How did my life change after moving to Angola and what was waiting in Portugal?

My path to life in Angola began about ten years ago, when I met my husband, a citizen of this African country. He came to study in Russia on an exchange program, and at that time Angola seemed to me to be a completely unfamiliar and exotic country, as well as the whole of Africa in general. I had no desire to move there, because the prospect of starting a new life in a strange place frightened me. But after his graduation and the birth of our child, we decided to take a step and move to Angola together.

New professional opportunities

At the time of my move, I was working in the legal field and planned to develop my career as a lawyer. However, I soon realized that due to the language barrier I would not be able to continue working in my profession. As a result, I had to change the vector of my activity to find suitable employment opportunities.

I started researching what moms were doing online and noticed that many of them were successfully running their Instagram pages. Eventually, I decided to change my profession to SMM manager. This transition turned out to be very successful: I started managing clients' accounts, running my own blog, and soon, while already in Angola, I received an offer from an entrepreneur from Israel. He found my blog through hashtags and geolocation - it was part of my strategy. I was invited to work for a large diamond and precious metals company. Surprisingly, the interview was in Russian!

Career and adaptation

After just three months, I not only became a marketer, but also headed up the online sales and marketing department. It was a very productive time:

• We've created a website.
• We've got the logistics worked out.
• I have learned many useful skills in the field of marketing.

My professional growth was quite rapid, but it was difficult to talk about the quality of life in Angola.

Life in Luanda

We lived in the center of Luanda, the capital of the country, in an area known as Mayanga. The factory where I worked was in close proximity. However, even though the neighborhood was considered relatively safe, it was not safe to walk there alone. This was due to the fact that I was white. In such cases, locals often assume that whites necessarily possess wealth. I often explained to the beggars that, just like them, I lived in Angola and had no money, which sometimes worked.

Health and risks

Another significant problem has been the high incidence of malaria in the country. There are different manifestations of malaria, and the locals think of it as the flu, which they are used to. But when my child fell ill several times, it became a real tragedy for our family.

Domestic inconveniences

Moreover, there are frequent power and water cuts in Angola, which makes life extremely uncomfortable. Opening the windows, one finds that the whole apartment is covered with a layer of dust and sand. Therefore, constant cleaning has become an integral part of our daily routine. Many locals solve this problem by installing large tanks to store and heat water, but this is still far from ideal.

Economic difficulties

As a result, housing in Angola is unreasonably expensive, which adds additional difficulties to our everyday life. All these trials have toughened me up and taught me to be more resilient, to adapt to new living conditions in a foreign country, and to appreciate the simple pleasures that were familiar to me in my home country.

There are many jokes and memes online claiming that if a person has their own real estate in Luanda, it means they are a rich person. We had an ordinary apartment, but the dream of having my own house always remained in my thoughts.

Difficulties in finding accommodation

When we started looking for a new home, we were faced with a cruel truth: it was absolutely impossible to buy an apartment in Angola. I could not understand where to get the money from - the sum of 175-200 million kwanzas looked unaffordable. For understanding, it is more than 300 thousand euros. Today in Angola, a salary of 500,000 kwanzas is considered quite good, and five years ago, earning about 15,000 rubles, it was not even worth thinking about buying an apartment.

At the same time, there are no mortgages or installment loans here, so all transactions are conducted exclusively for cash.

How do local people deal with the housing problem?

So how do the locals solve the housing problem? They simply save up money. It is accepted that in large families everyone gets together and helps each other to buyreal estate. Thus, we, realizing the complexity of the situation, had to be ready to support older relatives ...

Love Angola

I really fell in love with Angola. Kind and helpful people live there, amazing fruits grow, and the ocean beckons with its warm waters. However, you can't ignore reality: life there can be challenging. Don't think that I didn't realize where I was going. I thoroughly studied all the available information, but it was still difficult to adapt. After two years of living in such conditions, I started to feel depressed.

A sense of isolation

Despite having all the necessary amenities in our home, I felt the unrelenting isolation. Even a simple walk outdoors with the baby became a real challenge, requiring the support of my husband. It was exhausting. Being away from my family and in complete isolation was sad.

Community support

There is a community of Russian women in Angola, which became a real outlet for us; we exchanged experiences, shared our experiences, including psycho-emotional issues. Those who have lived here for many years shared their knowledge of local traditions, holidays and customs. Angola's culture is certainly interesting and attractive, but it was very different from mine, and I felt it all the time.

