Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your background?
Hi, my name is Marina. I'm a Russian expat living in France but in some very exotic parts of it. Now we are based in French Guiana, which is a French overseas department and the only EU territory in Latin America. Before that, we had spent 18 months in Mayotte, a French island in the Indian Ocean. In fact, although I was born and raised in Russia (the Urals first, then Moscow), it's been 11 years that I left my country. Since then, I have lived in seven different places on three continents: in Sweden as an exchange student, in London for my Master's in European Studies, then in Paris for another Master's at a business School, in Dubai for a job in Luxury Marketing and then again in Paris where we settled down with my husband after he had lost his job in the UAE.
What brought you to French Guiana? For how long have you been there?
Actually, the correct modern name is just Guiana, without “French”, but because there are quite a few of them (Guyana, which was a British colony, Suriname, formerly known as Dutch Guiana, Guayana Region in eastern Venezuela, and the state of Amapa in Brazil, also called Portuguese Guiana), it's common to precise. So, I came to French Guiana in January this year, following my husband, who had found here a job in the construction industry. He used to work for a competing company in Mayotte, but because of the company's reorganisation, his position was cut. The only alternative they proposed was to move back to Paris, which was a no-way for us. We had left Paris, the city that I actually dearly love, and had no intention to come back. When our daughter was born, life in the French capital became too expensive and inconvenient. We also wanted to have simpler pleasures and to be closer to nature.
What made you want to leave Russia initially?
As a kid, I used to read a lot of classic Russian novels about aristocrats having a home in Russia but living at the same time in different countries of Europe and speaking fluently many languages. I wanted to be like them when I grow up. So, I chose to study International Relations, dreaming of being a diplomat one day. Finally, I chose not to work for the government but pursued the same lifestyle. On average, I move every two years.
You have lived in many countries, including Mayotte. What has been your best experience so far?
It would be more correct not to call Mayotte a “country” as it is a French department, but indeed, it is so different from mainland France that it felt more like Africa to me.
It's difficult to say which destination I preferred the most. I think that each expatriation is like a separate life. You should build everything from scratch, so after all the efforts made, you end up appreciating your new house, job, and friends. At least I always try to see the positive side of the new place I call home. London was my liberation, the symbol of student life and freedom. Dubai allowed me to give a great start to my career and was the place where I met my husband and some of my best friends. Paris is, for me, the city of theatres, terraces, and hedonism. Mayotte was the biggest surprise to me – first because I learned a lot about myself. I realised that to be happy, I don't need to live in a big city, work in an international corporation or do shopping at every new collection.
Our Guianese experience is still quite fresh, but it's very promising. So far, Guiana has been the explosion of the green – wild nature the way I've never seen it.
What made you want to move to another French-speaking country after Mayotte?
We had two options: either moving back to Paris with our two kids, considering that my husband's salary would diminish by 40% and I would spend considerable time looking for a job during the time of Covid, or coming to Guiana. Although the latter is another French department in the tropics, it has nothing in common with Mayotte, and I have an impression of living in a completely different country.
After your studies in International Relations, you converted into a luxury marketeer and then into an English teacher. How do you explain this change of career?
I've been long searching myself, and I'm not sure to have found yet. Initially, when I just started my studies, I wanted to be a journalist, but by chance ended up studying International Relations with a specialisation in Scandinavia and Swedish. I didn't see myself working for the Russian government, and entering one of the international organisations was too difficult. Instead, I decided to work in the corporate field. I asked myself what I could do with my background and realised that my humanitarian degrees were not very applicable to the business world. So, I said to myself – why not do a Master's in Marketing, and my parents supported me. During my studies at the business school, I suddenly had a revelation that working in luxury was exactly what I wanted - it was both a creative and analytical job with beautiful products and passionate people. I spent five years working in this field, and I enjoyed it, but when the opportunity to move to Mayotte came, I was ready to try something new.
On this island, there is no marketing, let alone luxury, so I turned into an… English teacher. To be honest, I had moments when I regretted this decision as it could have been much easier for me to work as a, let's say, administrative assistant. Kids in Mayotte are not born in silk - many live in bangas made of slate sheets with no water and internet. They wake up at 5 AM to go to Koranic school, and by midday, they are hungry and exhausted. They speak bad French, and many have no future beyond their island. English to them is, to say the least, useless. But there were kids who were motivated, grateful, curious and made huge progress despite everything. This is what made this job so special. I had the impression of doing something meaningful.
Another non-neglectable reason for being a teacher in Mayotte is that you have a 40% bonus over the normal French teaching salary. Moreover, it's one of the few places in France where you can find a job as a teacher without having a diploma in the field. It's a fixed one-year contract that you can extend if you wish, and it pays 2300 EUR par month for 18 teaching hours per week if you don't have a Master's degree and 2600 EUR if you have one. This is so attractive that there are, for example, many Spanish in Mayotte who come to the island specifically for this reason.
What I like about this mobile life is that it allows you to constantly reinvent yourself, to try different assets of your personality, and to live as many lives as many countries you change.
What are you up to now in French Guiana? What are the career prospects for foreign professionals like you?
I don't have a French passport yet, so the first thing a non-European foreign professional coming to Guiana needs to do is to get a residence permit (RP) issued locally. It's a bit crazy, but I couldn't work in Mayotte with the RP issued in mainland France, and I couldn't work in Guiana with the one issued in Mayotte.
