Q: Age?
A: 31
Q: How long have you been here?
A: 12 years.
Q: Do you have kids?
A: Two, they are 2 and 6 years old.
Q: What was your life like in Romania?
A: At work, bad. At the family level, better. Because the family was together, even though all the siblings left the house, we got together during the weekends, and now we can do it once or twice a year, and even then we are never all together. I was better back then concerning the family.
Q: Why did you decide to leave?
A: It was an economic reason. Occupational. They payed very little. You could live with it, but nothing else. If you want to buy a car or a house, it is almost impossible.
Q: Your kids were born here, did they adapt okay?
A: Yes, they are more Spanish than Romanian. They like Romania because we go every year on vacations, but their country is Spain.
Q: Do you go at least once a year?
A: Yes. So my kids can know the culture, so they know where we come from. Even though I like Spain very much, we are still Romanian. We don’t hide it, although sometimes we have to duck our heads because some people do bad things. When we go we spend three or four weeks there, we can’t afford to stay longer because of our jobs.
Q: How did you make the decision to come here?
A: It was to throw yourself into adventure, other people had left and they told you that life is better, that you can save money, that you can have a more decent life economically, that you can earn more. We worked there too, but we didn’t earn as much. I made my decision in two days. A friend called us and asked if we wanted to come, because he found some jobs, even though it wasn’t what I had thought, we hopped on a bus and came here. Then we worked a month and a half cutting grapes in Zaragoza, it was a hard job especially for a woman. But money satisfies a lot. In the end of the season we saw that we had earned good money, an amount that maybe I wouldn’t save in a year in Romania. I came here with 19 years, I had not much experience. I finished studying at 18, then got married, and had not much working experience. Then we came here. First we worked in the greenhouses in Motril, then I took care of an old man for 8-9 months, and then we went someplace else cutting oranges, another hard job. It was awful. Then I started working in a flower shop, my boss was Austrian, he was also a foreigner that had migrated a couple of years before us, he already had his shop, I worked there for 4 years. Then I got pregnant, and 9 months later I gave birth I set up a fruit store, because I wanted to see my kid during the day. It was awful, a disaster. Once we went to visit a cousin near the coast and we saw a Romanian store. There was no such thing near here, so we entered and talked to the owner, he gave us a price, we bought some commodities, and little by little we started growing. And here we are.
Q: Are you better than you thought you would be?
A: Yes, thank God. Not just me, but my husband’s job too, he is in a business that constructs greenhouses, and que earns more that we thought we would. I thank Spain and thank God for our life, but during the festivities we lack some things. During the year we are great. People here have welcomed us very well, respectfully. I don’t know if it would be the same the other way around, Romanians receiving foreigners. But we are fine. The business is okay, but recently we had a small fire. That is when I saw people’s goodwill. All the neighbors came offering their help and supported me.
Q: What do you like best/worst here?
A: I think there is nothing I don’t like. I miss the Christmas parties. I like summer very much. I like the heat, we have the sea near. In Romania I live near the mountains, I am from Transilvania, so to go to the sea you have to cross the country. Here it is closer.
Q: What did you leave there?
A: I had to give up my whole life there. You lose friendships, your childhood, your teenage life, everything. In my town most people left, only old people and young people who are studying stayed there. My parents are there because my grandmother is there and we have no one to leave her with. If it weren’t for that my parents would come here. They come here in winter and we go there in summer. It depends on how my grandmother is doing.
Q: How do you communicate with your parents?
A: We talk quite often. Not as much as before, we used to talk more. We got used to our lifestyle. Farewells are the hardest part. It is horrible, leaving them there crying. Although when I come here I do it happily, this is my home, I am Romanian but I go there on vacations.
Q: Are you informed about what happens there?
A: Yes. I am not very interested on it because it disappoints me, except this year, that I have hope that they can improve. But other years it disappointed me very much. You go to the doctor and if you don’t pay them they don’t care about you. Three years ago I went with my mother in law to a public hospital and there was a long queue of old people. An employee comes and she knows my mother in law so she makes us pass, but I thought it was wrong because people were lining up, waiting. It wasn’t fair, you have to respect the order, especially if they are older and probably came from far away.
Q: Do you think that prevents Romania from evolving?
