Oksana arrived in Cuba from Kiev, Ukraine, when she was 22. It was 26/3/1992. Now she lives in Ciego de Avila with her husband and two sons. “It was full Special Period, so we boarded in Ukraine with many ‘soviet’ things to sell. There was nothing there in Cuba…no water, no power, no food for us and the baby. We firstly settled at my husband’s family house. Although they accepted me and respected my customs and habits, the first week has been very difficult and sad for me. My homeland was far away. I stopped talking for 5 days, I felt unhappy. [...] The cultural shock has been strong at the beginning...but you have to try to understand. I had my husband’s love, and I didn’t need anything else. There should always be love. No time for sadness, even though melancholy is somewhat inevitable. In the snow no flowers grow, you don’t have to think about them, nor looking for them”.

Tamara arrived in Cuba from Rostov, Russia, when she was 19. It was 20/08/1986. She now lives in Holguin with her partner and three siberian husky dogs after divorcing from her first husband. "What actually shocked me when I came was the climate in Cuba, suddenly when I got off the plane, as if they were pressing a pillow over my face...it was so hot and humid! I've always loved winter much more than summer...I'm missing a lot my Russia, the snow, my brothers. My dogs remind me of my land".

"I had always imagined Cuba a beautiful, immense garden, where it was always summer. A paradise full with flowers and fruits that you could pick from the trees directly on the streets. Toni and I arrived a La Habana by night, I couldn’t see anything, but as it started to dawn, I figured out there were no gardens, nor anything I had imagined".

“We Russian women who live here are not migrants. We’re victims of the relationship that URSS was having with Cuba at that time. […] Cuban men all knew how to treat women, and we felt in love almost inevitably…But not all of them told us the truth. The first time I came here I was on holidays, always under the sun, having fun. Everything was beautiful…and I didn’t realize. I couldn’t have a large vision at that time. They showed me only the most beautiful part of the island…”.

Violetta arrived in Cuba from Izmail, Ukraine, when she was 22. It was 9/12/1987. "Nostalgia is a feeling that persists in everyone, and with the passing years that feeling is getting stronger. You miss people, your friends and family…you miss things, some places of your childhood… Unfortunately that places don’t exist anymore. Now it’s something different. But after so many years passed here in Cuba, when I travel back to Russia I start to miss being here. I start to miss Cuba, the things I have here. There are things that remain unchanged. I’m not Cuban. I’m Russian. Very proud of what I am, of my homeland, of everything. But Cuba is already part of my life, is already stuck to my bones. It’s a place where I have to deal with infinite problems, and a place where I’m immensely happy".

Nadia arrived in Cuba from Russia. It was June 1986. She lives alone in Holguin. "The problem for me was that I got pregnant before getting married. And a lonely mother was not highly regarded among the Russian society. Also, you know, a child needs to know both his parents when he/she comes to life…I didn’t really want to come to Cuba, but I didn’t want either my son to ask me ‘where is my dad?’ Almost all women here came for love, just as me".

"Cubans studying in URSS were something different than when they came back here. It was very different. At the end, Gilberto and I simply we ceased to understand each other and get along well for all these cultural and character differences. We separated. All of us who live here had some kind of problems. Many of us divorced. What you hope while in Russia, you don’t find it here…There are so many differences of culture, language, climate…And not all Cubans told us the truth…many women have been deceived, they made us believe different things from what it really was. For the girls of good families that came here from big cities like Moscow, Leningrad, it was really a shock when they saw the shacks. At the end, Gilberto and I we just stopped understanding and getting along well with each other for all these differences, and we separated. […] Now I live happy with my new partner, but I’ve lost my homeland citizenship and I stopped travelling back to Russia since 1990”.

Marina arrived in Cuba from Kiev, Ukraine. It was March 1986. She lives in La Habana with her husband and her son. "When I got here the first time I felt that something very strange was coming inside me. I was living as in a dream. Things that come into your life they make you lose something…but it’s also through losing that you obtain something. [...] At that time we couldn’t come to Cuba before we were married. Also, I needed a sponsor, and it was my father in law that officially invited me to the island. I remember he said something that sounded so wired to me! He told me proudly that by that time I had earned the right to be buried in Colon’s Cemetery…I didn’t want it actually! But it is curious how the perception of things changes over time…Now, I imagine myself in that Cemetery one day".

"I arrived in Cuba the 28th December 1982. I remember the smells here immediately drew my attention…they were different…Along the coast there was a very strong smell of tropic…of mango, pineapple and sea. And in La Habana the smell was so characteristic...The harbor was spreading smell of oil and fish…that reminded me of when I was a child and I used to go fishing with my dad along Kursk’s river".

“From time to time I miss the Nature of my land. I miss the flowers, when they bloom fighting with the snow. The first blossoms of the spring, they’re so delicate and sweet, so fragile…but just for this they’re so strong! Coming out the snow, above the ice! That’s why I’m saying that they’re just like women, like Russian women…fragile and strong at the same time”.

Lida arrived in Cuba from Zemetchino, Russia. It was May 1976. She is living with her husband Osvaldo in Alamar, in the outskirts of La Habana. "The only one in my family who didn't agree I moved to Cuba was my brother. I came here in May, and he died in August. He accompained me to the airport, helping me with my luggage, then asked me: 'where the hell are you going, my sister? Can't you find a boyfriend here?' Then I answered 'I don't know...It seems to be love!' Since that day I haven't seen him again".

"I was born in a country that doesn’t have direct access to the sea. Also, mine was a family of workers and I could never travel to the sea. The first time I saw the sea was here in Cuba. When we landed at the airport of La Habana, before traveling up to Pinar del Rio, where my husband’s family was waiting for us, we got on a taxi and my husband took me to the Malecon to show me the sea. It was the first time…I was 23. I won’t never forget that moment".

Zita arrived in Cuba from Siberia, Russia. It was 27/9/1985. She now lives alone in her apartment in Miramar, La Habana. "When I came here I stared at the sky...it was different from that I had always seen in my country...it was full of beautiful clouds, of all colors...it was so beautiful! Then when we got on the taxi to Camaguey, I thought that I had come to a paradise. I remember I was incessantly looking out the window, right and left as a fan, to see all these different plants, trees, shrubs of all colors".

"When I arrived here it was all so beautiful! There was everything, included Russian condensed milk and canned meat. People were joyful, always smiling, there was a good cultural level, transport were excellent…I had no problems at all, it was all fine…I mean…Also in Russia we had to deal with some difficulties, and when we got there, there was another kind of lifestyle…and I accepted it. At that time there was everything…My husband was always by my side and with my son. We had enough money, we could go at the theatre, nightclubs…"

Valia arrived in Cuba from Astrakhan, Russia, when she was 23. It was 1983. She lives with her husband Jorge in Alamar, La Habana. "I came here when it was beautiful...we couldn't have many things, because here many things were lacking, but I was younger and in love, I've never perceived it as a problem. I've been fighting and struggling for everyday life with my husband, just like all Cubans...but now I don't know...Just want to stay in peace".

"Now there is nothing I miss, because I still live with the same marriage, the same husband, who is now the only thing for me. Sometimes you don’t have anything…the only thing you have left is a family…and we live happy for that".