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quello che dice. Questo ti irrita e quindi bisogna sopportarle”.
60
His strong attachment to his
town is, however, evident in the recounting of his childhood and religious rituals. Each year
thousands of pilgrims visit the sanctuary of La Madonna dei Miracoli [Our Lady of Miracles] in
his town. He is also a devotee.
Mi commuovo in un modo tale che non hai idea…andare
là perchè ho fatto l’altar boy there fino a diciotto anni,
right?
Poi come ho detto prima, battezzato, prima
comunione, cresima, you know tutto là. C’è un legame
sentimentale forte!
61
Vincenzo Ubaldi has also settled in Perth. He has made several visits to Italy; his first
in 1976, thirteen years after his arrival in Perth. I asked about the possibility of his returning
permanently; the response is an ambivalent one.
They live a good life there [Italy] too… but…..(Angela:
However, you never wanted to stay in Italy or did you?)
No, but I can adapt… I have settled down very well
here… If some day I decide to leave here, who
knows!.....I reckon I should have stayed there. I would
have been more concentrate. In one way I’m happy
here… if I would put my mind into it when I was in Italy I
should have stayed… There’s opportunity there too.
62
60
Rude. They haven’t experienced better and you have to say yes to someone who doesn’t know
what he is talking about. This is annoying. So, you have to tolerate them. Interview with Giulio Santini,
Perth, October 2009.
61
It moves me in such a way that you have no idea…going there…because I was an altar boy till I
was 18 years old…Then, as I said before…baptised, First Communion, Confirmation…everything
there. There is a strong emotional tie.
62
Interview with Vincenzo Ubaldi, Perth, December 2008.
242
For the children, now adults with families of their own, visits home are a way to deal
with their feelings of loss, even when the issues of “Where do I belong?” and “Who am I?”
surface. Lidia Nellini speaks of the ambivalence many feel.
I’ve always been proud of being Italian. That’s one thing
that I think… can’t take away from me. I’ve always… I
don’t know where it came from but I’m Italian. I’m not a
naturalised Australian but it doesn’t mean that much to
me... but I guess when I’m in Italy I probably feel more
Australian. I don’t know what I do when I’m here. I feel
almost like I’m torn between two countries, if you know
what I mean.
63
Alvaro Giannasi explains the depth of his loss and his need to visit his birthplace.
Not that people were crying out for me. It is just for my
own thing. I can’t explain it. I had this feeling that I had to
do it… had to go there.… I needed to go. I can’t explain
what came over me. It was a little bit like… a death and
you want to go and visit the tomb.
64
To keep connected, Alvaro subscribes to two magazines: I Toscani del Mondo and I Toscani
nel Mondo.
65
Baldassar, writing on repatriating Italians, found that they were often left disappointed
and hurt when the Italians who had stayed behind dismissed the significance of their decision
to migrate on post-war Italian society and its economy.
66
Such was the case for Pio and
Miriam Panizza.
Pio: You will be speaking with someone: “I had to
go to Australia”!
Miriam: Those who stayed here have to thank those who
went overseas.
Pio: That's for sure because they found work after the
others left and if you say something to them they laugh in
your face too because there are people who laugh in your
face. They say, “You could have stayed here just as I
stayed here”!… If I'd stayed here!
Miriam: If everybody stayed here…..
Pio: I would have taken your job! But they don't
understand this.
Miriam: Yes, all of those who emigrated created wealth for
the town.
67
Furthermore, several of the now adult children born in Australia, question their parents’
decision to repatriate. Just as their parents did, they face the challenge of unemployment or
63
Interview with Lidia Nellini, Perth, October 2009.
64
Interview with Alvaro Giannasi, Perth, October 2009.
65
The Tuscans of the World and Tuscans in the World. These magazines publish migrants’ accounts
of their experiences in their new homeland or their reminiscences after a recent visit home to Italy.
66
Baldassar (2001), Op Cit. Chapter 2.
67
Interview with Pio and Miriam Panizza, Italy, November 2008.
243
fewer employment opportunities in an Italy with her own set of economic and political
problems in the 21
st
century.
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