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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
Oral history recording with Nesta Casetta-Wyer. 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 1 of 2 (AV 11509-11510)
00.26 Nesta states her full name, when and where she was born. She hyphenates her maiden name with her married name. She talks about her family background on the Italian side; she recalls her grandparents well as she spent a lot of time with them in Swansea. Her grandparents spoke the Piemontese dialect which her and her siblings understood but didn’t speak. Only later on in life did she learn spoken standard Italian. She talks about attending Italian classes as a child, she only really started learning the language when she was older and free classes were given. She continues to talk about where her grandparents were from in North Italy. She describes going to visit her grandparents in Swansea in detail. Her grandfather was often at work in a cafe, they visited and spent a lot of time around Italians. Her grandmother wasn’t working but kept the house. She recalls other Italian people who they spent time with.
06.30 Interviewer asks if her upbringing was different to that of other children. She says yes, and explains the first time she noticed differences when she wasn’t allowed to go to sleepovers. At a certain age Nesta realised that her upbringing was more Italian than Welsh and so more strict. She recalls other children being impressed by the family values and food in her house- they would appreciate this part of the culture. She describes Italian culture being foremost in her childhood home- her Welsh mother took on the Italian culture, seeming more Italian than her father through the food she cooked and family values she embraced. Her father was an architect.
09.53 She talks about meeting other Italian people at organised Italian nights when she was a little older. It was only then that she realised the strength of the Italian culture. She then started to go on Scampagnata, Italian picnics with the Italian community. She recalls being unaware of the Italian culture, as it was simply normal for her, until her teenage years.
