SU_T_46

[i] Hello [name] .

[r] Hello.

[i] How are you?

[r] Good.

[i] Welcome

[r] Thank you. I am [name] from Pakistan and have been in Italy for more than three years always in Turin.

[i] What if he calls your hometown in Pakistan?

[r] Islamabad.

[i] Islamabad. Why did you choose to immigrate?

[r] Here?

[i] Yes, why did you choose to come to Italy?

[r] To work.

[i] What did you do in Pakistan?

[r] Nothing because after finishing school I came here directly.

[i] How did you experience your first day in Italy?

[r] The first day is very difficult. Because I didn’t know anyone here and I was always looking for where to go for food and many things.

[i] I spent three weeks sleeping in the park and there were so many of us.

[i] And how was this experience of sleeping in the park?

[r] There were tents.

[i] But did you put these tents in?

[r] No, but the people who offer us help. They also brought food, milk, chocolate and other times they also brought visas.

[i] Still here in Turin?

[r] Yes to Turin at the park of the Porte Palatine.

[i] And how did you get over this episode?

[r] There were people by our side and little by little the municipality gave us some houses through a project.

[i] What’s your name?

[r] Project Sprar.

[i] In what way does this project allow?

[r] This project is a welcoming one, offering us houses and food for two years.

[i] And after the two after the end of the project what did you do?

[r] After the project I found a job and rented a house and I’m working so far.

[i] And how are you working with your colleagues? Do you work with Italians?

[r] Yes, with Italians and everyone is good.

[i] Are you integrated enough? In the sense that you are quite integrated in society with Italian friends and the city? Don’t you have problems?

[r] I don’t have problems because I have Italian friends and families like Antonio D’amasco. He’s my first friend because I met him when I was in the homeless park. Because he had come two or three times there and met him and his daughter was small, now she’s already big.

[i] Did they help you?

[r] Yes, and I see her as my little sister.

[i] Have you ever been back to Pakistan in this three years?

[r] Yes, twice.

[i] And how was this return after living in a western country other than yours? How did you experience this difference?

[r] Yes, there is a difference, but not so much.

[i] Did you manage to feel at home again or did I feel different from them because you lived in Italy?

[r] Yes, I felt a little different but for a while because I lived there so much I grew up there.

i] And when did you decide to come to Italy, how did your family make this decision?

[r] My family didn’t want me to come to Italy. But as the others came, I also wanted to come to have something better for what I came for. But I was in Greece before when I arrived I was 15 years old.

[i] So you started immigrating early?

[r] Yes.

[i] And how did you arrive by plane or how?

[r] I couldn’t fly because I was a minor and I was alone. So either I took another road with the bus and the car.

[i] And how was it?

[r] Difficult.

[i] What can you tell us about this trip?

[r] Difficult without finding food, it’s a two-day journey in a row.

[i] Were you alone on this trip?

[r] No, there were other people

[i] Were they your age too?

[r] They all come to this age and in this way. I’ve been to Greece for many years.

[i] And how have these years been in Greece as you have lived them?

[r] In Greece I was fine I had work home all I had money.

[i] And why did you leave Greece and come to Italy? ] [R] Because I came back to Pakistan in 2013 and in the meantime my boss had sold everything.

[i] The business.

[r] The whole factory, and when I got back he was in the hospital he didn’t want to work anymore.

[i] So you came back from your vacation and found yourself out of work?

[r] Yes, because I was in Pakistan for a long time. He told me that I could stay at his house, there’s everything, but I don’t work there. And I thought without work what I can do even if I have a house.

[i] Why do you keep your family in Pakistan too?

[r] Yes, and that’s why I came here directly.

[i] You’ve seen it since you’ve been here and you’ve made Italian friends. Have you ever had an Italian friend ask you to cook something of your country?

[r] I have already cooked two or three times for families who have come to eat with us. Other boys and girls have also come to eat with us many times.

[i] How was this experience? Did you like it?

[r] Yes.

[i] What did you cook well? What typical Pakistani dish?

[R] Two typical dishes the “Biryani” is chicken with rice “Chepati” and many others.

[i] How do you live the Pakistani culture here in your daily life? The customs the food the music the costume?

[R] In our house there is everything about our country because there is a shop that sells typical Pakistani things and we always buy there. And the rest we buy from the super market near our house.

[i] What kind of music do you listen to?

[r] We listen to our own music and Indian music, let’s say mixed music.

[i] What did you take of Italian culture instead? What do you feel that you have left behind from Italian culture and their customs and that you are using?

[r] How?

[i] In the sense of the Italian culture this way of life, do you feel set, do you feel quite Italian? Or do you just feel Pakistani?

[R] Yes, not only Pakistani but also a bit Italian. I’ve met people who are all good and exhale me, but around there are also bad people.

[i] The Pakistani community and your countrymen meet you when there are parties do you see each other?

[r] Yes, because we always see you when there is a party like the one that will arrive in a few days.

[i] What party?

[r] The party at the end of Ramadan, friends come to my house I go to their house we eat together. We play out our game the “Kirket”

[i] You play the Kirket here?

[r] Yes, so is football.

[i] Have you ever played Kirket with any Italians?

[r] A lot of people play it. Before in corso Emilia there was a small park where 11 people played between Italians and Pakistanis. But now I don’t see anyone maybe because I’m always at work and I don’t have time to play anymore.

Do you think you’ll settle here forever or do you think you’ll come back to Pakistan one day?

[r] I still haven’t thought about this thing now I want to work here and I don’t know until when. Maybe next year I’ll go back to Pakistan for the party for a few days a month and then I’ll come back.

[i] Do you have children?

[r] Yes.

[i] Have you ever thought about bringing them here?

[r] They’re small but I don’t bring them here, I leave them there.

[i] Why?

[r] Because it’s different from here.

[i] In what sense?

[r] For all things, I came this way that I was small.

[i] But if you came here and managed to integrate yourself, why not for them?

[r] Because now he goes to school.

[i] Why does he prefer me to stay there and study and maybe do what you didn’t manage to do?

[r] That’s why.

[i] And have they ever asked you to come here and visit you or live forever?

[r] No.

[i] Didn’t they ever ask you that?

[r] No.

[i] [name] How are you with your neighbors and neighbors in the neighborhood you have good relations?

[r] We don’t have any problems because all the people in our building are good so far I haven’t heard anything wrong. Between us when we see each other in the building or outside we say goodbye we wonder how you are.

[i] Do they ask you questions about your country just out of curiosity for example?

[r] No, because we say goodbye we just wish each other good work, good day we don’t stop for a long time to chat.

[i] And you [name] as an immigrant and a foreigner in this country, what can you recommend to these young people who come here?

[r] A tip for living here in harmony and integration?

[r] If they can find it’s okay, otherwise it’s not because without work it’s not difficult if everything can go on.

[i] Of course. When you have work slowly you do everything, but without work it becomes difficult to go on one day.

[i] Let’s hope for good, and thank you for your availability.

[r] Thank you