From journalist to builder. “I can’t, like Dovlatov, lie on the sofa for a year, I don’t even have a sofa”
Miloslav Chemodanov, Russia – USA
My boyfriend and I left directly on February 24, 2022. At 8 am sat down at the computer and bought tickets. First, to Georgia, because I didn’t even have a Schengen visa. But we understood that Georgia is a homophobic country, and if we leave, then to some place where we can feel normal. As a result, they flew to Mexico and asked for political asylum on the border with the United States. By law, an officer cannot refuse such a request – a person has the right to have an asylum case considered. And all this time you can't be deported.
But you can't work either. And you don't have a social security number. Even if you want to do, say, dog walking, you need this number to register in the application. And what you will do, no one cares.
On the one hand, as a low-income person, you are entitled to a discount on travel from the state. There is free health insurance. There is a food bank, a place where you can get food for free. But you have nothing to pay for housing. So there are two paths left. Do some freelancing on the sly, like doing graphic design for people in New Zealand. Or find a low-skill job for cash.
I did both. As a freelancer I write texts, and for cash I work two jobs. When people ask me what I do for a living (this is a normal question here when meeting people), I answer that I work at a construction site in the morning, in cooking classes in the evening, and in between I try to write.
In the morning I work at a construction site, in the evening I take cooking classes, and in between I try to write
I know that when you tell people “I am a journalist”, their eyes widen in a certain way. And if you say “I work at a construction site”, they are rounded a little differently. Although the person in front of them is the same.
I myself do not define people by their work. If they tell me that someone has a multi-billion dollar business, I don't groan. Work is transitory. I made two successful careers in Moscow as a journalist and as a DJ. And I can not say that I became happy from this. It is much more important to be a good person, to be kind to people, to do something useful.
Sergey, God forgive me, Dovlatov, recalled that before leaving, he told everyone in St. Petersburg that he would leave for the USA and would wash the dishes. Everyone groaned, cried: "How so, our light will wash the dishes." Then he arrived and realized that he did not particularly like washing dishes at home. And to be in a restaurant is so hard and unpleasant. He lay down on the sofa for a year while his wife worked for two. And I do not have such an opportunity – to lie on the couch for a year. I don't even have a sofa.
So I get up before 5 am and go to the construction site. There I manage the lift, I drive people and goods between floors. When the flow is large, you have to create tricky logistics. With this you need to go up to the 25th floor, with that – take the materials to the fifth. In the hands of two walkie-talkies, of which someone is constantly yelling. And in quiet times, you can even lower your phone a little.
At a construction site, I operate a lift, drive people and goods between floors
There is a lot of all sorts of harmful construction dust, so I sit in a respirator all day. The guy also works at this construction site as an elevator operator. Of course, a monkey could do such a job. It’s just that we were lucky that they didn’t take the monkey, but they took us.
But this job makes us very happy, because it allows us to rent a room and pay off the debts that we accumulated in the first months.
I found my second job on Facebook. In America, they love this social network very much, everyone sits in it. New York has a group called Jobs for Queer People. I wrote in it, and a complete stranger helped me get to know my current employer.
She is sixty years old, she is very pleasant, sincere, almost a friend. She teaches cooking classes, and she needed an apprentice: to carry, clean, make sure that the tables have everything you need, and the sink is clean. I have nothing to do with food. But sometimes course participants think that I am also some kind of culinary guru and ask for advice. I answer in a simple way: "If you like it, then you succeeded."
The work is not easy, but there are pleasant moments in it. Especially when you see people having fun. People come to these courses just to have a good time, to diversify their leisure time. And I'm glad that people are happy.
Yes, I get up early and work hard. But I know a lot of people who, in the same way, do not get any pleasure, although they earn huge money for me in successful companies. They just do it for a paycheck. And by the way, they still feel poor.
Sometimes I dream that I'm preparing DJ sets. Not the moment when I play them, the crowd rejoices, everyone rages and loves me. Namely, preparation. Apparently, I spent so much time on this work that I continue to do it in a dream. Although I can't say I miss her. Yes, she brought money and many pleasant moments. But I totally understand why I'm here.
Sometimes I dream that I'm preparing DJ sets
It's not that important to me to make a million. It is much more important to be yourself, to be gay, to be with your boyfriend. Do not be afraid that they will write a slander on you. That was the main reason we left. Of course, the war was a turning point, but we would have left sooner or later anyway. Because things got worse and worse for gays. And I worked too long on myself, on accepting myself, to start hiding and somehow cut myself.
It's a great pleasure when on the streets of New York I see same-sex couples holding hands, hugging. Finally, I feel at home. Even at a construction site, the atmosphere is absolutely non-toxic. Once someone asked my boyfriend who we are to each other: brothers, some other relatives. He answered honestly, and it did not raise any questions.
I also feel a little excited about the future. Because you have not one, two, three paths ahead of you, but a huge field of various possibilities. And I can't imagine where I'll be in five years. I have had two careers, but one life, and it is sad to spend it all on the same occupation.
