Zorca the Greek??

The other night it was my pleasure to have dinner with Zorca, a student living in the international dorm.  She is not Greek!  She is actually from Montenegro, but lives and works in Serbia.  She is a high school teacher of Greek.

My dinner with Zorca happened quite by accident.  There is a student cafeteria that I sometimes frequent.  I always eat by myself, which is fine.  Typically, the cafeteria is crowded with undergraduates who are far too busy catching up with each other to notice a guy who looks British or American.  For all they know, I am just another parent visiting.  When you enter the cafeteria, you grab a tray and then stand in front of a Lazy Susan on steroids.  As it spins around approximately six students at a time stand in a semicircle around it, picking and choosing amongst the entrees, salads, cheeses, and fruits.  As I was standing there I thought I heard someone say "hello", but I decided I was hallucinating.  In Greek, students will say "yah-sas", but not "hello".  I heard "hello" again so I turned to look only to discover that it was Zorca.  We exchanged pleasantries and then I went off to find a table assuming that she was with friends.  Much to my surprise and delight, she asked to sit with me.

Zorca is typical of the students I have met in the international dorm.  She speaks six languages (i.e., Serbian, Russian, English, Greek, Italian, and French).  On top of that, she is extremely nice. 

For the next hour, Zorca and I compared and contrasted Serbia and the United States on a variety of issues including immigration policies, typical family size, entrance requirements to universities, tuition for universities, languages offered in elementary and secondary schools, and elections.  We concluded by discussing a foreign film series that the university is offering.  However, I probably won't be able to take advantage of this series: the films are subtitled in Greek.  My Greek is improving, but not that fast. 

As is so typical of an experience like this it is the chance encounters that are the most memorable.  I will have many memories from my time in Greece, but I don't think I will soon forget my dinner with Zorca.