Pina La Straniera E-Book

Mirella Kennel Giacomini

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 135

Beschreibung

This is the story of Pina, who has felt like a stranger all her life, but finally finds her place in the world. We accompany Pina from Switzerland, where she grows up, via England to Israel, back to Switzerland and finally on a journey of a special kind: a shaman's journey. As the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, Pina looks different from other children: she has black hair and darker skin. That's not the only difference: Pina is guileless and sometimes naive and, unlike others, is not just looking out for her own advantage. She is often ostracized, but she also celebrates triumphs. Hard-working and diligent, she achieves everything she sets out to do despite many obstacles. In the end, she also manages to go on a shamanic journey that changes her life.

Leseprobe

Introduction

The characters and the plot of the present work, as well as the names and dialogs appearing in it, are all fictitious and an expression of the author's artistic freedom. Any resemblance to real events, persons, names and places would be purely coincidental and is not intentional.

PrefaceFrom the volume of poetry

To young women from a young woman

To young women from a set woman

To all women from woman to woman

Men also like to read here

You are all welcome too

Listen to the heart

Cry cry cry away the pain

Always and at some point

Run, jump, take a break

A great time to pause

Learning on occasion

Don't give up and run forward

Look far and see far, not far away the star appears

Celestial lights gold and yellow, bright shows the light of the world

Hear everything, feel everything clearly and always

Mind goes with your heart

Hand in hand and without pain

Both are the two

unites together with you three

There is always joy

At last, the soul comes to rest

Human child, for heaven's sake

Thank you, glory be

The dream of a lifetime is over

Authenticity comes rushing out

Thank you, you great power

You have made life whole

Mirella Kennel Giacomini Sardinia

1964

1964, a cold winter, just like it was back then. There was a lot of snow and the children had great fun. They could build big snowmen and snow huts.

Pina remembered exactly how the children used to play in the snow. Pina loved to look out of the window when it was really snowing. She watched the many light snowflakes that floated down to earth from the sky. She put on warm clothes and went outside. There was so much snow that even the big yellow digger had to come. A real digger that pushed the snow to one side with its big shovel. There were huge mountains of snow. Pina and her friends could build real snow huts there and climb around on the snow mountains. The children dug a big hole with their hands. Hard work for the little children's hands. But these self-made snow huts were the greatest thing back then. The children could really transport themselves to another world and play. Pina's mother always brought a thermos flask filled with warm bouillon soup. That was a great experience. The children also built their own ice rink. They poured a huge amount of water from the tap, which was meant to be connected to a hose to wash the cars, onto the snow they had stamped flat. So, they could skate on their own built ice. Until the sun came out or the janitor arrived. Then the children's joy was over. The caretaker scolded the children for using so much water and the sun melted the ice. But for a short time, the children had created their own world.

There were many wonderful moments in Pina's childhood. There was always something going on. They invented games that they played in the great outdoors. There were also the big stones and piles of sand from the building company. In summer, it wasn't the snow that fascinated the children, it was the many piles of stones and sand. Nothing was fenced in or cordoned off. They could simply crawl barefoot up these large piles of sand and really roll around in them and slide back down again. They used the large stones to build hiding places and play knights. Once Pina found some strange, round, heavy structures made of rusty iron. They played robber and witch with these precious finds. There were three fir trees in front of the small birch forest. The witch had to hide these treasures there. The robbers were tasked with finding and stealing as many of the round objects as possible. But the witch was always on her guard. If one of the robbers touched her, they had to go to the witch's dungeon, which the children had built beforehand. The person who had collected the most of these round, heavy iron things was then allowed to play the witch and the game started all over again. There were also these scavenger hunts or arrow hunts back then. One of the older children would take a piece of chalk or schnitzel and use an arrow to mark the direction in which the gang of children were going. This was the start of the hunt through the whole village. There were then two groups. The group that drew the arrows on the ground or somewhere else and laid out the route, and the group that had to find the gang. There were still these village gangs back then. The Geisser Gang or the Schwefelhorde, whatever they were called. They were real rivals and sometimes the destruction of the huts from one to the other really pushed the boundaries. The adults had to intervene. Pina also played a lot with her ball. She particularly liked the 10-a-side game. She could spend hours alone with the ball and the game.

