Live amongst and like the locals in a small village in the hills

About this assignment

Minimum two weeks stay during August covering the period of the 16th to 22nd, but you can stay as long as the temperature allows you to and come perhaps as early as the second half of June.

Like to 'keep it real' and want to live closer to how many rural Bulgarians do, living amongst a bit of poverty and dereliction, and the wild peaceful natural environment?

Does the above sound like you? If so and no one has applied before you, you're in!

What responsibilities are required of the house sitter

Feed the dog twice a day.
Do a bit now and again to stop the vegetation getting too out of control.
Let the electricity and water men read the meters if they come around.

You will actually be overseeing two properties which are next door to each other. The house you will stay in is the nicer house which is not owned by us but is under our (de facto) permanent stewardship.

What are the good features of the property and location

It is very quiet and peaceful here, with not another soul to be seen anywhere near the house most of the time. There are no real close neighbours, apart from one house across the street where a couple of people come for the weekend.

The property comes with about 2000 m2 of grassy orchard you can choose a spot to relax in, but there's lots of wild spaces nearby where you will never meet a soul.

The peacefulness and natural environment is further enhanced by the house being on the edge of a small village in the hills. You can walk 5 or 10 minutes up the road and you will be amongst fields and forest with a panoramic view of more fields and forest and the mountains in the distance. You may also enjoy the mood of walking around the shady green roads of the village looking at the different constructions and conditions of the houses.

We love it here.

What does the house sitter need to consider before applying for this assignment

You would need to have a car if you come here.
There is no bus service to the village.

Note that last summer, for the first time since we moved to the village, starting sometime in August there was a water shortage and there was no tap water for periods. 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. We have a well on each of the two properties, plus two more on the other two properties next to ours that we also have use of. There is also a big submerged rain water collection reservoir on each of the properties, and a spring about 300 metres away which we use for cooking with.

The house consists of 4 rooms and a little entrance hall/room. There's a living room / kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and a shower room / toilet. The pictures you see of the rooms are always showing 'works in progress', so you will either find what you see in the pictures when you get here, or something better.

There are three shops in the village (probably none take card payments at the time of writing this) where I'm sure you can get all you need to survive, but for a proper supermarket it is a 30 minute drive.

We have an internet service via the mobile network. It is fine for video streaming via WhatsApp and YouTube.

The house you will occupy is a house we have semi-inherited and come into stewardship of. We own the house next door to it. If we are able to find house-sitters to look after our dog, then we will take the opportunity of the freedom this gives us to do other things. However we may remain in our house next door part of the time you are here. The advantage this gives you is that we don't have such a strictly set date or duration for when you should house sit, we would try and adapt as much as possible to you.

The previous Bulgarian occupiers of the house were an old couple in their 70s/80s who were not rich and not too poor. For this reason, although quite normal for Bulgaria/ns, the house is quite basic in terms of western standards where the electrical wiring, construction, and the presentation is concerned. At the time of writing this the house could still do with a bit more paint and 'tender loving care' here and there.

All the bathroom modern conveniences are present in the house. (Inside) toilet, electric water heating tank, shower, sink.

There is no air conditioning, but plenty of fans.

Due to the electric wiring previously mentioned, it is advisable to only have the water boiler switched on in advance of wanting a hot shower, otherwise a tiny amount of electric current might pass through any metal associated with the water system. It's the equivalent to a static electric shock that you might get from a balloon. Though nobody that has stayed or house-sitted has ever had a problem.

We ourselves find it more convenient in the summer to just put a tub of water in the sun and shower using this, basically a crude solar shower. It's really nice to shower outside amongst the fresh air and all the greenery.

Note that we have security cameras, but only for the property we own, and not on the property you will be staying at. We usually just turn them off anyway when we have people house-sitting.

Can I bring my own pets?

Yes
Restrictions: It is up to you if you want to risk having the trouble of dealing with the animals if they don't get on. Our dog can be a bit aggressive and possessive of her territory, food, and feeder; but she seems to always eventually mellow out with encouragement.

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