1. Respondent ID
1. 1. Age: 17
1. 2.Sex: F
1. 3. Parent(s) away: Both parents to Spain.
1.4. Country: Spain
1. 5. Parent(s) moved abroad: one year ago, but they had been there for seven years before, together with the brother and parents of Respondent’s mother. Then they lived in Romania for another seven years. The Respondent didn’t get used to school and returned home.
1. 6. Respondent lives with: maternal grandparents
2. Details of Respondent’s life before:
I: How old were you when you moved to Spain?
R: Two years old. I spend my childhood there.
I: Did you speak Romanian when you left Spain?
R: I spoke Romanian at home. In the nursery it was a bit difficult for me to understand the language and get used, but looking at the drawings and everything I learned Spanish and at home, Mom talked to me in both languages.
I: It means you returned when you were nine.
R: Right. My parents went to Spain again last year.
I: Had you seen each other daily before they left?
R: Yes, we had, every day.
I: Both your parents have gone to the same location?
R: Yes.
I: Who do you keep in touch more?
R: With Mom. I also talk to Dad when he is around her.
I: What did you like to do when you lived with your parents in Spain or in Romania?
R: Not that I’d have liked something in particular, but I liked to be with them. We went out for a walk, talked, watched films. They were more like friends, not parents. They imposed certain rules about what I should or shouldn’t do… As long as I followed the rules there was no problem.
I: Did you have any common game, a common activity?
R: No, we had a habit: in the evening we used to tell about amusing events. We did that in turns and each of us told something amusing and the day had a happy ending.
I: Did you also go shopping with your mother?
R: Yes, I did. (She laughs.) We very often went out for a walk in a park, for hours. They always came with me. I didn’t like to go alone. I feel better with them than with my friends. It was really nice.
I: That was in Spain or also in Romania?
R: In Romania… In Spain you have more opportunities, I mean you have a special lane for bikes, roller skates and it was more convenient than it is here. In Romania I mostly stayed home. Both my parents were busy and we didn’t really… We were more connected while we were far away.
I: Who did usually accompany you to school, both in Spain and in Romania?
R: Mom used to drive me to school until I was in the third grade. In Romania both my parents and my brother accompanied me… My brother is twenty-four. Later on I started going to school alone.
I: Was your brother abroad with you?
R: Yes, he was. He got used there, with his own friends, old friends, and there he wanted to remain.
I: Did anyone help you with homework?
R: When we came to Romania, Mom helped me, because it was really hard for me… well, not so hard, I could read and speak, although I slurred a few words. She helped me up to a certain point, after which I got used to do homework by myself. In Spain I had some trouble with my writing, but my brother helped me.
I: I understand it was more difficult for you to adapt yourself to the Romanian language.
R: Well, when I returned to Spain, school seemed much more difficult to me because I had lost the thread. It was very hard to get used again, that’s why I wanted to come back here.
I: How long did you stay in Spain when you went there the second time?
R: Nearly one year.
3. Details of Respondent’s life after:
I: Can you tell me about your first day after you came back to Romania? When did you decide to return here for good?
R: I first returned here with Mom. I felt good, in a way, because I had my friends here. It was that period when you strengthen friendships… On the one hand I was happy to be here again, in my home and all the rest, but I knew my Dad and my brother were abroad while Mom was here… I also knew it was hard for her, too, because Dad was away. Eventually, Mom decided to go back to Spain and come home on holidays.
I: Did you understand why your whole family had to move?
R: I know they are doing their best for me to be well and have everything I need, because they could hardly find a job here. For these reasons they had to work abroad. It wasn’t very easy for me, but I had to get used to that, because it was hard for them, too, as it was for me, but we all have to make sacrifices.
I: How do you get along with your grandparents?
R: (She hesitates, shakes her head, laughs.) Many expect me to say I get along better with my grandparents than with my parents, but it is quite the other way for me. We don’t have a bad relationship, but you cannot say it’s good, either. It’s just enough to understand each other.
I: Do you feel they are more authoritarian than your parents?
R: Not really authoritarian, but they are older and the difference of age between us is very big, therefore they don’t understand me and I don’t understand what they want from me. It sucks.
