My White Clouds

Eleni Louvis was born in rural Sparta in the first decade of the twentieth century. She recorded her experiences as a child in Greece and her impressions of her early years in America, where several of her brothers had found work. Her daughter, D. G. Bacas, carefully researched Eleni's life and based My White Clouds on this research and on Eleni’s diary. The power of her story lies in its closely observed details of village life. Eleni's family and neighbors obeyed church teachings—from Lenten fasts to Easter feasts. Women raised silkworms, spun wool shorn from their sheep, baked bread in wood-fired ovens, and preserved food to sustain their families during the winter . . . men tended their farm animals, fields, olive groves, and vineyards. There was no electricity and no running water, so Eleni and her brother and sister spent hours fetching water and gathering kindling. Clothes were washed in an icy stream and stretched over boulders to dry. Food was simple, and sometimes portions might be meager, yet there was no sense of privation. Close community, revered customs, and the institutions of school and church sustained the villagers. Children were taught to value and honor their heritage. Mythical and historical references found their way into general conversation. All felt a strong identity and a deep connection to nature in this village nestled in the side of a mountain that shielded them from the outside world. Yet Eleni left the safety of her village and traveled across a vast sea to a vast land, whose language and customs she did not understand. This spirited young woman was determined to succeed, and she did, with the help of her brothers and her own hard work. The reader sees the world through Eleni’s eyes. We observe daily life in rural Greece in the early twentieth century. The book is filled with descriptions of customs and celebrations, and enlivened with conversations that convey the personalities and motivations of Eleni's family members and neighbors—as well as the village priest, the matchmaker, and visitors to her village. The villagers’ lives were enriched by deeply revered customs and rituals. Important influences included the teachings of the Greek Orthodox Church and the history, legends, and myths of Ancient Greece. Once in America, Eleni—now in her early teens—learned the language and the customs of her adopted country and fell in love with its energy, optimism, and the promise of a better life. Yet she remained proud of her Greek heritage and taught her children to love and honor her homeland as well. Eleni was a perceptive woman whose story provides rare insights into two ways of life—in Greece and in America—cherished experiences shared by many. Her tale bridges three generations: the farmers and their wives who labored dawn to dusk; the immigrants in America who worked fourteen-hour days, seven days a week, and their children who honored their heritage and with their parents embraced the new world. Each chapter begins with an appropriate Greek epigram. The book is further enhanced by accounts of Eleni's husband and one of her brothers that describe some of their experiences in Greece and in the United States. Further additions that enrich the reading experience are a glossary, list of characters, regional maps, photos of key people in Eleni's life, and her favorite recipes.