Despite woes on Agathonisi, ‘I got used to it’
Love took Rena Markouli to Agathonisi. She had lived in Piraeus till she was 17, when she married a sailor from the Aegean island. «I went to Agathonisi to have a look and stayed for 15 years, the age my son is now. In the past it was incredibly difficult. I used to cry and want to go back to Piraeus. It was so deserted. Gradually I got used to it. Now it’s a bit better though there’s still a problem with transport and doctors. «There are 100 people and just one school. We have no port and it’s a major problem. There’s just the boat to Samos, but it doesn’t sail every day. I remember one spell of bad weather when we were shut off for a week, without even bread.» Markouli’s husband works on fish farms now and she’s at home all day. «My only entertainment is music and television. There’s not even a bar, just cafes and it’s mainly men there. But I wouldn’t like to go back to Piraeus. After a while you feel for the place where you live. We’ve formed a club to organize music and dance evenings for feast days, and we have a hall with billiards and online computers for the youngsters.»
