Into the deep fir forest of Maenalus, which looks like a jungle, there's the small village called Elati. One of the ten residents left in the village, is Leonidas Zafeiropoulos, the man who has raised a flag portraying Theodoros Kolokotronis at the entrance of his shop.

"As a young man I worked at a traditional woodcarving laboratory in Athens with a good salary of 20,000 drachmas per week, but I stayed there less than a year, because they didn't care much about the details. I got a job at another lab for 6,000 per week, where they didn't like mindless working. I preferred earning less money and learning more about the job. Today's young people make something and want to immediately make money out of it; they don't care about learning by other people's experience".

"What are these people saying, dad? I don't understand them". "They are Tsakonians, my child, a tribe that lives in a different time. Mankind is so close to going to the moon and they keep speaking their old dialect. Isn't there someone to teach them to speak Greek? I wonder when evolution is going to reach this place".

“The spruce we burned in the fireplace gave out sparks. That's why we carpeted our wintry room with “saismata” (thick cloths made of goat fur) -they don't catch fire if a spark falls on them. The grandparents slept on a high mattress in the corner of the room and on low mattresses on the floor next to them were the beds of the grandchildren. The married couple would sleep in the bedroom with the baby. When it grew up it moved to the winter room, so that the next baby would take its place next to its parents”.

"I have been carving wood ever since I was a boy. What designs do I make? Whatever crosses my mind. At first I used to make ladles and canes, but then I was often asked to make more ashtrays and troughs. At night I think about what I am going to make in the morning. My wife wants me to stop, but I work because I want to be able to offer my grandchildren potato chips every day. I work on Sundays, even if I earn nothing. It helps the time pass; I don't even understand when the morning or the evening comes".

"I returned to Magouliana after many years of emigration in America. I am a nice, good-looking, smart businessman. I opened this department store consisting of a cafe, hotel, tavern and a barber's shop, at the same time". Jimmy Gontikas’ store is under a huge plane tree, which entirely covers the tiny square of the village. It is under the same plane tree where Theodoros Kolokotronis and his lieutenant Photis Chrysanthakopoulos, aka Photakos, who was born in Magouliana, used to make their plans for the Revolution of 1821, 200 years ago.

“A judicial officer serving in Nafplio once came to my shop, but he didn't mention what his occupation was. In order not to ruin the dye I was making, I had to keep him waiting for a few minutes and he got angry. ‘Do you know who I am’, he told me, ‘I am the public prosecutor’. ‘And why should I care, I am the shoeshiners' prosecutor’, I answered. He was impressed by my prideful answer, and from that moment on he became a costumer and a friend of mine”.