Now that I have it, I'm looking for a job in marketing first. If I don't find one, I have either an option of doing training in digital marketing and working remotely or becoming a teacher again in September.
Also, why did you choose to move amid the pandemic? How did travel and entry restrictions affect your move?
Not only did we move amid the pandemic, but also four months after my son was born. But well, we didn't really choose the moment. As an expat, you live on the volcano and should be able to pack your life and move at any time.
Our kids are just two years apart. Travelling with young kids is already an adventure by definition, but moving continents during the pandemic with two babies is just suicide! We were lucky, though, to move in December in-between COVID-19 waves when some of the restrictions were lifted. Still, we made an epic trip from Mayotte to Grenoble to see my in-laws, then from Lyon through Amsterdam to Moscow to present our son to my parents, and then from Moscow through Paris to Cayenne. All this with a whole book of papers, justifications, and test results. I also managed to make the Russian passport for my son in addition to his French one in Marseilles during our holidays in September. We just needed to go to the consulate three times accompanied by our son (4 hours by car one way)– that's it!
So you're the mum of two bi-cultural children. How do they cope with this travel and expat lifestyle?
They cope much better than we do! I guess it's the adaptability skill that they acquired with milk. My daughter is very sociable and gets used very well to any new environment and people. By her 2,5 years, she has changed 2 nannies and 3 kindergartens. She loves jumping in the waves and playing in the snow (although less so, she is a big fan of the tropical climate), walking around the city in a stroller, and getting lost with us in a rainforest. She eats Russian borsch, French Ratatouille, and Chinese noodles with sweet-and-sour sauce with the same appetite. As for the little one, I'm really proud that he was born in Mamoudzou, which is written in his passport. I think it's the best souvenir we could have of Mayotte. He is a baby traveller, and so far, he copes very well with the change of beds and rooms – he sleeps in his 6th crib now.
However, let's be honest, an international move is never easy, not even for babies. They cannot say it, but they express in different ways their disorientation, which could be: refusing to go to the potty, sleeping disorders, loss of appetite, or bad mood.
Have they been able to adapt to their new environment in French Guiana?
The temporary apartment period with four of us sleeping in one room and kids having no toys was a bit long, to be honest. But now we have finally received the container with all our belongings, and we are well settled in our new house. The kids' rooms are fully equipped with tons of toys that they had time to forget and rediscover, so I think they are good at their new home too. I have found a wonderful nanny who takes care of my kids for 10 hours a week, which gives me time to look for a job, write in my blog, etc. We also managed to get our daughter a place at a good private school that she will start attending in September.
I was a bit worried before about our kids' reaction to the local climate. Before moving to Guiana, I thought it was extremely hot and humid here. In reality, local temperatures are lower than in Mayotte, and the rain season is long but offers some sun breaks. My daughter is really cute when she exclaims every time it rains (might be 10 times per day), “Oh it rains! Again!”
What are the challenges and perks of being a bi-cultural expat family in a country like French Guiana?
- This climate is not easy to live in, although for me personally, the Russian climate is much more of a challenge.
- The distance from home and the cost of the flight tickets (up to 1000 EUR per person during the high seasons) is one of the greatest challenges for me. I both look forward to and dread travelling back to Russia after our long journey to come here. It's also a problem for me as a Russian mother who wants her children to speak my mother tongue fluently. There are some Russian speakers thanks to the space centre in Kourou from which Russian Soyuz rockets are launched, among others, but it's 45 minutes drive from our town, and I don't have any Russian friends yet.
- Guiana boasts very rich flora and fauna, so one of the challenges for tender ladies like me is all the variety of beasts and insects that you can encounter in your garden, from tarantulas to jaguars.
- The cost of living is very high. Our average cost of groceries per month is 1000 EUR, and we don't eat foie-gras with champagne for breakfast. The good point is that unlike in Mayotte, there is a good choice here.
But these challenges are totally worth it.
- We live in France in Latin America, for God's sake! We have all the advantages of the French administrative system while at the same time enjoying creole food, the crazy mix of the black, Indian, Chinese, and white French cultures, the Ocean, and the Amazonian rainforest.
- You don't need to go far to see this forest – it's everywhere around, you just need to turn round the corner.
- I'm sure that by choosing to live in expatriation we give to our children the best gift we could, despite all the difficulties of this lifestyle. Although Guiana is French, it's a totally different culture that they absorb here, and it extends their horizons.
Is there anything that you miss from your home country?
My family and my friends, Russian food that I'm too lazy to cook, and Moscow in summer.
Where do you see yourself and your family in the coming years?
I hope to stay in Guiana for a few years at least to discover this land to the fullest. While the kids are young, it's difficult to see all its gems as it involves a lot of walking in the forest or swimming in the canoe. But because we can't do all of it now, we'll be able to enjoy all these wonders for years to come. And after we leave Guiana, I have no clue what will happen. That's the beauty of expatriation: every new chapter is a new adventure, and you don't know what to expect.
Do you have any advice for bi-cultural families who would like to move abroad?
- Be like a kid: be curious, be brave, absorb everything you see without any judgments and preconceptions.
- Show respect to the local traditions and try to learn at least a couple of words in the local language.
- Try to find friends among the locals and search for support among other co-expats - they know what you are going through.
- Never lose touch with your roots and try to find people from your country of origin.
- Support each other because for a long time, there will be just your family out there in the storm and you will need to have a strong foundation to survive.
- Remember what brought you to this new country in the first place, and if it doesn't make sense anymore, it's time to leave.
