There are at least three places in Rome where a Romanian that arrives for the first time in the Italian capital can feel like home: on the pavements in front of the construction materialsâ warehouses, in the soup kitchens in which the Italians offer food for free and a place to sleep and on the hallways of the office where the immigrants complain about their working conditions.
This is because Romanian can be heard loud and clear from the left or from the right, from men, women, from young people or old people. Early in the morning, the Romanians that arrived in Italy illegally stay in line in front of the construction warehouses and look for locals that want to renovate their homes. They are a lot. "There were 150 of them this morning. Now, at ten oâclock only few of them havenât left and are still looking for Italians interested in several workers!", Florin, a veteran of illegal working in the Palmiro Togliatti area, says.
THE IMMIGRANTSâ OFFICE. This is where the not so happy Romanians come. The Italians come, get off their cars, take a tour of the Romanians, start talking to "the more interesting of them", ask them about experience and so on, and the ones that make good impressions get to have money to live "a week, a month, a few months at most, depending on the work". A workday means 50 to 60 euros for the more experienced ones and 35 to 45 euros for the normal workers. It is a matter of luck. There are cases in which Romanians wait for an offer for weeks. Florin left the country five years ago, worked here and there, his family is back home, he sends money whenever he can, and he has been looking for a job offer for the last two weeks. His friend, Marin, is in the same situation: the family is in the country, fluctuant money, and he has worked for a person who "forgot to pay him" recently. He is waiting for a new job offer. Catalin, another