Decision about moving

After much discussion with my husband, we came to the conclusion that we needed to leave Angola. But where to? We chose among different countries, including Spain and Portugal. It didn't make much difference to me personally, but in the end the choice was Portugal. It was a logical decision because Angola was a colony of Portugal and the Portuguese language was established in everyday life here.

Immigration and investment in Portugal

Immigration, investment and the real estate market in Portugal was our new goal, and the road to this country was definitely exciting. But the decision to move is only half the battle, because in practice things turn out to be much more complicated than you expect. My husband and I had excellent official jobs and an impeccable visa history, but unfortunately we were denied a visa.

And what is most remarkable is that although the refusal was official, in words the officials explained that they considered us as possible illegal immigrants. We were completely bewildered by the situation.

In the process of obtaining a visa we had to face great difficulties, as many acquaintances, who had neither work experience nor language skills, obtained exit permits without any problems. Their approach to the issue was different from ours, as we wanted to follow only legal ways to improve our lives.

We applied for a visa several times, three or four times in total, but each time we faced rejections, which ended up stretching the process for months and turned out to be a real tragedy for us.

Change plan

In the end, I decided to change tactics: if life in Angola did not work out, I would return to Russia. I planned to get a Schengen visa as a Russian citizen and invite my husband there. Our main goal was to move to Portugal, but in order to do that we needed to get a job.

In order to achieve my dream, I suggested to my boss that I open a new outlet in Lisbon. We discussed that by working remotely, I would be able to work from anywhere, and we agreed that as soon as I was in Lisbon, we would go straight into action.

Benefits of working in Portugal

I realized that having the opportunity to work legally in Portugal, I would be able to provide for myself and my husband, as well as pay the rent. At that time, the prices were quite low, and cozy apartments, located 15-20 minutes away from the center of Lisbon, could be rented for between 350 and 450 euros.

Unexpected obstacles

It was in the fall of 2019 when I was visiting Russia with my child and learned about the emerging problem that soon became known as “coronavirus” in the world. At first it seemed like just another epidemic that was not worth paying attention to. However, after a couple of months, there was talk of possibly closing borders, and it got me thinking: how is it possible to close entire countries?

At that time, my husband was still in Angola and was planning to visit Russia in January. Suddenly he got a visa to Portugal and flew there, and I had plans to fly to him in March. At that time, the border closure situation became real and I realized that if he had not yet legalized, I would not be able to get to Portugal, as the reason for “family reunification” was not yet relevant.

Searching for solutions

At this point I was panicking, but I quickly gathered my thoughts and started looking for alternatives.

It was explained to me that there were not enough valid reasons to proceed with the legal process, but advised me to wait a bit for news. At the end of December 2020, the long-awaited approval finally arrived. The first sensation I experienced when we arrived in Portugal was one of warmth, but it quickly faded as soon as we entered our new home.

We rented an apartment in the northwest of Lisbon for 450 euros, but the conditions were horrible. How could we exist in such cold? At that moment it didn't occur to me that it was very important to choose a place with good heating. I also didn't know that the temperature can vary significantly depending on whether the windows are facing sunny or shady. All this useful knowledge came with time, through personal experience.

Getting used to a new environment

Getting used to the new environment proved to be interesting and amusing. I had the impression that it was the same Angola, but in more favorable conditions. This was because most of my surroundings were migrants from Angola and Brazil, and I had little contact with the locals. However, as I became more immersed in Portuguese culture, I began to realize how different the way of life and traditions are.

Unusual pace of life

The pace of life here struck me as quite unusual. Everything moves so slowly... not just slowly, but with a pronounced reluctance to do anything! Everywhere it seemed as if the locals seemed to be avoiding their concerns or indifferent to being active. After a few months, however, I got used to this particular rhythm. In Portugal, everything is done in a measured way: constant waiting is the norm. When they say 'urgent', it doesn't mean you have to act immediately. There are usually a few days to resolve issues.

Children and adaptation

Nevertheless, our child quickly adapted to the new environment: the parents were close by, the sun was shining, and the ocean was very close. The winter in Portugal flew by unnoticed, and the nature around us was very green. This confirmed that it was really possible to live here - the main thing was to solve the problem of heating the apartment.

Heating problems

At first, I worked remotely and was constantly freezing in our dwelling. I started to calculate how much money we would need to get rid of this uncomfortable situation. In the end, we needed at least 200 euros a month to heat the apartment and use hot water without obstacles. For my Portuguese acquaintances, this amount came as a real shock. I realized that the Portuguese prefer to keep their utility costs under control.