From restaurateur to “husband for an hour”: “My wife was surprised: you never did anything with your hands at home”
Andrey (name changed), Russia – Portugal
In all my life in Russia, I probably never hung a single cornice and drilled a single hole in the wall. If it was necessary to fix something, he simply called the repair team from the production, and they did everything. I just didn't have time for these things. From the age of 24 I have been in business, managed people and never held anything heavier than a pen in my hands.
The business grew gradually. At first we traded meat products. Then they started the production of meat processing. And then they opened a farm. We had chickens, ducks, geese – a full cycle from farm to counter. They sold all this in their stores, opened a restaurant and a cafe. We had a fishing pond and agro-tourism there, but we didn’t have time to build guest houses, because the war started, and we decided not to invest in it anymore.
We left in the fall. Mobilization did not threaten me personally – we have four children. But in Russia you can never be sure of anything. Moreover, if you say something inaccurately, the children may be taken away. So we closed part of the business and came to Portugal.
The first four months, my wife and I adapted, it was necessary to arrange the children in school. And then there was a casual conversation with acquaintances in a cafe, someone mentioned that they were looking for a company to clean the furniture in the house. I immediately volunteered: let's do it. We did not have any equipment, but I bought it, sorted it out and cleaned the furniture in that house. I was recommended to another girl – I cleaned her too. The third had problems with water, I came and fixed it. And we began to recommend each other.
Soon I hired an assistant – a boy of 25 years old, he used to work in the chemical industry and left because of the mobilization. Then I found an electrician. Now we have taken another girl to cleaning. And now we do everything: we can set up the TV, hang a curtain rod, change sockets, renovate the house, clean up. In Portugal, if you have created a business, you can legalize and get a residence permit. Which is what we did.
There are many companies like ours on the market, but the demand is much higher. We are currently finishing up a few small bars in Lisbon. They are opened by a guy who used to live in Rostov-on-Don, and now in Holland. The bars are tiny, about the size of a kitchen. He contacted several local companies, but no one even came to see the objects, because the amount of work is small, and there are many orders. As a result, he found us through advertising in Russian-speaking groups.
I must say that former compatriots are very demanding and want a level of service, like in Moscow, so that everything is clear. This is how we work, and, probably, this is our competitive advantage.
Now I do everything myself at home: I paint and lay tiles. The wife was surprised: “You never did anything with your hands.” I replied that we now live in a different country and have to adapt, so I am ready for any job.
Now I do everything at home myself: I paint and lay tiles
I remember that in our restaurant there were guys who were very shy about being waiters. This is a common thing in Russia, but here in Portugal no one is embarrassed by either work or income. It's normal here if one person arrived on a Bentley, and the second on a bicycle. They will still find common topics for conversation. Here, in general, it is somehow not customary to rank people, to divide them into castes. To be honest, I have never divided people like that either. I have always respected those who can work with their hands and do it well. And he did not keep a long distance with employees.
In general, in Portugal, for the first time in my life, I feel calm. I don’t expect the Rospotrebnadzor to come to me, the cops or my partner will throw me. In Russia, you have always lived in constant tension. Yes, in Russia a drunk person can just hit you with a knife. We had decent people come to our restaurant, and then they got drunk and fought. Especially at weddings. Whatever the month, they will fight to the point of blood or break the tiles in the toilet. There is nothing like it in Lisbon. And the kids can roam freely.
In the future, we would like to arrange here something similar to what we had in Russia. Find a piece of land, cultivate, build a cafe and receive tourists. I don't think we'll be going back. An entrepreneur must grow into the ground. For ten years I did this in Russia, so the decision to leave was not easy. But now I'm growing up here.
From make-up artist to welder: “The frame of the spiral staircase is insanely beautiful”
Julia Dalidovich, Russia – Lithuania
I studied journalism, but then changed many professions. She worked in the police newspaper "Petrovka 38", was a props, make-up artist, copywriter. Shortly before the war, she began to study contemporary art – she entered the Rodchenko school and even managed to sell something, for example, a plaster nose with protruding snot and the head of a crow named Zina. So, if I tell that I became a welder, many acquaintances think that I am engaged in artistic welding. But no, I work in a factory, I get up at 4:30 in the morning and spend eight hours with a burner in my hands. However, it is still art.
When we were leaving Moscow in the spring of 2022, my boyfriend Sasha asked what I wanted to do. I replied that I would make felted toys. But none of this worked. But the second item on the list was welding.
The fact is that back in 2016, when I worked as a props, in a nearby workshop, the guys cooked the frame for the DeLorean – the car from Back to the Future. They came out dirty, all their clothes pierced by sparks, but happy. And I already thought that I want to learn it.
We found courses in Vilnius where girls were taken. More precisely, there were no girls there before me, but they agreed to take me. And after a month and a half I received a diploma in MIG-MAG technology. This is a semi-automatic device: a wire is inserted into the apparatus, it gradually releases it from the nozzle and melts it.
A month and a half later, I received a diploma in MIG-MAG welding technology
I tried to get a job at different factories, but they didn’t take me. They said that they didn’t even have a toilet for girls at the factory. But everywhere they told the same story. Like, once upon a time they had a welder who cooked better than men. I don't know whether they were different women or some one who worked at all the factories in Vilnius, but I would very much like to get to know her.
