Camel from Kyzylkum

Unfortunately, I saved no names of the places in Austria in my memory and I have no paper or picture trails left about my travels there. However, what is saved in my memory are my emotions and my reactions to everything I discovered while there.

Our bus brought our group of people to a gorgeous place high in the Alps mountains. There were about four houses in the tiny village, as well as a hotel and an RV park. It was a place where people were coming for skiing or for hiking in the mountains. Some of us were put in the hotel and others were assigned to the private houses—I was among the latter group.

The house I was placed in was quite big, with simple but comfortable furniture and decor, and it was exceptionally clean. The owners, husband and wife, were in their late sixties and retired. They were very kind people, and the husband liked to make jokes—we knew that because he tried to explain his jokes to us. They spoke only German and we spoke only Russian, so our communication was by gestures and guesses. I and another woman who was traveling solo—Lilya—were placed in the same room and shared one king-size bed. What has stayed in my memory from that home was a down blanket/comforter—it was so cozy and warm to sleep under this blanket on cold winter nights, and it was fluffy and weightless as a cloud. We shared the bathroom with another family that had a room on the second level of the house, next to us. On the first level, I think, two more families had rooms. The food was provided for us in the restaurant at the hotel, and we did not have to pay for it—it was paid for by HIAS. A special time for breakfast and dinner was allocated in this restaurant just for the refugee group.