التفاصيل
By the end of the First World War, the situation in the Slovenian Littoral (one of the five traditional regions in Slovenia) became worse. Conditions there even deteriorated later due to the war’s consequences and the rise of the Fascisti’s rise to power. Slovenian men could not find work; on the contrary, their female compatriots got very well paid jobs in Egypt (at least four times higher than the ones in Gorizia or Trieste). They worked as nannies, chambermaids, wet nurses, chaperones, cooks, maidservants, and the highly educated ones were warmly welcome to work with the Royal family in Egypt. These women called in Egypt Les Goriciens, les Slaves, and les Slovenes.
Aleksandrinke by Darinka Kozinc:
To honor these women who left their homes and fought against their hard conditions, the Egyptian Slovenian Association adopted the idea of translating the book called Aleksandrinke/ The Alexandrians and written by Darinka Kozinc. Translation was done by Iva Vidovič, with the introduction inked by Salwa Hegazy (Head of the association and her grandmother was one of the Aleksandrinke). The book reveals an untold part history through a narration of short stories about nine Slovenian women who came to Alexandria, seeking a better life. These women are: Marija, Marta, Vesna, Ana, Bernardina, Zora, Irene, Jelka, and Darja. Here are some phrases pronounced by them and mentioned in the book, describing their unique experience.
“The last night on the boat, I was tossing and turning on the narrow lounge. I glanced at the clear sky, into the stars that shone here somewhat differently. I paid attention to the sounds on the deck. I thought about my home, my father, my sister Tonja, I missed the evening tranquility when we were sitting in front of the house, and the singing of crickets and grasshoppers which provided a magical background to our conversations. Just before the morning, I fell asleep, exhausted.” Expressed Marija.
In a conversation between Ivanka and Marija, the former said to the later:”I serve at the court. I travel frequently with the Royal family; I am a companion to the mother of King Faruk. I take care of her wardrobe and her wellbeing,” adding that “I finished a primary school a primary bourgeois school with the nuns in Ljubljana [Slovenia’s capital]. It is of great benefit to me and it gave me a good base.”
