In the Bulgarian city of Varshets the unemployment rate is extremely high. For many women, the only solution is to go to Italy and work as “badanti” that is as caregivers for old people. They leave planning to stay only one year, but they often end up staying much longer. In the meantime, in Varshets also men’s lifestyles are changing: they deal with housework and find strategies of mutual aid, while waiting for their wives’ money that arrive once a month, and for their wives who come home more and more seldom.