Simply this clear, cold winter's night, she always has it in mind. Very clear, as clear as if it were today. It was snowing and the night was starry. Something must have happened. Pina and her brother were roused from their sleep. Warm clothes, gloves and hats, they were also told to put on their warm boots.

The little girl had forgotten what had happened before, or she simply didn't want to know. Pina was allowed to sit on the Lindau wooden sledge. Her brother was supposed to do the same. But the brother walked into the night holding their mother's hand. He noticed that his mother didn't have enough strength to pull when both children were sitting on the sledge. Therefore, he bravely walked alongside his mother. Pina felt sorry for her brother for a moment. But she was too happy to sit on the sledge in the dark night, being pulled along and watching the snowflakes… She kept trying to catch a few with her tongue, only to enjoy the cold and the fine wetness that lingered on her tongue for a moment.

Pina's mother was a French-speaking Swiss woman, but her father was a child of a family who had moved to Switzerland from northern Italy a long time ago. Pina's great-grandfather moved to Switzerland many years ago. Back then, it was the Italians, the Secondos, who did the jobs that the Swiss didn't want to do. Later, other nationalities did it and the Italians moved into the background, much to their relief. The Tschinggen, as they were called at the time - even today this word is still very well known - were good for working, otherwise they were marginalized. Not officially, but there were enough people who didn't like the Italians. They brought dirt into clean Switzerland. They took the women away from the Swiss men. Back then, the fiery Italians were very popular with young and older women. The Italians knew how to bring the feast to the blonde Swiss women.

Many men and older people in Switzerland also didn't like the fact that the Italian men looked after the women and even whistled at them. It was not proper. But some women felt flattered by the attention they received from these men. For the Italians, this was normal. Nothing negative or dirty. No, they simply loved the beauty of women and knew how to deal with it. Many a stubborn, brutal Swiss man could have taken a leaf out of their book. The melody of the Italians rang through Switzerland. The foreign, the new began to take shape.

Many Italians came from the north. They worked as miners on the Gotthard Tunnel. Construction work began on September 13, 1872, at the south portal and on October 24 in the north. There were already major technical difficulties at the time. There were repeated water ingresses, and the nature of the rock layers sometimes changed every few dozen meters. The temperature in the tunnel also rose to 33 °C in places. At that time, inadequate ventilation made it difficult to breathe in the tunnel filled with blasting gases. This hard work was anything but lucrative back then.

For the miners working in the Gotthard tunnel, it was hard work in extreme heat, tropical humidity, and constant noise. There was dust and heavy traffic everywhere. Without these years of dangerous work by the northern Italians, such a structure would have been unimaginable. There were always fatal accidents. Often caused by the factory traffic, as workers were repeatedly trapped by the machines. Or there were heat illnesses. Workers also died. In 1875, the miners went on strike. They demanded one franc more wage per day. None of the northern Italians went to work in the tunnel at the time. The tunnel entrance was blocked. An overstretched police unit fired into the crowd of Italians. Four Italian workers were killed. Several men were seriously injured. After the incident, 80 Italians left this dangerous workplace. In any case, the Italians had to give up most of the money they had earned for their food and meagre accommodation. There was almost nothing left. At that time, a miner earned around 3.90 francs for an eight-hour shift. The miners had to pay for the lamps and oil they needed for work themselves: They were deducted 30 centimes a day for this. The men were also deducted five francs a month for their clothes and two francs for their residence permit in Switzerland. Two thirds of the small wage went towards food and accommodation. It was cheeky that part of their earnings were paid out in coupons. The northern Italians could only redeem these coupons in the company's own stores. Quarters were set up for the workers. There were small, dull rooms in which bed after bed was lined up. Half-rotten sacks of straw served as mattresses. There was bad air everywhere in the rooms. Cooking had to be done next to the beds and there was a lack of fresh water. The stench from the oil lamps was unbearable. It was dirty and the hygienic conditions were miserable. Many workers contracted silicosis from the omnipresent granite dust in the tunnel. There were also worm diseases, diarrhea and typhoid fever. The alarming conditions came to light at some point and better conditions were demanded. These conditions were never enforced at the time. Nobody felt responsible for this matter, for these people.

Even today, a monument in the cemetery in Göschenen commemorates Favre (initiator of the tunnel construction) and the victims. The monument consists of a bust of Favre and a miner sitting on the ground in front of it. The inscription reminds the victims of the work.