And at one plant they simply said: let's try. And here I am. We assemble reinforcing cages for reinforced concrete buildings. At first I poked like a blind kitten, but as soon as I got used to it, I was put to work on my own. Now I read the drawing, if necessary, I look at another 3D diagram on the screen. And then I myself search throughout the plant for the metal that I need: fittings, clamps. Sometimes, when they are heavy, 30 kilograms, I use a crane. And finally, I weld the frame.
In a good way, you need to have time to make 11 pieces per shift. But while all colleagues have not yet ceased to be surprised that the girl went to work at the factory, there is less demand from me. Frames are standard. For example, for balconies, this can be assembled in 15 minutes. And there are complex ones that are beyond the power of one welder. If any of my colleagues gets one, I immediately ask you to take me in a pair. True, while I usually do not take.
We do amazing things in our factory. For example, the frame of a spiral staircase is generally umat <in Khabarovsk and Primorye, “umat” is “cool” – The Insider> : insanely beautiful and insanely difficult. Or the frame of a huge 15-meter column …
Some people who have been working here for 18 years are tired and fed up. But I don’t understand this, I don’t understand those who have enough of everything and don’t need anything new. Everything is interesting to me, I want to develop. My dream is to go on a rotational basis to Denmark or Norway and cook ships there.
My dream is to go on a rotational basis to Denmark or Norway and cook ships there
To do this, you will need to pass a special exam. It costs 400 euros, where your stitches are x-rayed, and they should be almost perfect. Now in my work I do not make large seams, only small ones, the so-called tacks. So I'm going to train in my free time. There are several places in Vilnius where everyone can pay money and cook for their pleasure for four hours.
Welding is a kick as bad for the eyes, for the lungs, for fingers and toes. At first, I worked in all kinds of protection, put on two respirators. And then I realized that it was very inconvenient. But I love this job so much! I'd rather get checked by doctors more often.
The thing is, I'm a very active person. And after a working day, I feel as if I spent eight hours in a rocking chair. So upbeat and active. It just so happened that Sasha works with his head, and I with my hands. Who can do better. And it seems that this is exactly the job that I have been looking for for so long. All my life I went through one job, another, a third – and now I found it.
From editor-in-chief to coaches: “The transition from the brain to the body is not as strange as it seems”
Olga Chernomys, Russia – Israel
I left earlier than others, I started collecting documents after the annexation of Crimea. In October 2015 I was already here. Therefore, I can say that every emigrant goes through two periods: the euphoria of the first year and the depression of the second.
The husband immediately went to the factory – he is a specialist in the field of electronics by education. And I tried to stay in journalism. After all, I have been doing this since the age of 12, before leaving I was the chief editor.
So I wrote texts for PR and advertising. For example, for a Mexican travel agency that received tourists from Russia. But by the time the depression of the second year began, I realized that you couldn’t earn money that way.
And now you understand that nothing is working out, that there is little sense, that you need to slowly save yourself. And I have not found anything better than running. I ran so-so because I gained extra weight.
At that moment, I came across a book by neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki “Healthy Brain, Happy Life”, who learned about sports activities called intenSati, tried and understood how they affect the creation of new neural connections.
And then I did a completely illogical strange act – I wrote a letter to Wendy that I want to learn this. And now I'm already flying to New York and for several days from morning to night I study at courses.
Just at this time, the Wingate Institute in Israel for the first time in several years recruited a group of trainers with teaching in Russian. There were many new repatriates there, including families from Donetsk and Lugansk who had to leave after the Russian invasion. I remember that in one of the classes they were asked to talk about the house, and they just sobbed. Young guys, athletes who came to study to be coaches.
I, unlike them, was already over forty, and the exams were quite serious. In addition to the theory, it was necessary to run 12 km in a certain time. Squat with a weight of 30 kg on your shoulders. At the same time, I experienced great pleasure, asked a million questions. And when she returned from class, she would take one of her friends by the button and retell what she heard: “Imagine, it turns out, this is how it works in our body.”
I had to run 12 km in a certain time and squat with a weight of 30 kg on my shoulders
Journalism is not just a profession, it is a certain structure of the mind and character. The willingness to try new things and the desire to tell others about this new and interesting thing. And that's what I'm doing now – I tell people things that are interesting to me, and they will do well. Я знаю, как тренироваться, держать себя в форме, доставлять себе радость. И должна этим делиться.
Сейчас я провожу по пять тренингов в неделю, я единственный тренер этого направления в Израиле. И это приносит больше денег, чем журналистика. Так я перешла с совершенно мыслительной, вербальной работы на телесную.
Этот переход из мозга в тело, на самом деле, не такой странный, как кажется вначале. И людей, которые его делают, довольно много. Например, недавно я встретила женщину, которая всю жизнь была программистом. А теперь это бросила, преподает тай-чи и удивляется, почему не сделала этого раньше.
И я тоже поняла, что всю жизнь хотела именно этого — заниматься движением. Просто не разрешала себе.