Casgliadau Arlein
Amgueddfa Cymru
Chwilio Uwch
Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Marisa Cavarra
Oral history recording with Marisa Cavarra. Part 3 of 3 (AV 11373, AV 11374, AV 11375). Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
00:00:10 Marisa talks about her mother’s work in Wales in a sewing room. She was often at home on her own and would cook, read or try and learn English. After, her mother would make gloves for a firm and Marisa would cycle there with the gloves her mother had made. Her father was working at a Foundry; he was sacked as foreign workers weren’t welcome. He was sent to another Foundry in Swansea but a picket line was outside also against foreign workers there. He started working for a Foundry owned by an Italian, however it closed down. He then worked for British Rail. Marisa’s parents moved back to Italy as pensioners in 1966 and she recalls missing them a lot.
00:03:58 Interviewer asks Marisa how she met Paolo, her husband. He and his friends were lodgers in her house. Marisa worked as a secretary for the Vice Consul in Cardiff. Whereas women in Britain worked, often women in Italy wouldn’t have the opportunity. She also worked in factories and cleaning at night. She recalls a time working for a factory as the first time she had problems as a foreigner.
00:07:38 Interviewer asks if she ever goes back to Italy. She now goes back ever year to Sicily. She has only been back once to the north of Italy when her parents died in 1999, yet feels at home in Sicily. Her and her husband married in Wales and then travelling to Italy the day after.
00:10:20 Marisa discusses the differences between church in Wales and Italy. The interviewer asks how they try to bring Italian culture into the house. Their son was brought up mostly by Marisa’s mother so spoke only Italian before he started school. She spoke both languages to the other children who can understand Italian but are less keen to speak it. They mostly eat Italian food, but also ate some British food. She talks about meeting Pope John Paul in Cardiff as secretary at ACLI, and describes him as peaceful and holy.
00:14:01 Interviewer asks whether they would move back to Italy. She doesn’t think so. They have family there but couldn’t live without their children and grandchildren. Interview ends.