KLARA Poliakova grew up in Doodadoyle, having moved to Limerick with her mother and sister when she was just two years old.
But she has always been curious about what her life might have been in her native Slovakia and she has moved back there to explore her Slovak roots.
But she misses Mi Wadi…and the craic.
“Slovakia is a beautiful country with the mountains and nature,” she told the Limerick Post. “But I do miss my family and friends and the way Irish people are so friendly, There’s no place like it. When you go away, it’s the small things you miss too – like Mi Wadi.”
Klara (20) started her journey of discovery in Slovakia living with her grandmother in Rimavska Sobota. She has since moved to the country’s second largest city Košice with Slovakian boyfriend, Tomas Kocis, to find work.
Now she and Tomas live in the city with their two huge Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs. “We found the two of them when they were little pups, They had been abandoned and were hiding under a truck,” said Klara.
Klara has found that wages in her native country are lower than in Ireland. “The average wage is around €600 – €700 a month, but the cost of living is lower.”
Klara works as a receptionist in the Hotel Zlaty Ducat, and in the last couple of weeks she has been very moved by meeting families fleeing the war in Ukraine.
“They are exhausted. Some of them tell us they have been travelling for three days. We do everything we can for them.”
Klara’s first language is English and she learned Slovakian at her mother’s knee, but she enjoys slipping back into English to chat with some Irish people who are regular visitors to the hotel.
The city where she lives is just 150km from the border of Ukraine and she says “we feel safe. But you never know what is going to happen”.
After more than a year in Slovakia, Klara says she definitely wants to come back to Limerick “but we would like to have the summer here. Summer in Slovakia is lovely. The temperatures get up to 30 or 35 degrees.”
And to keep her going until she comes home, having spotted a Tweet from RTÉ journalist Tony Connelly, who met her in the hotel and told the world about her love of Mi Wadi, makers of the drink, Britvic have promised to send her a goodie bag.