I: Do they impose a specific time for you to be home?
R: No, they don’t. Before I go out I talk to Mom, I tell her I would go to a certain place, so that she could know about me. I only tell my grandparents when I leave and when I will be back. They know I talk to Mom.
I: Do you also have other relatives in town?
R: Yes, most of my maternal relatives are in Buzău.
I: How do you get along with them?
R: Fine. Whenever we meet, it’s ok. We don’t meet too often, but when we do, it’s ok.
I: Do you have any relatives in Spain?
R: Yes, paternal relatives.
I: Did you go there while your relatives were in Spain?
R: They left one after another. My aunt left first, then my grandparents and then we also left for Spain. Now they are all Spain.
I: Since you are here alone, have you had to go to a doctor or to hospital?
R: They didn’t put me in hospital. When I remained alone I had to have my braces fitted. And I also had to have two teeth out. I went alone and it was rather… I say: “ok, I’m alone. Where’s Mom?” (She laughs.) I also say: “ok, I’m on my own, I don’t have to live with Mo and hide behind her skirt. And I went there alone and said: “common, it’s not so bad, I can manage, I’ll go next time, too”, and so on. And I started getting used.
I: Did your mother know about that…?
R: Yes, and she said “common, I’m sure you’ll be brave, you aren’t afraid and you’ll get over it…”. She always encouraged me.
I: Do you have any friends whose parents have also left abroad?
R: No, I don’t.
I: Or colleagues? Not necessarily friends…
R: Oh, yes, but I don’t know too much about them. Well, they have either their mother or their father away.
I: Do you feel you talk differently with these kids?
R: I find some common points because they tell me things like “when Dad comes, we go out and all of us will meet again and be together” and I answer “yes, I also feel the same when I see all of my folks”.
I: Do you make comparisons such as: “what’s like that your family, what’s it like in my family…”
R: Yes, we do.
I: What do the other friends of yours say?
R: They tell me they know it is hard and not easy to live alone at my age, but anyway, if not now, in a few years I would have had to get used to the idea of living alone and doing things by myself, and…yes… they encourage me, they say “let’s go out”, so that I wouldn’t feel alone, or they help me not think about being here alone.
I: It means they are real friends.
R: Right.
I: Is there any who envies you?
R: Oh, yes, they tell me “wow, how good you haven’t your parents here with you” and I say “it depends on the relationship you have with your parents; I myself get along well with them and I don’t like them to live so far away, but you probably hardly wait to get rid of your parents if you don’t get along well with them”.
I: What kind of work did your parents do here and what do they do abroad?
R: Dad worked in constructions here and he was also an assistant cook, Mom worked at a bakery, she was helping the restaurant where Dad worked. In Spain Dad works in constructions, while Dad takes care of an old lady, she helps her, does the shopping for her, cleans up and all the stuff.
I: Do they send you presents?
R: Yes, they send me boxes and tell me “take care, a parcel will arrive for you” and I hardly wait to see what’s in it. They usually send me what I like best to eat or sweets or some specific olives sold there, which I really love. When the parcel arrives, Mom asks me “well? Do you like what we sent?” and I say “yes, yes, sure I do” and they are as happy as I am.
I: What about clothes?
R: They don’t send too many clothes because we have different tastes. I choose my own clothes. Mom doesn’t involve. (She laughs.)
I: What about perfumes?
R: No, they send me money so that I could go and buy what I want. “You know better, I’d better give you money and you buy whatever you wish than get something you don’t like.”
I: I see, they help you with money. Do your grandparents administrate it?
R: At the beginning I used to give the money to Grandma, for food and whatever was necessary, but now she told me “look, I’ll give you the money. You have learned what you need to buy”. Now I organize the money alone: this goes here, this goes there and so on.
I: Since they left, have you felt any difference between the things you have now and those you had at the time they lived in the country?
R: I’ve got more things, Last summer I stayed there and they bought a lot of things for me to have. When they see I’m happy they are ready to go on living there and think no more about how long they have to stay or what they have to do. They bought a great deal, including for school, for painting, canvas, watercolors and all the stuff, just to make me happy, but I told them “as long as I live with you I need nothing.” And the feeling was mutual. However, yes, I can say I now have much more.
