.S.) medical insurance, which can be purchased through a travel insurance plan. If you have no feedback on Workaway, please be prepared to provide the names, email addresses and phone numbers of 2 people who can recommend you and tell us how you live and help in a communal situation.*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Elderly Companionship

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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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

  Volunteers from outside of the USA are preferred, as we are primarily in this for the cultural exchange.
  
  However, if you are American, please indicate what you can offer in the way of cultural exchange. For example, art or music, tips for skoolie or van life, vegan or ethnic cooking, representing your region, or sharing a particular skill. For us, Workaway is MUCH more than just exchanging work for a place to crash.
  
  Here's what we have to offer:
  
  If you need to improve your English in a real help-and-play situation, THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE! We offer lots of English practice and sit-down English classes in the early morning before helping hours.
  
  Musicians, we have 2 full rehearsal studios and lots of instruments to play with ... guitars, basses, keyboard, piano, drums, and even a mandolin, ukelele, cello and a sax. We're musicians who can coach you and give you the experience of playing in a band. We usually have one acoustic jam and one electric jam weekly.
  
  For artists, there is an Art Garage which is great for large art projects in the warmer months. Also, there are many light and bright areas for drawing and painting all over the property. If you are interested, we can teach you lots of crafts, including decoupage, tie dye, crochet, sewing, furniture upcycling, and lots of other projects. We have many crafting supplies.
  
  We love practicing foreign languages, especially Spanish, Italian, French, Turkish, German and Arabic.
  
  We're making short videos about everything in this section for our web site and social media. We can always use input about that.
  
  We also love cultural recipe exchanges and entertaining. You will learn etiquette at community dinners -- for instance, how to set the table and make polite conversation with guests. If you want to learn about American regional cooking, we have an apron and a knife available for your use :-). Take a turn cooking dinner and share a recipe from your country or region.
  
  We recycle and repurpose everything possible here and you are going to learn a lot about how we try our best to take care of the environment and our Earth. We strive to leave a light footprint on our planet.

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  Help

  You will primarily be companion(s) to Mercedes and Andrew on weekdays and help with the following chores:
  
  FREQUENT: Yard help (groundskeeping outdoors) and painting in spring/summer/fall seasons. Cleaning and organizing, general errands, housework, general maintenance, dog sitting, house sitting, snow removal in winter and indoor renovation projects
  
  OCCASIONAL: Internet marketing, making short videos, photography, organizing items to be sold for fundraising purposes, working on the campervan build
  
  We are growing herbs and tomatoes in the warmer months. Healthful foods are provided Monday-Friday (or on any days you help us), including vegetarian and vegan options.
  
  All food preparation, cooking and cleanup is shared, and is NOT considered work. We provide a separate kitchen and pantry for the volunteers where they prepare and eat their meals. But once a week, we'll have a "community pot luck dinner" in which everyone brings a dish to the main house. However, if there are more than 4 volunteers, we usually designate one volunteer to kitchen for the entire work day because there is so much more preparation to do. Mealtimes are very important for cultural exchange.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Intermediate
  Arabic: Beginner
  German: Beginner
  Italian: Beginner
  Turkish: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  We are very interested in language exchange. Spanish, French, Italian, Turkish, German, and Arabic are the languages in which we have the most interest. We are native AMERICAN English speakers and are willing to trade formal lessons. Mercedes has a certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and an undergraduate degree in television journalism (which required a lot of English grammar and writing).
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  Accommodation

  There are many types of accommodations. During our busy season: Private bedroom, shared bedroom for couples or friends, 2 beds in trailer, air mattress in our office, or tent camping if we are very full. From November through March, there is always a private bedroom and bathroom available. ***The trailer is only open from April to November ***

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  What else ...

  Please see the Cultural Exchange section for all the things there are to do on our property in your free time.
  
  This is a lake community where there are recreational opportunities all year round (swimming, boating, fishing, ice skating). We are near mountains for hiking. You should view this Workaway as a retreat and an opportunity to focus on your personal growth. For example, working on an art, music or writing project; language exchange; meditation; or perhaps improving your physical condition with hiking, yoga or cycling.

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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

  We have WiFi in all 3 houses and you are welcome to work on your own projects during your free time. However, WE DISCOURAGE PHONES DURING WORK HOURS OR AT COMMUNITY MEAL TIMES. If you can limit your outside digital work to the weekends, or perhaps a couple of hours per day in the early weekday mornings, that would be optimal. In winter there is a bit more flexibility. But from April through October, please compartmentalize work so it does not affect the community schedule. We need to be fair to the other volunteers who are here for pure cultural exchange.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have enough parking for campervans, small RVs and skoolies. In certain cases your vehicle may have to be leveled with ramps. There is no dump station nearby, so we ask that you properly dump any gray water and toilet waste before arriving and come inside to use one of our bathrooms during your stay.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We have two small dogs who were rescued from two different abusive situations, so they have a couple of specific challenges that we are helping them get over. They are toy terrier mixes with strong prey drives, as they are bred to be mousers. They both bark at other dogs, animals and strangers, probably because they are territorial and protective of us. We are training them to control their barking. The female is very intelligent and will cuddle up with any human. The male is very shy of strange humans but is a real sweetie. If you want to bring a dog, your dog will have to be calm enough to work through their initial weirdness. We can’t host cats due to allergies unless you can keep it in your campervan, skoolie or tiny home.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

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

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