In the tunnel itself, the locations were marked in white letters and the dates and abbreviated names of the victims of each death were recorded.

Giuseppe, Pina's father, told many stories from back then. He didn't speak Swiss German yet and had to go to first grade. It wasn't easy for this pretty little boy. He didn't understand a word and was immediately ostracized by the other children. The worst thing for him was finishing school every day. He had to go home, but three older boys who were already at secondary school made life difficult for him. They picked him up on the school playground and dragged him into the underpass. They threatened to set him on fire. They hit him and spat at him. He didn't dare say anything to anyone. Not even at home, he couldn't confide in his parents. They wouldn't have believed him anyway and even scolded him for his guilt.

The school janitor came in the right moment as the savior. One day, by chance, he observed this action. The three older boys were called to account. From then on, the little foreign boy had his peace.

Giuseppe never forgot the first time he was able to drive a real car. Giuseppe had a very long way to school. It was a cold winter, and the boy was walking home in a snowstorm. An old VW (Beetle) pulled up next to him. It was the doctor from the village. At that time there were very few people who drove a car. This doctor asked: "Well, little boy, where do you live? I'd love to take you for a ride." Giuseppe did not miss this opportunity. He got into the doctor's car and sat in a real vehicle for the first time in his life. The doctor drove on slowly. The little boy was amazed at all the trees, houses, bushes, and people scurrying past him outside. He enjoyed the ride excitedly and quietly. As if in a dream, the little boy rode along in the doctor's car. It was only when the doctor asked where he lived that Giuseppe responded. They had been driving past the house where Giuseppe lived for a long time. The doctor stopped and told him that he couldn't turn around, he had a doctor's appointment. So, Giuseppe got out of the car and had a much longer walk back than the school run would have been. But Giuseppe couldn't have cared less. He rejoiced inwardly and danced through the snow flurries. He was so happy to have experienced this ride.

Giuseppe's mother sewed many beautiful dresses for her children. She also knitted all sorts of things herself. Giuseppe still remembers being given a woolly hat to knit. This woolly hat had a huge pompom on top. Giuseppe's mother went to great lengths to ensure that her children wore clean and nice clothes. She didn't want anyone to see her children wearing dirty, ragged clothes. In any case, Giuseppe's mother came from a good family.

Once, on the way home, Giuseppe was held back by a woman on the sleeve. She asked the boy if she could borrow this beautifully knitted hat for a day. She wanted to see the pattern. Shy and well-mannered, the boy gave the knitted hat to this woman without hesitation. Although he was terrified of going home without his hat. But Giuseppe's mother noticed nothing. The next day, when Giuseppe was on his way home from school, the woman stood in front of him again in the same place. She gave him his hat back. As thanks, Giuseppe received four chocolate heads: one for Giuseppe and the others for his three sisters. These chocolate heads were filled with a fine, white sugar paste. Giuseppe had never received anything like this before. He didn't think about giving anything to the sisters. They had nothing to do with this story. So, Giuseppe decided to eat all four chocolate heads on his own. And how they tasted! Simply delicious.

It wasn't always so easy for the boy. As his mother was very religious, Giuseppe had to fulfill his duty as an altar boy from the 2nd grade onwards. Whether he wanted to or not. The little boy had to attend mass with the nuns every morning before school as an altar boy. His mother had arranged it that way. The boy had no other choice. It was a hard time. Getting out of bed so early every morning and helping to organize mass for the nuns was a nightmare for little Giuseppe. The boy also had to go to mass every Sunday. His mother was very anxious not to disappoint the Catholic Church. So, at the request of the parish priest, she sent her boy to the nuns' convent every morning for Holy Mass. Giuseppe had to lead a nun by the hand every morning. There was a steep staircase to climb. Giuseppe was really forced to pull this nun up the stairs. He did this for some time. But one day, when he reached the top of the stairs and the nun was still two steps down, Giuseppe let go of the nun's hand. The nun fell backwards down the stairs. Fortunately, nothing worse happened, except that the nun lost her cap. Giuseppe couldn't stop staring. He saw small white stubbles on the nun's head. Everything on the nun's head was bright red at that moment. The nun looked like a little pig. Giuseppe couldn't hold back his laughter.

There was a big aftermath. Not only in the convent with the nuns and the priest, but also at Giuseppe's home.