The story of Mariana Story · installations and exhibitions: LSYTSDA Sala Alterarte
Position · 0:00 / 10:34 SubtitlesOff ES EN GL Transcript 0:00 Hello, good afternoon. My name is Mariana Oprea. I have 0:05 lived in Spain for 25 years. When we first came, 0:10 everything was very different from the way 0:14 most people arrive from other countries now. 0:19 It used to be very complicated. You came by bus, 0:23 a three-day journey. You had to put up with 0:27 the crowd, because there were almost 70 of us on one bus. 0:32 You had to show that you had money. 0:34 When they stopped you, coming to Spain was not as easy as it is now. 0:39 Now it is. Now, for me… 0:42 The way I see it, it is very easy. 0:46 Now you come by plane. 0:48 Now it is completely different. 0:51 It used to be quite complicated. 0:53 In fact, getting across to Spain 0:58 or France was… because you had 1:03 to show money, because you came with a 1:07 visa. You had a three-month visa, and then… 1:11 If you overstayed your visa, they would expel you and 1:15 send you back to your country. It was quite complicated. 1:19 I came to Spain when I 1:23 was 24, and now I 1:27 am 49. You can work out… 1:35 how many years I have been here. I lived 1:38 in Vigo for five years, and then I moved 1:41 and came to Ourense. When I first arrived, it was 1:47 difficult. I did understand some words, but of course… 1:53 it was very complicated. I understood a little 1:56 because we had some Spanish soap operas in Romania, 1:59 so we understood some things. But going from that 2:03 to shopping at the supermarket or looking for work… 2:07 Because you needed to understand each other, more or less. 2:12 It was quite complicated, and little by little we started… 2:17 signing up for language courses, at least 2:21 to learn a little. It was also 2:25 hard to get into those courses. There were 2:29 not as many foreigners as now, twenty-something years ago, 2:33 but it was still difficult. So we had to 2:38 learn the language that way, listening here and there: 2:42 two words here, two words there. In fact, I still 2:45 do not speak… After so many years, I do not speak 2:48 perfectly. Things are what they are. 2:51 And when I came to Spain, 2:55 I also arrived practically alone. 3:01 I arrived… A cousin of mine who, at first… 3:05 My cousin told me she would give me a job, 3:10 supposedly. There were a lot of shady things 3:13 going on. You had to be very careful because… 3:17 There was a lot of crime, as there 3:21 is now too. Many women were sent into 3:25 prostitution. I was very young then, and even 3:29 though she was my cousin, I could not fully 3:33 trust her… Although I took the risk of 3:36 coming here, I was a little afraid, and… 3:39 Thank God I met a good person, who 3:44 became the father of my children. We met 3:49 here. Then we got together, and 3:54 today I have three wonderful children. 3:58 I have been separated from my children's father for 4:01 eight years. It was not easy at all because… 4:03 Being in a country that is not yours, 4:09 separated, with three children, and raising them so… 4:14 they can study and have what they need. I did 4:17 not have a steady job either, so it was not 4:21 that easy. But thank God I managed to get ahead with them. 4:27 When I came here to Spain, it is 4:32 true that I imagined a life, from the picture 4:37 people painted for me, where everything was wonderful. But when 4:41 you come and live here, it is not the 4:45 same, honestly. Then… What have I 4:50 done up to now? Thank 4:55 God, I found work, thanks to 4:58 the good people God always put in 5:01 my path. I managed to get ahead, and now I 5:07 can say that I am very happy, and I have 5:13 my children with me. They are the most sacred 5:16 thing in my life. And I will keep fighting 5:20 every day, day by day, for them and 5:24 for myself. We are happy, honestly. Today, 5:27 if I had to choose where to live, it would 5:30 be here. My children are here; my family is here. 5:36 I have spent more years in Spain than in Romania, 5:40 so I cannot say Romania. It is true that 5:44 I have my sisters and family there too, 5:49 but my closest family is here. So this is 5:54 where I will build my life. Even if you 5:58 have a house or whatever you have in Romania, 6:02 it is also true that the standard of living in 6:04 Romania has risen a lot. It is not like before, 6:08 but I still do not see myself there. I see 6:12 myself here. My acquaintances are here, my people are here, 6:16 my children are here. 6:18 Look, honestly, I am proud to be 6:23 Romanian. It is also true, to be honest, that in Romania there is a bit 6:28 of everything, as in every country: good and bad people. But I am proud to 6:33 be Romanian, even if life there cannot offer 6:37 us the same things we have here. But 6:40 honestly, I am very proud of my country, 6:44 because they are hardworking people. There are 6:48 honest people, people who struggle every day. 6:52 Perhaps I could say they struggle harder 6:55 than people here, because people here work, but the pay has to be 7:00 high, otherwise they do not work. In Romania, however, people do work for 7:04 both a lot and a little. So I 7:08 am a good person thanks to my country, because 7:12 in our country people work for both a 7:15 lot and a little. And there are also 7:19 bad people, I am not saying there are not. But 7:21 that is true in every country. And if I have to 7:24 choose between Spain and Romania, I 7:28 mean that I choose Spain 7:32 because my children are here. But 7:36 as I said, Romania is not that 7:39 bad either. And it is also true that I 7:43 had a good upbringing. I came to Spain because 7:47 I was young and wanted a better future for myself. But 7:51 things were not that bad, thank God. It was all right. 7:55 Well, look, I will be honest with you. Having been here for so many years, 8:01 I have never felt rejected by 8:04 anyone, to put it that way. 8:08 Not in Vigo, where I lived for five years, 8:13 nor here in Ourense. Because I am a very 8:17 communicative person. Even if someone is 8:22 in a bad mood or whatever, I 8:27 always try to smile and make them smile. And 8:31 no, I have never felt rejected, because I think 8:34 that was one of the things that brought me closer to 8:38 this country. No one ever rejected me. I do not know, 8:43 perhaps I was lucky and did not come across bad 8:48 people who would reject me. No, there is more rejection, 8:52 honestly, from your own compatriots than 8:56 from people here in Spain. 8:59 But frustrated about coming to Spain or 9:03 anything like that? No, never. Honestly, never. 9:07 Well, honestly, sometimes I dream in Spanish, 9:14 because I dream that I am talking to my children, 9:17 because we speak Spanish at home too. 9:19 Rarely in Romanian. 9:22 And sometimes I dream in Romanian too, when I dream about my family, 9:26 because we speak Romanian. 9:27 But otherwise, it is fine. With my children, always, 9:31 because we always speak Spanish. That is also 9:34 why I learnt the language properly, when 9:38 my children grew up. I had to put in the 9:41 effort to speak to them, so I learnt much better. 9:44 Well, look, honestly… It happened to me, and it happens 9:49 all the time: when I go out with my 9:54 children, we laugh our heads off. Because I 9:58 am a bit of a clown, let's say. I 10:02 like it… We laugh in the street, with my son, 10:07 with my daughter, with the little one, all of us. 10:11 So, honestly, that is how we are: very… How 10:16 would I put it? Very cheerful, always very happy. 10:21 We walk around, and if we trip, we laugh. Even if it hurts, we laugh. 