FaceBook (FB) can be a strange place with lots of intimate and unnecessary information posted about peoples' lives but it's also a fantastic place. Sometimes the gossip is enticing and often the photos are. However, my favorite things are the links to articles and videos that are posted. It's impossible to catch up each day on all the nifty billions of daily news and worthy items so, for me, FB can be a way to access things I may not have yet seen.
"With Work Scarce in Athens, Greeks Go Back to the Land," (in January 9, 2011's New York Times) is one such article. Thank you for posting Lina of Sunshine Organic Snacks! Unemployment among 15-29 year old Greeks has risen to 35% in 2011 up from 24% a year earlier. w.o.w.!
Though much of the economy and the country is in more or less bad shape, their agricultural sector is growing. Since 2008 over 30,000 formerly urban Greek nationals have moved to rural areas to take on agricultural jobs. They are often taking family land and either reviving a traditional production or beginning a new one. Young neo-farmer Alexandra Tricha said, "My parents were from the countryside. They were farmers when they were young. I studied to avoid becoming a farmer. They were teachers. And then their daughter studied and then went back to being a farmer."
In addition to this article being interesting for its own sake, Tricha's statement gives me pause. My father is from the countryside. He learned how to farm the family's fields. He studied and was a teacher. Now I've gone from focusing on archaeology (undergrad) to ethnomusicology (MA) and find myself at the end and beginning of my studies focusing on agricultural processes.
Some days I definitely would love to be completely immersed in the physical; under the sun, in the mud, contemplating padi varieties and the merits of organic versus petroleum fertilizers. Then I jolt myself back to (my) reality that as romantic as it seems 12 hour days of labour is not easy and unfortunately not well paid (farmers' profit is roughly $125 CD/acre/crop). Then I flip to remembering the pleasure I had growing up working on my patch of garden and the glorious sensation of dirt beneath my nails and the thrill of beautiful lush growth.
Bliss comes in many forms and hopefully I won't have to make a choice!
Dreams of fresh cut grass and lilies of the valley, ap
"With Work Scarce in Athens, Greeks Go Back to the Land," (in January 9, 2011's New York Times) is one such article. Thank you for posting Lina of Sunshine Organic Snacks! Unemployment among 15-29 year old Greeks has risen to 35% in 2011 up from 24% a year earlier. w.o.w.!
Though much of the economy and the country is in more or less bad shape, their agricultural sector is growing. Since 2008 over 30,000 formerly urban Greek nationals have moved to rural areas to take on agricultural jobs. They are often taking family land and either reviving a traditional production or beginning a new one. Young neo-farmer Alexandra Tricha said, "My parents were from the countryside. They were farmers when they were young. I studied to avoid becoming a farmer. They were teachers. And then their daughter studied and then went back to being a farmer."
In addition to this article being interesting for its own sake, Tricha's statement gives me pause. My father is from the countryside. He learned how to farm the family's fields. He studied and was a teacher. Now I've gone from focusing on archaeology (undergrad) to ethnomusicology (MA) and find myself at the end and beginning of my studies focusing on agricultural processes.
Some days I definitely would love to be completely immersed in the physical; under the sun, in the mud, contemplating padi varieties and the merits of organic versus petroleum fertilizers. Then I jolt myself back to (my) reality that as romantic as it seems 12 hour days of labour is not easy and unfortunately not well paid (farmers' profit is roughly $125 CD/acre/crop). Then I flip to remembering the pleasure I had growing up working on my patch of garden and the glorious sensation of dirt beneath my nails and the thrill of beautiful lush growth.
Bliss comes in many forms and hopefully I won't have to make a choice!
Dreams of fresh cut grass and lilies of the valley, ap
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| source: senseofserenity.ca |
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