I: What about your painting stuff, do they buy them in Spain? Can they find there things you cannot find in Romania?
R: You can find them in both countries, but prices are lower in Spain.
I: How often do they send you parcels?
R: Every few months. They wait until they make a pile of items and then they make a parcel to send me.
I: Were there any services like maxi-taxi, or they posted the parcels?
R: I don’t know. (She laughs embarrassed.) They post them where parcels are posted, I don’t know what it’s called, Transcurier or, I really don’t know…
I: Is there any something particular you want or hope to get with the money they give you?
R: Not really. I get the money for what I strictly need. Maybe I’d decorate my room the way I like it, because it remained fit for a kid aged 8 or 9, it doesn’t really fit me. It should be renovated a little and I’m saving for that now… to renovate the house.
I: Are you saving here or they are saving there?
R: They are saving.
I: Do you live in a house?
R: Yes.
I: Is it your grandparents’ house?
R: I live with my grandparents in the same yard, but the house is half theirs and half ours.
4. Internet-based communications
* Technical.
I: I suppose you have access to internet.
R: Yes, I have.
I:WI-FI?
R: WI-FI.
I: What do you use most often, a computer, a smart phone, a tablet?
R: The phone.
I: Who pays for the phone calls?
R: My parents.
I: Had you internet connection before your parents left abroad?
R: Yes, I had. Since my brother got his first computer… I was around six at that time, but I only played like any other kid. I didn’t spend a long time before the computer, my parents didn’t allow me to, we had a rule about how long I could sit and not spend all the time at the computer. Everybody in the family used that computer, whenever each of us needed to.
I: That was when you were still in Spain.
R: Right.
I: When you came back here did you have internet from the very beginning?
R: I did.
I: Do you have your own computer now?
R: I mainly work on the phone, but I will have a laptop next winter.
I: Do you write each other letters?
R: (She laughs, shakes her head.) As long as we have the internet we don’t write letters.
I: Do you use the internet to communicate with your friends and colleagues in Spain as well as in Romania?
R: Yes, I keep in touch, talk on Facebook with those in Romania… or on WhatsApp… I still have some friends in Spain, we became close while I was there for one year… I no longer have any ties with my nursery schoolmates, I know nothing about them… but I also communicate on WhatsApp or Facebook with my friends in Spain.
I: What about Snapchat?
R: I don’t use it.
I: Instagram?
R: Yes.
I: Twitter?
R: No.
I: In Spain?
R: The people there use Instagram more than Facebook. I asked them “what do you use for talking?”
I: Do your parents have a Facebook account?
R: Mom has. We talk… about this and that…
I: How do you prefer to communicate with her?
R: Let’s see. On WhatsApp, with video option and we talk every evening… that’s just the way it is.
I: Which of you calls usually?
R: Mom, when she can or me, when I can call. There’s no rule, Mom must text me or I text her about I whatever…
I: Do you also have mobile data on your phone, can you talk anywhere or you use WI-FI?
R: Yes, I also have mobile data. Mom doesn’t. Basically, we talk when she is at home or if there’s some emergency she calls me.
I: In the evening or when?
R: In the morning, when I am at home. I go to school in the afternoon. Mom is also at home until ten or eleven a.m., therefore we talk about a few things, but we talk more in the evening. I tell her how it’s been, what I’ve done at school…
I: How long is your conversation?
R: It depends. If have many things to tell her, about an hour, an hour and a half, if I haven’t too many, sort of “what have you done?” “Good” “Well… all right!” …and the call ends like that.
I: Is there any other person around your Mom or around you when you two talk?
R: No, usually it’s just me and Mom. Dad is sometimes around or my brother gets in while Mom is talking to me.
I: Do you communicate the same or less often with your brother?
R: We do talk, but less often. I cannot say he doesn’t care about me or he forgot me… he asks how it’s been, if I need something. He asks me to tell him if I need something and he will help me. He works. We have a very good relationship.
I: Does he call you or you call him?
