In light of the recent Brexit talk regarding immigration from European countries to the Uk I decided to interview my neighbour Lucia Dugan to see what life is like as an immigrant in the 21st century.
Q: what part of Italy were you born in?
A:I was born in town up in the Hills in the South of Italy in the Campagna region. Napoli was the main town but the town where I was born is called Caiazzo. And it is a nice little town probably about 7-8000 people living there. all the shops we needed were local like food and banks etcetera.
Q: Does your family still live there?
A: Yes they still live in the house my granddad moved in after the war and my family is still there. My mum and my brother lives in a part of the house and my sister is living further in the north of Italy. It is a beautiful house because it was originally a monastery and it still has a little chapel inside the house. The house is surrounded by the land all of the natural beauty that comes with it.
Q: Why did you leave Italy?
A: I was at University studying languages but because my dad was very strict he would make do the one and a half hour journey and he wouldn’t let me move nearer and I struggled to leave the domestic environment of my home. I was 29 years old and I said to myself that I was going to visit London and I loved it, it was a little place full of so many cultures and for me it was fascinating. When I went back [to Italy] I planned to come back to London, so in 1999 October I was here.
Q: did you miss Italy when you first came over?
A: when I was younger I felt like all my opportunities were over here but I was missing my family and friends and my community back home. But I was keeping busy and I was growing and learning and so I felt like was compensating for it but now because I have the children I miss going home to my mum for lunch on Sundays and I miss spending time as a whole family because Life is passing by and I am away from my family and its hard because we were very close.
Q: how did you travel from Italy to the Uk?
A: I flew to the Uk. My dad was very strict so I had to do it all myself. I had some money saved and I took all the money booked myself the flight. It was a connecting flight from Napoli to Rome and then Rome to London and then I booked a taxi to take me to Cambridge.
Q: what was your first job in the Uk?
A: my first job I ended up working in a factory in Tottenham. I only stayed 2 weeks at that job before telling my boss that I couldn’t do it anymore. We were just unpacking dresses all day. After that I ended up working as a hostess at Alexandra palace a few times, then after that at an amusement centre and I had to overlook people using some of the fruit machines. These jobs were very helpful as I got to practice my English and communication skills.
