The debt was repaid. Almost
“I left my native Zhytomyr with tears in my eyes. I was not pleased by the super-comfortable bus, nor consoled by the fact that on the way to Portugal I would see many beautiful places and visit different countries. Even the fact that my husband was sitting next to me did not make it easier. Two years! How could I earn money if I didn’t even know a word of Portuguese? How could I live without friends and the support of my parents?” - It was with such cheerless thoughts that Oksana Mironchuk left for a distant and unknown country together with her husband with a single goal - to earn money to open her own cafe.
“We were taken to such a backwater where there were no shops or post office. Only after three weeks did our acquaintances, with whom we had arrived together from Zhytomyr, come to us and bring envelopes. From Porto, where we thought we would stay, we were carried 300 km away - we were near Spain.
It was hard work. Not knowing the language greatly affected my husband’s salary, and mine too. But we gradually adapted. We worked from eight in the morning until twelve at night. We were given three days off a month, and even then separately. We were fed quite well. I worked in the kitchen - washed dishes, peeled potatoes, fried meat. Igor was a bartender - polished glasses to a shine, made coffee, arranged bottles. Our salary was small, not at all what we had counted on. In three months we only worked off the money we had borrowed for paperwork, buying tickets, and other “little things” without which leaving the country is impossible. But in addition to these debts, we had to pay $600 for being placed in a job.
They had to quit
After several months, which passed according to the formula “work - home - work”, Oksana and Igor quit the restaurant and decided to look for a place with higher earnings. “We left because of the low salary and the poor attitude toward ‘Ukrainian slaves’. Igor found a place immediately, on a construction site, but I was unlucky - they promised work only from September 1. The fact is that in August the Portuguese do not work at all, everyone is on vacation. All factories and plants stand still.
In the village of Maia, where we moved to live (we rented a house), there were quite a few Ukrainians, Russians and Latvians - there was someone to talk to. While I was without work, I spent half the day learning Portuguese, and the second half sleeping. Where else would I have gotten enough sleep, if not in Portugal...”
Peculiarities of local “cuisine”
According to Oksana, every Saturday and Sunday in Portugal is a holiday. Fireworks everywhere, everyone is out walking and having fun. True, there is one nuance: only those who have money can rest to their heart’s content.
“Food and housing are very expensive. Everything Igor earned went to us. $200 for the house (that’s considered cheap), $200 for food, and we didn’t eat lavishly by any means. Cigarettes are very expensive - $2 a pack. And candies and cookies cost from $10 to $15 per kilogram. Portuguese bagaço (vodka) is impossible even to smell, let alone drink, but the wine is excellent. For a bottle of “Russkaya” you have to pay from $9 to $16.”
“When we arrived in Portugal,” Oksana continues her story, “the air temperature stayed at 18-23 degrees, and later the barometer reading reached forty. The heat was unbearable. My most cherished desire was to not get out from under the shower, but water there is truly an expensive pleasure. I really wanted to dive into the Zhytomyr Teterev for at least an hour.
When we had a free minute, we walked around the village and went to admire the ocean. It was very beautiful in Maia - palm trees, lemons, oranges and other exotic plants grew everywhere.”
“Joyful” news
Soon Igor’s legalization was processed. Oksana’s employer (she had found a job as a saleswoman) also promised to legalize her stay in the near future, but...
“My husband and I lived together for four years, but I just couldn’t get pregnant. Back in Zhytomyr I had many tests, tried various treatments, but nothing helped. And then suddenly at work I started feeling nauseous. At first I thought I’d eaten something wrong, but the nausea became regular. Then I went to a doctor for the first time.” (When Oksana entered the hospital and asked the first black man in a white coat she met where a certain office was, he answered her in Russian. It turned out that John had been studying at the Vinnytsia Medical University.)
“The doctor confirmed my suspicions - I was in the third week of pregnancy. I was so overjoyed at this news that I even forgot that I hadn’t worked in Portugal for a year, although we had planned to stay for two. I had one desire - to urgently return to Ukraine to give birth to my long-awaited baby at home, and not in a distant, foreign country.”
No sooner said than done. A week later Oksana was already on a plane. In Zhytomyr, after many tests, the doctor sent the patient for an ultrasound. The result was shocking - the embryo had died a week after conception...
Oksana, like all of us, was far from loyal to our doctors. But after the incident that happened to her, she is more than sure: nowhere, even abroad, are there such qualified doctors as in Ukraine. After all, she went to the Portuguese gynecologist for a week. He listened to her and prepared her for motherhood. And in Zhytomyr, at the very first appointment, the doctor sensed something was wrong and wrote a referral for an ultrasound.
After his wife’s departure, Igor worked in Portugal for exactly six months. Upon his return, the couple failed to realize their dream. The money they had earned was not enough to open a cafe. But the former law enforcement officer and the seller of cleaning products at the local market nevertheless started their own business. With the money they earned, they bought woodworking machines and opened their own workshop.
When asked whether they would go abroad to earn money again, the couple answered in one voice: “No!”
A few useful tips
- Oksana, but is it still possible to earn money in Portugal to start a business?
- You can. But there are a lot of nuances here. If a person goes to Portugal knowing that they will be helped with employment, that is a big plus. Another advantage is having a European-style diploma, since the Ukrainian one is not valid there. We earned $400-500 a month, and some of our compatriots - $800-1.700.
- As far as I know, almost all Ukrainians go abroad to work as tourists. What to do after the tourist visa expires?
- We also came to Portugal as tourists. If you don't find a job before the visa expires, you become illegal, and you have to hide from the police. So the most important thing is to find a job in the first days. Even better is to go on a work visa, but it's expensive.
- What can you say about the attitude of the Portuguese towards Ukrainians?
- In principle, there are as many opinions as there are people. There is no particular disrespect towards Ukrainians, but there is no sympathy either. I was shocked that in Portugal Ukrainians are not allowed into discos and restaurants: a couple of times our people showed their "abilities" for drinking, and they even called an ambulance for them. So even in faraway Portugal, our people made a name for themselves.
- What do you consider the main advantage when getting a job in Portugal?
- First of all, knowledge of the language. It is very important. Without it, you won't get a well-paid job. And even if you manage to find a place, the attitude of local colleagues and employers will be terrible. I even know a case where, due to ignorance of the language, a Ukrainian woman who worked as a waitress was humiliated and tormented until she quit. The woman developed serious mental disorders: she had to return to Ukraine - to spend the money she earned on treating the disease.