Irina (39), Leonid (10)

Sunday, March 6, 2022, Trencin

We met in the kitchen where she was making coffee. Frightened, everything around is new, uncertain of the future. Considering all the pros and cons, but still unable to make a decision as to what to do next. After all, everything is too fresh and sore. For a while, for a few more days, first she needs to calm down, relax and then hit the road again. She shows me photos on her phone. Just two weeks ago she was on a trip with the children and felt happy.

"There is currently a war going on in Ukraine, you can't live there. We spent the first night on the subway. We only had pillows and blankets. It was very windy there. Then we spent next five days and nights in the cellar, it was cold and humid, but at least it didn't blow there. Fortunately, we have managed to get to the train station. A taxi drive from our house to the station (15 minute drive) normally costs 100 hryvnia. Now the price is 30 times higher. It is dangerous. First we went to our friends who are living near the Moldovan border, from there we walked to Moldova. Then we took the bus to Bucharest, train to Budapest and from there we came to Slovakia. Why Slovakia? My brother lives and works here with his wife. We have arrived last night. The train and bus journey took us endless 5 days. We gradually passed through Moldova, Romania, Hungary, all the way here."

"We do not know yet where we will go next, what we will do. We shall decide within the next two weeks, but first we need a clean up in our heads. We will either stay here or there is another alternative, although unlikely, and that is Turkey. The good thing is that the Ukrainian language is similar to Slovak. I noticed that it sounds like Ukrainian, only it is written in Latin."

"My stepfather and my husband along with my sister stayed at home. I don't know if they are going to leave their homeland. My stepfather is a great patriot and my sister does not want to leave her husband. My son attends fifth grade. If we stay here, we will have to find him a school. My brother and his wife will help us out, they speak Slovak and they know what to do. But we will solve all this only when we definitely know where we will stay. I was told that the average pay here is around € 900 and that the cost of housing is around € 450. At home, of course, I did not have such a paycheck. I earned about 20 - 25 thousand hryvnia. However, the pay-to-life ratio was better. I paid about 2 - 3 thousand hryvnia for our apartment. I worked in real estate, in Kharkov I rented 10 apartments on a short-term basis. I don't know what sort job I could do here yet."

"I can't understand what's going on. It's incomprehensible. God is their judge!"