GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — "I miss the scent of the forest. Sometimes, I feel that I can smell it." This is what Svetlana Birova misses most from "Mother Russia" after 20 years of not leaving the Gaza Strip, even for short trips.
"Although I miss my country, I consider my homeland to be where my husband, my son and my daughter Miriam are. I remember the difficulties I faced in the first years here because of the difference in cultures, but, with the help of my husband, I resisted homesickness," Birova said.