R: He calls more often. I don’t know what problems he has and usually, when I text him he isn’t at home, so he mainly calls me…
I: Also through video?
R: Sometimes through video, sometimes through messages, there’s not rule for that.
I: Speaking about Facebook, does your mother follow you, to see what photos you have posted, where you have gone?
R: She does, but not… ‘let me see what she does”… she’s not the person to interrogate me or… I mean she does ask, but she’s not sniffing around my business.
I: I see. Does she give you any “likes”? Does she comment?
R: Of course…. How couldn’t she?
I: Have there been any cases where you would have liked to talk to her but you couldn’t, like an emergency and…?
R: No, I can reach her anyway. Unless she answers my message, I call her. But she usually answers. She told me “you may call me anytime, I’ll be here”.
I: Do you communicate by e-mail?
R: No, we don’t.
* Content.
I: Do you remember your first communication with your mother, after you had come back to Romania and she went to Spain?
R: Vaguely. I asked her if she arrived safe, is she was ok. She seemed happy enough… well, on the one hand she was happy because she had returned there with my brother and Dad, but on the other hand I knew and felt she was sorry she had left me alone here.
I: Have you ever talked while you were somewhere else, not home?
R: Yes, I was once walking with my boyfriend in the park. I hadn’t talked to Mom that day and she called me. I said “let’s talk”. We saw each other and she said… “Wow! It’s been so long since I last saw that place!”… She was happy. We were in Crâng Park.
I: Does she know about your boyfriend? Has she seen him?
R: Yes, she did. She did!
I: Is he a colleague of yours?
R: No, we met… (She laughs, looking down.)
I: Would you like to talk to your mother more often?
R: We talk enough. When I miss them I call and they answer. I don’t miss talking to them.
I: What did you talk about last time?
R: I told her it had rained stones. I had woken up during the night and sent her a message. Then she said “oh, poor you, you got scared!” I texted her but I woke her up. I said “sorry for wakening you” and she said “oh, it doesn’t matter, I’m also glad to hear you”…
I: Did your grandmother get scared, too?
R: She also woke up, came to me… “Wow, is that good? That’s the end” and I said “common, granny, you’re overreacting!”
I: Did your grandfather get scared?
R: Grandpa was rattled. Grandma asked him to sweep.
I: Does your mother ask you what you’d like her to bring?
R: Yes, she asks when she makes a parcel “what else would you like us to send you?” Do you want this or that…Even if I tell them there’s no need for that, they still put a lot in the parcel.
I: Have you ever asked them for s specific thing?
R: I don’t usually ask for a thing if I don’t need it. I know they also need many things and sometimes forget about their own needs just for my sake. How can I tell them I want this and that, I feel embarrassed. I don’t usually do that.
I: Is there any item you still have in mind, from those sent by them, any favorite item?
R: Favorite! Well, there are many. Mom sent me a music box. It is very beautiful, shaped like a heart. I like boxes. I’ve got a collection of boxes, small or bigger… most of them made of wood. In Spain we moved to another house and I had had a small box which I still remember. It was like this (she makes gestures) and had a small mirror and I used to put candies in it. When we moved they didn’t take my box and I lost it… Mom panicked: “let’s pay a visit there, maybe we’ll find the box.” Since then I’ve been collecting boxes, but I cannot get that box out of my head. The music box has a ballerina singing and spinning around and saying mama. Whenever I miss her or them I open the box…
I: What music is it? Is it a famous song?
R: Not really. It’s a song played on the piano.
I: Can you hum it?
R: It’s well known. It’s like.. (She hums.)
I: Oh, it’s Für Elise. Cool! I also love boxes. I don’t collect them, but…
R: Whenever I see one I say “wow, how nice it is!” “Common, your room is full of boxes. You’ll only have boxes in it!”
I: How big is the largest one and how small the smallest one?
R: The largest? I usually have small boxes, like this (she shows making gestures)… or very small, but I don’t have a large one (she shows making gestures)… How can I put it? I would like one. (She laughs.)
I: How do you arrange them? How do you keep them?
R: I usually like to… move things around the room very often. I usually arrange them so that their color goes with something in the room. Thus, everything is nice and well organized.
