Eyes raised to a stunning blue sky, a smile on her lips, Yelyzaveta Kibalchych seemed resurrected. No words came out of his mouth. But his looks, his posture and his calmness show.
Standing at the exit of the Montreal airport terminal, suitcase in hand, the young Ukrainian takes time to breathe, his hair blowing in the wind, after thousands of kilometers of travel and a long journey that mixes drama, nightmares and trouble. asa.
He is not alone. Along with her three friends, at the beginning of the week, they were laughing, talking, laughing and enjoying this sunbathing. It was hard, but now it’s okaysaid the playful voice, Maryna Khrennikova.
No one suggests, at first glance, the tragedy experienced by these 17- and 18-year-old girls, who have just left their native Ukraine to temporarily live in Montreal.
Yelyzaveta, Maryna, Anastasiia and – again – Anastasiia. These four students left everything: their university, their city of Kharkiv, their families. They left, alone, to cross the Atlantic and join the Department of Political Science at the University of Montreal (UdeM), which for several weeks struggled to accept them in Quebec.
Half a dozen other Ukrainians, from the same university, should find them as soon as possible, when the administrative formalities are over.
Their happiness is not hypocritical. Together, they laugh describing the passage of a Ukrainian reality TV show, which talks about Montreal. Montreal is like Paris, They said. There was snow and a more harsh winter. But it’s like in Ukraine, so it is coldlaughed Maryna.
Slightly major, the latter is the only one who knows and masters gorgeous French language. I started learning this when I was little, at the age of 10, said this young brunette, with a contagious smile. His friends, for their part, will benefit from the French lessons offered by UdeM, which also pays for their accommodation and tuition.
However, Montreal is only a stage, a passage, a chance rare be safe. I want to go back to Ukraine.
I just want to stay here a few months, maybe a yearproclaims Maryna, in a wonderful speech of lucidity.
” I’m sure it will be a very good experience [à Montréal]but I want to go back to Ukraine because it is my country. “
We found these four women two days later. In front of the University of Montreal. Packages by hand. They just opened a bank account and made a purchase.
The laughter was still there. An establishment manager satisfies them with a spirited goodbye ang pop star!
But the truth seems to prevail. Sitting on a bench, Maryna observes a nearby park. Then, prompted by his departure from Kharkiv, one of the first cities bombed by the Russian army at the end of February, he froze. The smile disappeared.
March 18 noon. At 23at day of this war. I heard bombshe said, slowly, his voice trembling. There are many planes. I heard them. Lots of noise.
He stopped. febrile. It’s really hard. Really bad.
Three months earlier, the family was celebrating Christmas. Without a shadow, obviously, of fear. We don’t think of war. We thought everything was fine. now, Every day is stressfulhe summarizes.
Before leaving for Montreal, my grandmother’s house was destroyed. What happened? Can we stop talking?he asked shyly.
His older brother and his family went to Lviv, in the west of the country, near the Polish border. They are safehe said, while admitting to avoiding watch the news.
I talk to my parents, they tell me. But I don’t watch Instagram, it’s too hard really, too stressful. If I do, it’s impossible to work. It is better not to look at them and work hard.
However, Maryna wants to be positive. In Kharkiv, the city is already trying to rebuild itself, he describes. But in Mariupol, almost completely devastated by the Russian army, really hard for them, he said, before stopping. An understatement.
Despite the war and the need to leave his country, Montreal, he continues, was a real option. It has always been my dream to go to Canada. I love to speak English and French. French is my favorite language.
However, going to Quebec is dangerous. Buses, trains, planes. These students multiplied modes of transportation and criss-crossed Europe.
After the stint in Slovakia, Maryna and her friends went to Warsaw, Poland. However, it is impossible to get an appointment there to get their biometric data. An important method to get to Canada.
Then Frankfurt, in Germany, then Lyon, in France, to complete the administrative formalities. Before going to Paris, there was little luggage.
We have several clothes for different seasons. But we will shoppingMaryna launches, with a new smile.
But in a voice full of wisdom, the maiden set aside the superficial. Now I understand what matters. It has no Channel or expensive vehicles. There are two important things. First, the people who love you. And you have to do what you wanthe exclaimed, with surprising clairvoyance.
If you don’t like your education, your job or your girlfriend, you need to change. It’s really important to live in every moment, because you never know how long you’re going to live in front of you.
Source: Radio-Canada