Feature: Greeks going back to their roots for better life in crisis

A young couple water small plants in a narrow piece of land outside Mesta, a beautiful village built inside a medieval castle in Chios, an island in the Aegean sea about 200 km northeast of the capital Athens. Their two kids ran around happily, playing and laughing with their dog.

In the past few years, the economic crisis in Greece has brought sweeping changes, not only in people's financial condition, but also in their long-term professional choices and lifestyle.

In Chios, a big island of the eastern Aegean sea with a population of around 53,000, the climate is warm and the people friendly. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons why the idea of coming to live here sounds quite appealing to many.

Irianna Kalika, 30, and Stamatis Kouvas, 34, are a couple that moved from Athens to Chios three years ago, amid the economic crisis. They have been married since their early 20s and have two children. They are just one example among many young people who have chosen to leave the chaotic urban lifestyle behind and opted for a return to their roots instead.

"I used to work in construction industry," Kouvas said, " I would make iron and aluminium handrails for apartment buildings but, when the crisis hit hard, it was very difficult to find work in the city, so we weighed our options carefully and decided to move to my wife's family island."

Kalika was then a journalism student who was working part-time jobs as a waitress and stayed at home to take care of the children.

Chios is very famous for its mastiha (mastic tree), which only grows here in the south part of the island. Mastic trees produce resin which has a distinct beautiful aroma and is used in a variety of products, from gum to beverages, sweets and even cosmetics. Due to its uniqueness, the local population is very proud of mastic cultivation.

Kalika's family owned land in Chios which was never farmed before, so upon their return, the couple started to cultivate mastic from scratch. They took a state subsidy of 20,000 euros for young farmers, but they say that, in fact, they have only been given 14,000 -- the rest will be available after they deliver their first produce.

"We bought and planted 200 young trees after ploughing the field," said Kouvas, "and this cost us around 3,000 euros."

When a tree reaches maturity -- around 15 years of age -- it will produce about 200-250 grams of mastic resin, the couple told Xinhua, and it takes approximately four trees to produce one kilo.

"We have to work throughout the year but harvest is basically during the summer months until autumn," Kalika said. "In spring we sell the produce to the Association of Mastic Producers, who have the monopoly in buying the crops. They give around 80 euros per kilo to farmers -- along with some subsidies -- or less, depending on the quality of the mastic resin."

And do they see a future for themselves in mastic cultivation? "We definitely hope to expand in a few years, cultivate more land, which is also family owned, and reach up to 4,000 trees, if possible. This would optimistically translate into almost 60,000 euros income per year for our family," Kouvas said.

As, at the moment, the couple live on 1,500 euros a month and are actually renting a house in the village, this plan doesn't sound too bad.

"For us, life in Athens was no more expensive than here, because we owned a house, but here you get other advantages, and I get to work in a coffee shop during the summer months when there are lots of tourists. Sure, it can get a little lonely, especially in winter time, but the summers are great and the quality of life is better, undoubtedly." Kalika said, smiling.

"We are closer to nature and it is such a safe place to raise children. The city felt like a jungle in that respect," said Kalika, as her children were playing carefree around the field.

"Getting back to the land, our roots, is something our generation has forsaken," Kalika mused. "I think for our children too, a better future starts here," she concluded. Enditem