A: Yes. What I have seen is that many people that went back to Romania and set their shops, they maintain a discipline and a way of life. That is clear, they are more every time. What happened that time at the hospital was wrong, and I said it to my mother in law. Romania advanced because of all the people that went back from many European countries. But there is still a long way to go.
Q: Do you think people leave looking for something better?
A: Yes. I know people with a career that came here. Even though you have a career and studied a lot, if you don’t have money to get a job, you can’t do it. I had an employee that came here to save money and then went back, and now she works in a bank. If you don’t have money or someone that knows you, it is very hard to get a job and have a good future. And illegal things too. Two or three years ago a pub catched fire and there were too many people inside, because the owner was the mayor’s cousin so they let it work without the corresponding papers. Many people died. That is was bothers me the most, they don’t improve because of things like that. They have to be legal and respect the law. I have a business here and even though there are not many controls I respect the law. In 2009 I tried to go back to Romania and set up a shop and a little bar, but as soon as an inspector came it all went down. No matter if you are legal or not, you have to pay him, or they close your business. And I think that is not fair. Things work that way there and I don’t know if that will ever change.
Q: Did it take you long to learn the language here?
A: No, not long, I liked it. Spanish is a Latin language so it wasn’t hard. I learned it working. When I worked at the flower shop they put me on sales, and I understood very little back then, but I learned right away, talking with the clients. It wasn’t a problem.
Q: Did you think people judged you because of you origins?
A: No. But once a Romanian woman gave birth here and threw the baby to the container, I was ashamed to go out to the street, just because she was Romanian. I didn’t know her or where she came from or who she is, but just because she was from my country, it made me embarrassed. But no one said anything in my face because I am Romanian.
Q: How is your group of friends here?
A: They are mostly Romanian. Some are Romanian that married Spanish people. But we don’t have true friendships with Spanish people, it doesn’t fit. We don’t go out much, usually we get together with our family.
Q: Did you have contact with associations?
A: The only association is Ionela’s, Acoramar, that’s it. We supported it from the beginning. We financed as much as we could, she is always trying to give some gifts to the kids, so that way we thank Romanians. For example my business is Romanian and they are the usual customers. It is a way to thank them, we collaborate as we can.
Q: Do you think you have a community feeling here?
A: I have supported as much as I could all the Romanians I know. Every beginning is hard, you don’t know people or the language. We make favors to each other. Not only to Romanians, but they are the ones we see and know more. I think they are more reserved in the capital city. Here we gather for the festivities in summer, we are like 300 people.
Q: What is the general situation of Romanian families here?
A: I think that whoever wants to succeed they can. Here you can. It is true you don’t always find the job you want, we are foreigners, but if you want to succeed you can do it. I have seen many cases of families that came and went, but they only waste their money and job. I say it from experience. Recently I saw the case of a family with two kids, only the father works, and they have enough to live, so the mother comes and goes with the children. I always say that when you want something you have to go and get it.
Q: Would you go to another country?
A: No, if we had to leave we would go to Romania. We got used to life here. Here I can save money and buy what I want, and in Romania it isn’t that easy. I don’t think we will be going back there soon. Last year we went there and bought a home and we had an illusion, but no. Because of our kids we have to stay here, they need something stable, steady. What I want the most now is that my kids have a career, that they have a different life than I had. Thank God I am very well now but I had to go through many things to get here. I want them to study and have a better life than we did.
Q: What are the main differences between Spanish and Romanian people?
A: Romanians are not as kind. Once I saw in Romania how people made fun of a foreigner. There are not many of them, but I couldn’t understand how they could be so evil if we are the ones who leave the country the most. Spanish people have welcomed us very well here. That wouldn’t happen if it were the opposite.
Q: What do you feel when you go back?
A: When you get there everyone sees you despicably as the “rich ones”, they expect you to give them something or invite them. Now it has stopped because many of us left, we were fewer back then. You lose friendships. You feel strange in your own town. Small kids grew up and you don’t know them anymore.
Q: You have a good education there, will those be the ones to improve the country?
A: Schools there have a very high level. But I don’t think that those people will be able to change the situation there. Every young person finishes their career and no one gives them a good job, except they have a contact or saved money. 90% of them are professionals once they end the career, but they want to get out to work, because they don’t have the money to do it in Romania.
Q: Do they also leave to study?
A: Some study in other countries but it depends on their economic level. Many study in Romania but then go to work outside.
Q: How do the people there treat you?
A: They always try to get information, there is always envy, suspicion.
