ciao Aracà

In his early nineties, Nati, who is a head strong character, has lived all his adult life as an optimistic single man and always worked very hard. He, like most people in the Aracá hamlet, has never had an extended holiday. In the years gone by he cared for his hundreds of olive trees as well as keeping livestock, and growing wheat, chestnuts, cherries and vegetables. Now-a-days he spends his time on his olives, vegetable garden and his passion for flowers which he keeps in pots alongside the patio of his house. When he was young, he looked after his sick mother for several years before she died.

Luca, is a university graduate in his late thirties, with two young children, who decided to change direction and enter farming. He grows olives and grapes on his grandparents' land and a few years ago started a small wine-making enterprise. He also sells extra virgin olive oil and is the president of the oil producing cooperative in the village of Ranzo to which the hamlet of Aracà belongs.

Ivano is seventy years old and lives alone in a large house in Aracà from where he manages his olive groves. Before retiring he was a concrete finisher, and in this capacity worked all over Italy, and even spent some time in the Middle East. His wife lives with their two adult children about an hour away near the coast where she is dedicated to caring for her old and sick parents. She comes to Aracà on weekends to help Ivano with the household.

Vanda and Augusto are in their mid seventies and both are kind, generous people, and very hard working (which is the ethos for Aracà residents). In their early years they both worked for the Post Office in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day, and evening, cultivating their land. Now, after retirement, they help their only daughter Wilma with her agricultural enterprise. They own several olive groves the produce of which goes to Wilma's company. They also have extensive vineyards and vegetable gardens and sell vegetables to the market.

Wilma is Vanda and Augusto's daughter, is married to Ezio, a lecturer at a technical college in Albenga, who helps Wilma in his lecture-free time. They produce organic extra virgin olive oil and they press the olives in their own mill. They have two small children.

Fanny is in her late eighties and a widow. She used to help her husband grow olives, grapes and vegetables as well as breed livestock. Now she keeps her own vegetable garden and looks after her handful of chickens. During the time of pruning and harvesting she gives a hand to her son and daughter who care for the lands as best they can, after finishing their own work.

Pier-Luigi is both an entrepreneur and visionary, now in his early sixties. He belongs neither to the older generation in Aracà, nor to the young set, and has adapted well to the massive change that has hit the farming community in this area of Liguria. He successfully ran several businesses before retiring, and then returned to his family lands to start another successful career as a vintner and producer of extra virgin olive oil. Igi has two children who live and work in a town by the sea, although his son spends a lot of time working in his father's wine production.