I: I understand they are placed in different parts of your room.
R: Yes, I don’t have them all in the same place. Two on my desk, two on a case…
I: Therefore, this passion of yours started in Spain?
R: Right.
I: Did you take those you had in Spain with you to Romania?
R: In Spain I had a few, but they were not so important… I mainly started to collect them in Romania. But my love for boxes started in Spain, when I was a little girl.
I: Since when has your passion intensified here in Romania?
R: I started collecting… I first got a box from Dad. He made it for me. I used to tell him that I liked to collect stones, a weird collection… I used to go to the river with Dad and picked up stones and Mom said “kid, are you a girl or a boy? You are always carrying those stones.” “What exactly do you have to do with them?” Dad gave me a box and I put a few things in I; I also had a box from Spain, a red one, with some Chinese faces on it, painted in Chinese style. It was a tin box. And I started putting souvenirs in it. I’ve got two boxes where I keep them: one with letters, notes, things dating from my toddlerhood and one with toys or souvenirs from places I visit. I buy something from a place and I write on it “this is from….”. I love collecting things. I’ve got something in each box.
I: Cool! What about your passion for drawing? How did you…?
R: I’ve had it since I was a little girl. While I was at the nursery school I used to make drawings to Mom, small pieces of paper, drawings in general… I can remember the typical drawing was a princess wearing a fancy dress and a thin boy next to her and a field of flowers and many little hearts behind. I used to draw a lot. When they asked us to draw at the nursery I used to be the first who finished it and started making a second one, waiting for the others to finish and I asked “what shall I do next?” I haven’t had this talent since I was a little girl. It has developed … I have developed my own talent. I always like to be the best at drawing and also in my class. If I see someone drew better than me, I say “I could’ve also done better!” Next time I apply myself more, to draw even better…
I: How did you decide to go to the Art High School?
R: I hadn’t known about it. When I came from Spain I was nine. I had a cousin who was in an architecture class. Mom spoke with my cousin’s mother who said “yes, it’s an art school where the children draw, learn a lot of things and it is a really good high school.” Mom then told me “look, there’s a high school…” I said “Really? How interesting!” and I enrolled, I passed the tests here. I still have the drawing I made during the tests. When I see it I say “Oh, how could they admit me?” (She laughs) After that, I remained here and I say “I still see myself finishing high school here, nowhere else”.
I: When you last lived in Spain you also attended a high school with arts profiles or…?
R: I had to attend a similar high school. I imagined that if Spain was more advanced or they did things differently…But in the high school where I intended to study, they mainly speak valenciano. It’s a bit more difficult language. It’s Spanish, too, but it’s more difficult. I had learned it when very young, but had forgotten it because I no longer heard it. Therefore, I didn’t go to that high school, I went to another, because I had got friends with some twin girls. They also liked drawing and I said “let’s go to that high school because they also have a arts line there…” And they said “very good, let’s do it”. The teacher didn’t show too much interest in teaching us, neither were the students interested in learning drawing too much and I hardly did something and was very disappointed knowing what I had left here and I talked to my former colleagues here and they told me “oh! We have two classes a week, we do specialty classes.” I said “God, why did I leave? I came here where we don’t do anything!” That is why I don’t want to go back to Spain. I want to continue developing my talent. (She laughs.)
I: How did your parents react when you told them you wouldn’t go back?
R: The fact is that I managed pretty well during the first semester. They have three semesters there. I did quite well in the first one, but I had low grades because it was very hard and the teachers didn’t hang around for me to learn. They understood that if I could speak I could also manage with everything. But it’s not like that. I sort of got discouraged… It demoralized me. I knew I could have managed much better in a high school with my line. When I got to Spain things were going so badly for me… although they encouraged me. “Even if you were abroad for seven years you can manage very well.” In the second semester it was even worse than in the first one. I was on the verge of depression. My Mom’s colleagues told her “common, she will get used, how could you leave now and spoil your life here?” Mom told them “hold on, it’s my kid’s future at stake, I cannot leave her torment her soul in a high school where she’s unhappy.” Therefore, if we have to go to Romania, we do it, and she came here with me…
I: Are there any things you feel you can only discuss with your mother or only with your father or your brother?
