I am currently living in a mad house. More on that later. Being here has reminded me of the last time I stayed in a weird house – two and a half years ago. I stayed at a place in Arcidosso, Tuscany that was meant to be an eco project. Teaching you how to live sustainably etc. A hippy house. Instead it was what we came to know it as – ‘The Jizz House’.
I was suspicious from the start because the host had reached out to me first on workaway about staying at the place and all the reviews were five star, raving how great the place was. I suspected it was a cult. Since one of my male friends was joining me in Italy, we decided to check the place out. I wouldn’t have gone there alone. I just tried to find the place on Workaway but looks like it’s gone. Good. The guy basically just used his place to hit on and sleep with foreign girls. After speaking to other girls in the house, we worked out that in the space of two weeks, he had slept with five different girls staying there.
I wrote a review on Workaway after my stay there but they never published it. I still have it so here it is:
There were both good and bad aspects about this place.
I met a lot of really cool, interesting people here and that is the reason why I stayed for ten days. If I had not met these people, I would have left much earlier. The reason for this is primarily because I did not feel comfortable being around the host.
During my time there, he never tried to get to know me. On my third night, he tried to kiss me. After this, I felt very uncomfortable and discussed it with other people in the house and found that this had happened to more people than just myself. We all became aware that this situation had happened many times before and will most likely continue to happen. This is a forewarning for any women going to the house; you will more than likely be hit on, in one way or another.
Another negative point this workaway has, is that there were no actual projects or work to be done, apart from cleaning the house and cooking the meals. The house is extremely dirty, the sheets and bedding weren’t clean, and we ended up paying to get them washed at a laundromat on our last day there, so that new workawayers would be able to enjoy clean sheets.
Another negative was the lack of hot water. We had to wash all the dishes with ash and cold water, and many of us did not shower for many days, as it was winter. The water was cold, and impossible to shower with. Though, we could boil hot water on the stove and put it in a bucket to shower with.
Arcidosso is a really nice place to visit, we hiked up Mount Amiata one day and it was a really beautiful and great experience. The ‘project’ has good ideals, however, after my experience with the host trying to kiss me, I saw the house as just a place for him to meet international girls and sleep with them. I did not find any motivation to do any work here after this, and you definitely need motivation to do anything if you stay here.
The place is made by the people staying there, which is the only reason why I stayed. Even though I made some really good friends there, it was still a negative experience for me and I would not go back. If you are very self motivated, have high tolerance of uncleanliness and do not mind being hit on, then you may really enjoy this place. Otherwise, I would advise against it, especially if you are female.