Q: Age?
A: 45 years old.
Q: How long have you been in Spain?
A: For 15 years.
Q: Do you have kids?
A: I have two, a daughter and a son. The girl is the smallest and is 4 years old. The boy is 24.
Q: How was your life in your country before you came here?
A: It was very bad. You cannot live well. We had very few things, just enough to live, not for clothes nor stuff. We had very few things.
Q: Did you have a job?
A: I cleaned and took care of older people, I did that for almost eight years. Then I worked in a bakery, I did bread there for three years, and then I was a nurse for seven years. When things started to go wrong, my husband left me for another woman, I couldn’t manage with the kids, I didn’t have enough money. So I went to Portugal. I started working in agriculture, in a strawberry plantation, for a long time, but then my back hurt badly. My boss had many homes, so when there was a cleaning job available she offered it to me, I did that for nine months. I earned very little there, three euros per hour. It wasn’t enough to maintain my children and buy food. So then I came to Spain. At first I took care of a couple, but it was also not enough money, so I continued working cleaning houses. I go from house to house all day cleaning, so that I have enough money to eat and feed my children. Then I got pregnant, worked for seven months and then stopped working. Now I have two kids, we don’t have enough, my husband doesn’t want to go to work. So I went to work to pay rent, light, water, food, pay for thing for my daughter to study. But we have to go on, there is no other way. I want a good normal life for my kids.
Q: When you left Romania, did you do it with your son?
A: At first I came by myself, my son stayed with my mother to continue studying. I had to send money for food and clothes, it was complicated. Everything was very expensive. Now my father is very ill in Romania, he has cancer, and I want to go see him but I can’t. My son is also there and I want to help him because he had a problem with his job and has no money to live. I need money for him, for my little girl. I want a decent life for her, I want to leave everything so that she can study. And I want to go to Romania, but I don’t have money to buy a plane ticket to see my father a couple of weeks. The doctor said there is nothing to do about his health, no surgery possible, and someone has to look after him. I want to go to see my family and to give my daughter some joy.
Q: When was the last time you went?
A: Last year. I went with my daughter, by car with my brother. My father was happy, but we couldn’t stay long. He has a low pensión, only 200 euros, both my parents have to live with that money.
Q: When you decided to leave to another country, did you know what you would find?
A: I didn’t know I would work in agriculture, I had no idea what job I would get. I didn’t know I would have to look for a job to maintain my son and his studies. He was so small then, he was 7. Time flew by and now he is 24.
Q: When you went to those counties did you have a person you could contact?
A: I knew a few but they didn’t want to help me find a job. In Portugal I started working for a man who had an English business, I cleaned his office and his house. That was the only decent job and it payed well. In agriculture the job is hard, a lot of physical effort, and it doesn’t pay well, it is not enough. And it was difficult. I had a very bad time.
Q: Was it hard for you to find a job when you got to the new countries?
A: In Portugal it took me two months, in Spain four months. I walked around the streets, sat at a bench to cry because no one hired me and I didn’t know what to do. I went to Caritas searching for help, advice or a job. And after four months the job for the married couple appeared. But the man was very depressed, mentally not ok, he screamed. Their son told me not to pay attention to it, but I couldn’t stand seeing him suffer so I left. And the next job was for a worse married couple. And after three years I went back to my country to see my family. My son was suffering and needing many things, so I said I would leave once he has a bed, a desk and a fridge. So then I came back and continued cleaning.
Q: What do you like best from Spain?
A: I like the weather, it is warmer. In Romania it’s really cold, my mother told me it is starting to snow. You need to have many clothes to keep warm and good shoes. Also I like that there are many fruits, like oranges, lemons. It is cheaper here. Murcia is nice, I also like Alicante. I would like to have a house there when I get older. It has movement, nice beaches and tourism.
Q: How is your relationship with the family that stayed in Romania?
A: I left there both my parents, two brothers and a sister. I brought my son, he is working as a truck driver.
Q: And how do you communicate with your parents?
A: We talk on the phone, my father says that he loves my daughter, that he wants to see me and that it is a pity that there is not have enough money for us to go to Romania to work. He says he will be lucky to see my daughter before he dies. There is nothing I can do to it.
Q: Do you and your siblings send money to your parents?
A: Sometimes I do when I have money. But now I’m having trouble with my kids I can’t send it. But sometimes I send what I have, 100/150 euros. At the moment I can’t, so my brother sends some.
Q: How often do you speak?
A: It depends if I have time, some days yes, other days no.
Q: Do you call them?
A: I call them, but when he has free minutes on the phone they call me. I tell them what I do, how’s everything going with my daughter. They tell me their things, their problems. I tell them they need to keep going, it is the only way.
Q: Is your daughter studying here?
A: She is studying in Paseo Rosales.
Q: Is she happy?
A: She is happy, but sometimes she says to me that she wants to see her grandparents, animals, snow, she wants to go to Romania.
Q: Do you consider that your life here is better than what you would have in Romania?
A: Yes, it is a bit better than Romania. There you can’t buy a flat, can’t build a house. There are corrupt politicians that steal money and they don’t care for the people who don’t have enough to eat.
Q: Did you know the spanish language before you came?
A: I knew nothing. At first I lived in a flat that though the window I heard loud voices speaking in spanish, I thought it was very difficult, I couldn’t understand. It is complicated.
Q: And how did you learn it?
A: On my own, I started writing what I heard. I bought a big book and started reading and writing. I needed to know the basic things there are in a house, plates, glasses, so I could find a job. Basic things.
Q: Have you made new friends here?
A: I have friends, some good and some not so much. Some say something in your face but then another behind your back. There is a bit of everything.
Q: Do you think about leaving to another country?
A: No, just Spain, I like it here. In Romania things are bad.
Q: Have you thought about going back?
A: Just for a holiday, a month or two, that’s it. Then I have to come back here to have a job to maintain my kids, so that my daughter can study. There it is more complicated, you have to talk to the teachers and it is harder. She is very smart, speaks good spanish and even english. Next year I want to pay more so she can have better studies, and so she won’t end up like me cleaning.
Q: To conclude, what do you think are the main differences between Romania and Spain?
A: The situation there is very bad. Here at least I can live, a bit more decently, a normal life to take care of my kids and help them study.
Q: Is it harder to find a job in Romania?
A: Yes, it is difficult. You need a lot of money so that a business hires you. If I go back and want my job back there, I need like 2 or 3 thousand euros so they can take me back. I would have to talk to the boss so they would hire me again. And then I would have to wait like a month. But if you don’t give them money they don’t hire you. It is all with money in Romania. In a hospital, if you don’t have money, they treat you like animals or worse. People die there every day. You need money so that a doctor can see you, and then he sends you to a specialist, and you keep on spending money. You need at least a thousand euros. If you don’t have money the doctor doesn’t care for you, they leave you outside, giving birth on your own. I was working there and wanted to leave.