2024-03-05 04:34:22
How far is the stressful life of a couple of employees in a large IT company in bustling Athens from the equivalent of two farmers in a small medieval village of Chios? Obviously the two lives are separated by an abyss. And yet when the desire for a radical life change is strong, even this chasm you can jump over and find yourself from one side to the other! This is what happened to the protagonists of our story…
Vassilis Balas and his wife Roula held positions of responsibility in a well-known IT company in the capital. Their careers were set in motion. In fact, Vassilis was in charge of the web design department. These jobs ensured them a very good financial level, from which they enjoyed (?) their own house, car, machine, etc. In essence, however, they were trapped – just like all of us – in the hard everyday life that is summed up in the phrase “work from morning to night”. This whole scene had tired them and they were looking for a way out, something else. Until March 2006 it was time for the big jump.
Vassilis, who comes from Chios, tells us: “We had come with a large group of friends from Athens to Mesta for Halloween and Clean Monday. After having fun and having a good time, it was time to leave on Tuesday. However, the weather is deteriorating, there is a ban and the group is anxious about how they will return. Business you see… Finally we learn that a ship is leaving, but we decide to stay another day and notify the office. That same evening we meet with a friend of ours, Stamatis, who asks us a critical question: ‟My grandmother here makes 100 kilos of mastic a year, you who are young and can work more efficiently and enter a young farmers program why don’t you decide to come?” That was the trigger for our decision.”
From the next day, calculations and plans began, while the good reception of the idea by the people of Chios gave them further impetus. But things were not easy at all, since, as Roula tells us, from March to July 1 (deadline for joining the young farmers program) they had to have bought fields in Chios, found a house and moved to After they have configured and submitted the program file! A little time, a mountain of bureaucracy, but with running – there was no shortage of problems, such as their treatment by the agents of the Ministry of Rural Development, who at first did not take them seriously – the goal was achieved.
From July 1, 2006 the two IT specialists from the center transformed into a couple of farmers in the medieval village of Mesta in the south of Chios. That is not to say that the difficulties are over, because otherwise it is the cultivation of mastic from the books and otherwise in practice by two people who have nothing to do with agricultural pursuits.
Vassilis Balas remembers: “On July 10 we made our first appearance in the field, where we both needed an hour and a half to clear the area under a tree!”. But with time they learned. And not only do they know themselves, but they also teach others about the wonderful world of mastic.
Five years later, Vassilis and Roula are still living in the beautiful Mesta, of course they have not regretted their “revolution” and now make a living from agritourism.
Guiding tourists to “nature’s factory”
But how does the young couple try to take advantage of the “gift of nature” in the summer months? Vassilis explains to us: “We do tours for small groups of tourists to the field of mastic trees. We go on foot, and along the way we pick vegetables from an organic vegetable garden, dehydrated tomatoes, scallions, etc. In the field we show them all the stages of mastic collection, embroidery, scraping, wiping, etc. We give them the tools to participate, we talk about the village and its history. After the presentation is over, we set up a picnic on the spot with what they gathered and with local products, i.e. olives, sourdough bread, cheese, wine from the village.”
The program is going well as tourists are interested in this unique experiential experience. In fact, the Chamber of Chios awarded the two young people for their innovative action. They themselves admit that if they… ran more for their object, they would be ahead financially. But we said, let’s not go back to the rhythms of Athens…
Dimitris Kyriakopoulos
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