Two Greek Australian couples from Melbourne, who recently celebrated their double wedding anniversary of 60 years told Neos Kosmos about how life became sweeter and more bearable once their fellow villagers joined them in those first years of settling in Australia.

Sotiria and Vasiliki (née Arsenis), two sisters from Rizoma, a village in central Greece, got married to two fellow villagers, Nikos Liacos and George Ganas, on the same day, in November 1962, in the Holy Church of the Annunciation in Melbourne.

In a house in Richmond, owned by their brother, Yannis Arsenis and his wife, the three couples lived together happily along with other Greeks who joined them from Rizoma.

When they talk about those days of communal living, it sounds as if they are describing the best days of their lives.

“There were 20 of us living under the same roof. And every night we would play music and dance,” Sotiria said. “We shared one kitchen, one bathroom, one fridge and… one love.” She stressed that there was never a bad word exchanged between them, and to this day they still live two steps away from their fellow-villagers – some of them even childhood friends – in the neighbourhood of Clayton.

In the same spirit of good will they just celebrated 60 years of marriage with their respective partners.

“When you have love, what else do you need?” Vasiliki reflects when I ask them about the secret to a happy and lasting marriage.

“It takes love and patience, and understanding,” her sister, Sotiria adds.

“On top of love and patience you need respect. If you’re irritable and always want to get your way it doesn’t help,” Nick also said.

“Hey, you’re going to argue now and then. There’s not a couple that doesn’t fight,” Vasiliki said and they laugh.

Sotiria was the first of the four to travel to Australia, in 1960, invited by her brother, Yannis Arsenis who had left the year before. She was already engaged to Nikos Liacos when she left Rizoma. Nikos, a hardworking young man was a great catch in the village and his father was often approached by families with daughters who were interested in a match. But Nikos’ father had already picked out Sotiria for his son, and down the road the two young people met and fell in love.

Vasiliki born in 1934, and Sotiria in 1936 were the youngest daughters of eight siblings who lived through the war, the occupation and the civil war. All four remember in detail those difficult years. The German soldiers, the clouds of dust when tanks drove through the village’s main dirt road, and the fear they felt when they ran to hide from them in pits and streams. The guerrilla war that followed was even more brutal we are told.

“What choices did we have? We were poor, there were many of us, and in those days we were expected to have a dowry.” Sotiria explained that they didn’t have many options for their future.

For Vasiliki, the decision to follow her sister to Australia was finally made within an afternoon. In letters she received from her siblings they described to her a wonderful country, but she was hesitant to emigrate, until one day she found herself out in the fields with her cousin when it started pouring down and she got covered in mud. They had gone to collect water from a stream when their bucket fell, completely drenching them. As soon as she got back home she announced to her parents that that was it, she was leaving for Australia.

Although her sister Sotiria was on the other side of the world, she still found a way to set her up with George Ganas, and on her last night in Greece, Vasiliki met her future husband for the first time on their engagement night. A year later, the two grooms embarked on the “Patris” with another two villagers, to go and find them.

Rizoma is situated close to Meteora, in the vicinity of Trikala, and it has a river and many monasteries. It is located at the root of the mountain, hence the name (rizoma), and Sotiria remembers its beautiful view, a place they were able to revisit 4-5 times since they left.

“I really missed the village. At first I cried a lot. But my sister came and that consoled me. Then other girls from the village arrived, and we all created our own village here in Australia.”

They may have longed for their birthplace, but they never regretted leaving it behind.

“We found a good country, with good people. I don’t have a single complaint,” Nikos said. “We were very poor in Greece. When we came here our dream was to work hard, and set up our home. We often asked for overtime work to save money and we succeeded.” Nikos often worked double shifts and with the little English he learned, he was able to help his fellow villagers navigate their new life.

Vasiliki and George welcomed two girls and two boys into their family, and Sotiria and Nikos three sons. Their children bonded with each other and to this day they share a strong friendship.

Yannis Arsenis, who was the one to pave the way to Australia, returned to live in Greece almost a decade after he married off his sisters, plus seven more girls who arrived from their village. He was their rock. The sisters relied on him alongside many others from Rizoma who he had taken into his home, helped them find work and settle when they first arrived.

“When our brother, our sister-in-law and our nieces and nephews left, Australia seemed so empty to me,” Sotiria said with emotion.

But they got used to it. They had their friends from the village living close by. They became koumbaroi to each other, and in the same neighbourhood in Melbourne they raised their children. They worked hard all their lives but with the same zeal they also got together often to dance and celebrate, as they would have done if they still lived in Rizoma, if not more.