R: Yes, there are some things I tell my brother. I know he’s on my side. It’s been so more often since I started going out with my current boyfriend. Mom wouldn’t let me have a boyfriend until I was seventeen. I’ve liked him since I was sixteen. And I was… “What shall I do now? I can’t tell her because she will say no.” So, I told my brother and he said… “Common, it’ll be ok, you’ll manage…” I don’t know how it was, my parents were supposed to come here on holiday. I did tell Mom something, but only like we were just friends, without involving a relationship. Mom started liking the idea in a way and she said… “I want to meet him, too…” I said “all right”. And after that I was very much surprised when she told me she would let me have a relationship with him, although I wasn’t seventeen. My brother must have put in a good word. Yes.. There are certain things I tell my brother, others I only tell Mom. It depends on the subject.
I: Do you feel that certain things can only be discussed face-to-face, not through internet?
R: I don’t know. I haven’t had any problem about which I could have only spoken face-to-face, so that we should have seen each other… We have talked anyway.
I: Any common activities on internet with your mother or father or brother?
R: On internet…
I: Do you have meals together…?
R: Yes, we do, sometimes Mom calls me while I’m eating and she is also eating at the same time and I put the phone on the table, so that she could see me and we talk and eat… “What are you eating there?” My brother is the same. He is watching TV while telling me what he sees.
I: Does your mother take her phone to show you in the shops what…?
R: Sometimes she went to buy me shirts for school and sent me pictures thereof: “look, do you like this one?” She had bought one. “Look, I show you a picture. If you don’t like it, I’ll go to change it. If you like it, I’ll buy you more.’ “Yes, that’s nice.” “I’ll buy you one more.” She only does like that!
I: Do your parents talk to your teachers? Do they keep in touch with them?
R: Yes, when my parents came on holiday, I mean their holiday, last October they talked to my form mistress. She told them how I managed at school, that she was pleased with my results, because I had never managed better. They were even surprised, asking what had happened, and I said “I don’t know either. My boyfriend must have had an influence on me; a positive one.” Now my grandparents are keeping in touch with my form mistress.
5. Relationship with the absent parent(s) (important stages/significant moments)
I: How often do your parents come to the country?
R: Last time… I hadn’t seen them since April and I visited them last July. Now they may next come in December for the season holidays. They come whenever they can, when they are on holiday, otherwise I go there if I can.
I: When you all were abroad, how often did you use to come to Romania?
R: If we lived there for seven years… we only returned here once when I was six. Therefore, I first came back here when I was six. One summer my grandparents visited us in Spain. Then my mother’s younger sister moved with us. She came and lived a while in Spain and then we all came to Romania.
I: Did you use to call your grandparents through Skype or otherwise?
R: No, Mom used to call them. They used to talk over the phone and I used to ask Mom what was going on with my grandparents…
I: Did you meet them when you first returned to Romania?
R: Yes, it was then that I met them. I was so curious. I didn’t even know I had some cousins. I had heard something about them, but I had never met them. It was then that I met my maternal family.
I: What impression did they give you?
R: they are nice people. At that age, I was not very much interested in what they were talking or discussing about. They gave me sweets… I played with those cousins who were closer in age to me. That’s all.
I: You and your cousins are now friends, do you get along well?
R: Yes, very well. Most of them are older than me and almost all are married and we don’t really…
I: What did you do when you – you and your parents – last met?
R: My birthday approached and… No! Actually it was on Mom’s birthday. My brother was in Spain. My Mom’s birthday was in March and I knew nothing about what was going to happen. My brother made her a surprise and came to Romania for her birthday. We didn’t expect him. Mom in particular was asking “Is that you?” “No, I’m a ghost”. We all went out, had dinner, talked, told stories, laughed and my brother went back to Spain, but before that he bought me a teddy bear for my birthday, a big one. They told me to hold the teddy bear in my arms whenever I would miss them and I would feel better.
I: When is your birthday?
R: In May.
I: Under a strong sign. One can see it in you. Can you describe what was it like there where you lived in Spain?