Utility costs

As for us, we settled for 200 euros.

• We spent no more than 40 euros for water.
• For electricity, it's about 60-70 euros.

Although now we live in another rented apartment that costs 600 euros a month, which is also quite a reasonable price. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find similar offers in Lisbon.

Searching for new housing

The search for a new home has turned into a real adventure, taking a whole year. The main reason is that we are not residents and do not have citizenship of one of the European Union countries. I have a Russian passport and my husband has documents from Angola. The Portuguese clearly prefer renters who are Portuguese or at least EU citizens.

I looked for an apartment both on my own and with the help of agencies, but it proved to be a challenge.

Stiff competition in the housing market

The housing market is struggling, with at least a dozen potential tenants interested in each apartment, and sometimes more. All viewings are scheduled at the same time - mostly between five and seven in the evening. This creates a real flow of people wanting to see the apartments.

When you come for a viewing, you have a whole set of paperwork to prepare:

• a bank statement for the last three months;
• proof of taxes paid for two years;
• a motivational letter explaining why this particular apartment caught your eye;
• brief biography;
• a document from a Portuguese bail bondsman.

Then the waiting begins, whether you will be chosen from all the candidates. But the wait becomes protracted and you are bypassed again and again.

A diligent search

Every day, I spent hours browsing through websites with advertisements, refreshing the pages almost every two minutes so that I could immediately call for new offers. However, despite this hard work, I didn't achieve any serious results: most of the apartments were already under reservation with other clients.

I had to literally rush in at the last moments to see the apartment. I still can't figure out who is faster on the phone than me. Most of the time, when we came to assess the apartment, it was actually already rented to someone.

Desperation and new ideas

At some point, I completely gave up. Time was passing, the lease on my previous apartment was coming to an end, and I didn't want to renew it at all. I even thought of the tactic of starting to socialize with the locals in cafes.

People here often act in this way: strike up a conversation, share their experiences of finding a place to live, and sometimes it leads to real results.

Addressing a Russian agent

However, then I came across an agent with a traditional Russian first and last name. I approached her with a request for help. Two days of waiting, and no communication. In the end, I finally got an answer: there is an apartment, but it is located in a neighborhood with many immigrants from Angola and Brazil.

It turned out to be an ordinary bedroom community, only 15 minutes by metro from the center and a five-minute drive from our current residence. Indeed, many migrants live here: Angolans, Brazilians, Ukrainians and Russians.

Advantages of a new apartment

All the agent's fears were not justified. The one-bedroom apartment turned out to be bright, warm and quite spacious with an area of 55 square meters. Although for the Portuguese market this may seem a bit small, as it is considered that each member of the family should have a separate room.

The kitchen here is combined with the living room, which creates the illusion of more space. We bought the rest of the furniture, washing machine and fridge ourselves. We overcame this process in a couple of days and spent only about 2000 euros. It took another five days to connect all the necessary communications.

New plans for the future

In May we will celebrate a year of living in this apartment. Now we are thinking about buying our own home - I hope that in two years we will be able to choose something more suitable. We will either save up the necessary amount of money or use a mortgage loan.

Adaptation to new conditions

As for my feelings, I am sure that I have successfully adapted to the new conditions. I continue to learn English, striving to reach a professional level so that in the future I can work in international companies.

Conclusion

To conclude my story, I would like to emphasize how fate can change our perceptions of life and how we adapt to new conditions. Moving to Angola was a real challenge for me, but it was in the difficulties that I found an opportunity for self-realization and growth. Perhaps I was attracted by the desire to discover myself in unpredictable conditions, because in Russia I had already felt somewhat confined by the limits of my usual life.

All the difficulties we faced in Angola - from material to cultural - made me rethink my priorities and values. Each problem we had to cope with became a stepping stone to something new: a new profession, a new environment, a new understanding of myself. I learned not only to survive, but also to enjoy the little things - blooming markets, smiling neighbors, the bright aromas of exotic fruits.

The experience of living in another country

I realized that living in another country is more than just a change of address, it's about fully learning a new culture, language, and the strong bonds that are formed even in the most difficult circumstances:

• Nothing is more important than good cooperation and the emotions that can form when we take risks while maintaining a willingness to learn and adapt.
• With the final decision to move to Portugal, I hope to contribute to a new society.
• Every experience is not only a story of survival, but also an opportunity to grow, change and move forward.

I look forward to what the next phase of my journey will bring, even though I know that change can be challenging. I believe that by putting the challenges behind us, we gain the ability to enjoy new horizons and support each other along the way.