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Oral history recording with Marisa Cavarra. Her husband Paolo was also interviewed, see AV 11376 -113678) Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Part 2 of 3 (AV 11373 -11375).

00:00:17 Marisa talks of the shock when she arrived here and had to start school without any English. She finally made a friend, learnt the language and things became easier. She recalls a teacher fondly and school experiences. For recreation on Friday she had to sing ‘O Sole Mio’ or ‘Come Back to Sorrento’ to the class. She recalls not being able to eat school dinners, and the difference between Italian and British food. She talks about having a points card for food; the family tried to eat Italian food but not much was available. Around 1950 they would only get Italian food from the Italian ship that came into Cardiff, having to hide it to get past customs.

00:06:16 Interviewer asks how Marisa met other Italians. They met them through her father who had lived with and met Italians when he came over. She talks about her father’s work when he came over here and how he settled in. She met a lot of people through ACLI when they joined later in life. She talks about going back to North Italy to visit family with her mother for the first time when she was 17.

00:09:07 She talks about differences between their homes in Italy in Wales.