R: It was very beautiful. I liked the region so much. Even if I don’t like to study there, I love the country in general. We lived close to almost everything: close to the park, to the doctor, shops, city and beach. And it was really beautiful, especially when we had guests. We used to go to the seaside, me and my parents, and it was great. There were also mountains nearby, but we didn’t go there too often because we didn’t have a car. You have the advantage of having both mountains and seaside there. Here you can see the sea; there you can see the mountains. It was great: the place, the landscape, everything.
I: What about the house you lived in? Did you like it?
R: The house… We lived in an apartment. The home itself was nice. We didn’t give much thought, “we won’t live here for good.” It was old and non-refurbished. It was the apartment of one of Mom’s friends. Mom’s friend’s brother had lived in it but he no longer lived there. The house was quite old. We painted and arranged it a little, to make it fit for living. It wasn’t much of a luxury, but you couldn’t cry out.
I: You said you had moved at a certain moment. Is that the apartment where you moved to?
R: No, we first lived in a small two-storey cottage. There are many such houses there. We lived upstairs. Then we moved to my aunt’s home. She moved somewhere else and the house was empty. We liked both the region and the house and we moved there.
I: Can you tell me what impressed you mainly in Spain or in the Spanish?
R: They are very friendly.
I: More friendly than the Romanians?
R: They aren’t as fancy as us, so to say. They are simpler, they don’t care so much about clothes, what they put on, about women wearing high heels… Well, they are very neat, especially the older ones. They dress well, get their hair done, but they don’t put much emphasize on that. This is what I think. Some people place fashion on a higher level than them. I don’t say they aren’t fashionable. I don’t know if you understand me.
I: You mean they behave more naturally, they aren’t stuck up.
R: In the class I was in we had students of almost all nationalities: Cubans, one black boy, Romanians, two gipsy girls and two or three Spanish. At first, I didn’t like the class at all. I said “what am I doing in this class?” After a while I realized I had greatly misjudged them and they were very nice and open with me and made me laugh when I was sad and cried – I cried at school many times, I was very depressed and pessimistic. They encouraged me… They helped me a lot.
I: After you returned to the country, when you paid a visit to them in Spain did you find any changes?
R: Not very big differences, because I hadn’t been away for too long, just one year. When I went there last summer it didn’t seem to me that there were any significant changes.
I: Do your parents tell you about their work?
R: Yes, they do. I always ask them, as she also asks me how school was and other things, “But what did you do at work? Was it ok, did you have to work hard?” And she tells me. So does Dad. You see, I don’t have too many subjects to discuss with Dad… I’ve also understood that he is not very open with me… when we are more in a room, he is rather reserved… However, he is funny, tell stories, and I like to be with him. He also tells about work: “it was hard” or “it was easy”…
I: What is the field your brother works in?
R: He used to make swimming pools, but now he isn’t working. He must find a job and he hopes he will.
I: Would you like to move back there?
R: No, I wouldn’t. Perhaps I’ll move after I finish high school and I am free there… What if I am still with my boyfriend? Shall I leave him? No, I’ll follow my way and stay in Romania. If I break up with him, then yes, I’ll go there. I’ll go as far as possible.
I: Do your parents want to return?
R: If they had some work here, they would.
I: How old are they?
R: Mom is forty-three and Dad is fifty.
I: Are there any advantages of your living separately?
R: Yes, there are certain advantages, because it helped me grow up quickly. I used to be careless before… Now I have to clean up, cook, go shopping, buy whatever is necessary in the house, buy whatever they need and send them… The same goes for my grandparents. I have to establish certain things with them. My whole day is busy. I have no time for crying. So, it helped me a lot.
I: Who helped you with your homework?
R: She hasn’t helped me since I was in the fifth grade.
I: Are there any things you try to hide from them?
R: No, I currently have nothing to hide. Mom didn’t allow me to have a boyfriend before, but now I tell her how it’s been, where we’ve gone, what we’ve done. No, I have nothing to hide from her.
I: Which could be the negative parts of the fact that you live separately?
R: the fact that we don’t see each other. It would be better if they were here. I would have more free time and the family would be complete.
I: Thank you very much.