Erica85

Ireland & Italy
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Travel information
We are currently
Travelling
Description
Hello there! We are Erica and Gonzalo, two Argentinian who left their homeland a few years ago to travel the world!

Erica's first Workaway experience was in 2019, when she came to Ireland to help a lovely couple in their B&B in a small country town. After 3 months, she moved to a city where she met Gonzalo, and so this couple has been together ever since. Now we both travel, work or volunteer around the globe.

We have been lucky enough to live incredible experiences in places on four continents, America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and now we are finally arriving to New Zealand! We couldn't be happier! And as that time approaches, we thought back to that first experience with this and came to the conclusion that we need another Workaway!

Being new to a country is much less complicated or stressful when sharing with local people, when having a home away from home. In exchange for this huge favour, we understand and commit ourselves to meet every expectation, to give our best in what we are asked for, to respect the host and the house rules.

The one thing we ask for, and we are very serious on this point, is good communication. Being clear and straightforward about what tasks are expected to be performed, when and if our performance is not to your liking, we will need to know because it is the only way to reverse or improve and avoid misunderstandings.

A little about ourselves:

We were both born in Argentina, South America, and are also Italian (EU) citizens, living abroad (Denmark and Ireland) since 2019. We are fluent in Spanish and English, and can handle some Italian as well.

We are not party people at all, quite the opposite. We are big nature and animal lovers, when we are not working we enjoy spending time exploring the surroundings, walking or sitting somewhere nice to drink "mate" (a hot beverage similar to tea) during the day, and playing cards, watching a movie or chatting with our friends and family over the Internet at nighttime.

Gonzalo is calm and reserved, reliable, hard worker, generous and the best friend a person can have. He is all into sports and is a professional football coach (a very good one, especially with kids). He is very dedicated to what he does, whether it has to do with his profession or tasks that have nothing to do with it at all!

Erica is more of the talkative extrovert type, she loves a good sense of humor and having everything planned and organized. She is a Technical-Scientific translator but the truth is that she has never fully worked as such! Because she enjoys working with people and animals rather than behind a computer, at least for now.

We truly hope we meet your expectations, as well as you meet ours. From our side, we promise to help provide a friendly, communicative, easy and joyful work/home environment. We are looking forward to having a positive experience, and we know this is possible through good understanding and commitment so everyone is happy.
Interests
Winter sports
Water sports
Vegetarian or vegan
Mountain
Dancing
DIY & crafts
Culture
Adventure sports
Cooking & food
Drawing & painting
Writing
Plant care
Charity work
Events & social
Music
Movies & TV
Hiking
Team sports
Sustainability
Pets

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Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Italian: Beginner
More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.
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Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
Gardening
Babysitting and creative play
Being an elderly companion
Life at a Farmstay
Eco Projects
Helping around the house
Charity Work
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Some knowledge of:
Animal Care
Hospitality/Tourism
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Able to teach about:
Languages
Teaching
More details about your skills
We are collaborative, innovative, adaptable, very respectfull, peaceful. Always try to help and find solutions for any problem or difficulty.
We truly believe that with good communication, respect and willingness, people can bring out the best of anything.
Age
30 & 30
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements

Feedback

18 Sep 2023

Left by host (Experience our country life ...) for Workawayer (Erica85)

We loved having Gonzalo and Erica at our place. They are an amazing young couple with awesome people skills. They helped us a lot in the garden and in the house. We could always trust that the work done by them would be superb. Our evenings time with Erica and Gonzalo, playing games and telling stories, were filled with fun and laughter. They were… read more

(Excellent )

13 Sep 2023

Left by Workawayer (Erica85) for host (Experience our country life ...)

We planned on staying with Dorota and Jan for two weeks, but extended for another week. We have nothing but amazing things to say about them, the way they are, the way they treated us, everything we shared and learnt was honestly beyond our expectations.
Our staying was just perfect: We did some work (in our case, pruning, thinning trees and… read more gardening, wonderful job outdoors) four hours a day, five days a week, having Saturday and Sunday off. Instructions were given by Jan, who was so patient, super extra kind and easy to get along with. He always had a smile and a great sense of humor. Working for him is the best we could ask for, he would explain thoughtfully and as many times as needed if we didn't understand or know how to do a task.
We made breakfast and lunch for and by ourselves, and were able to use any ingredient there was in the fridge or scullery (el cuartito). But then it came dinner and Dorota: OH-MY-GOD. In three weeks, she cooked different meals for all of us, never repeating a recipe! We have never eaten so well for so long! She is an excellent cook, and shared some recipes with us which we are going to try to make soon, especially the kluski!! Apart from cooking, Dorota made us feel at home, always came back from work with a smile and willing to catch up with us about the day. She is also a teacher of Spanish and French! So communicating was never a problem!
As a couple, they are the best. We never lacked conversation and laugh at the table, and even after dinner, we usually played cards or dice (if you are into it please ask them to teach you the bean game!), watch a video or movie, and they even to spend a couple of hours helping us to plan our trip, making recommendations and suggestions about places to go and visit. In one occasion we had a problem about a tour we wanted to do and they went far and beyond to give us a solution, we won't forget that gesture.
Something we loved and appreciated about them is that in all of the many conversations we shared, every time they showed genuine interest in us, either asking about our home country when discussing specific topics, or ourselves, or our plans or past. We felt the four of us were equals, even though it was their house of course and their rules and their lives we were intruding! It honestly felt like staying with family, Dorota and Jan, thank you so much and we are sure you know what we are telling it's true.
Both are very intelligent, well educated, kind and fun. We weren't forced to spend our free time with them, we chose to. They are pretty chilled and laid-back. Just the perfect combination!
Their house is beautiful!! Comfortable and cozy. Outside there is a large perfectly green land with lots of plants, and flowers, and trees. The room we had was perfect, and we have the solo use of a separated toilet and shower, everything was new and perfectly clean.
But we haven't talked about Mia yet! Mia is their black Labrador dog, the sweetest of the world! We played with her every day and even took her for a walk around the place (amazing views by the way). We already miss having her company!
We are very grateful, we left their house feeling we didn't make any mistake by choosing to stay with them. The amount of things we learnt about New Zealand is incredible! Culture, education, politics, economics, touristic attractions and way more.
And as we said when we were leaving, we know we won't find a better host in the future. YOU WERE IT!
A million thanks and wish you all the best!
Gonzalo and Erica.

(Excellent )