Lixouri - Kefalonian Life

Ληξούρι

Lixouri

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Κεφαλονίτικη Ζωή

Kefalonian Life

Ζωντανές Αντανακλάσεις

Living Reflections

Μαρία Αραβαντινού Φατόρου >

Maria Aravantinou Fatorou

“I’ve been here [in Soularous] for the last 15 years. At the age of 23 I got married and lived in Athens for 46 years. Never I, or my siblings had to migrate abroad. My father’s two brothers, however, left for the USA when I was 5 in search for a job. I’ve only seen them 2 or 3 times ever since. My own brothers had plans to study; afterwards they became seafarers.”

Μαρία Αραβαντινού Φατώρου >

Maria Aravantinou Fatorou

““My family had 10 children, six boys and four girls, and my parents. My brothers would wake up very early in the morning. The eldest would go to nearby villages in order to fetch milk for our dairy. Once he brought that home, he would help out my father and others at the fields. Us, girls, we stopped going to school at the age of ten. We would help our mum with household chores and our baby siblings. My father had a store, the only store in the village, and we sometimes helped there, too. At the age of fifteen, I started helping my mother at the dairy. Everyday work usually ended around 5 in the afternoon. In the afternoons, the girls would engage with their embroidery and prepared our dowries. Every Sunday, my mum, me and my sisters would wear our best clothes and go to the church. Of course, the whole family would go to fairs, especially during the summer period. We danced, ate and talked to everyone at the village, since we weren’t able to socialize with them on an everyday basis. On name-days, my mother and I paid visit to people on behalf of the family.”

Μαρία Αραβαντινού Φατώρου >

Maria Aravantinou Fatorou

“Girls in my village and my family were very restricted and we rarely left the village. Our knowledge of Lixouri and the rest of Kefalonia was limited to what the men in the family would communicate back to us. To the people of Soulari, however, Santa Marina, a very old church, is of particular significance. Nowadays it is common knowledge that it’s a monument that needs protection. Back then, however, we only knew it as our church.”