Duck or Beaver?

It was the same greeting I hear every day from shopkeepers trying to invite me into their store. “Hello! Where are you from?” I usually answer just to be nice since I don’t like to ignore people. “America,” I said, “from Oregon.” The next question I would never have expected anywhere outside of Oregon. “Are you a duck or a beaver?” I stopped mid step. “Beaver,” I said, stunned that someone in Greece would know the two state university mascots. The middle aged man was sitting on a small chair outside a jewelry shop on the main street in Olympia, Greece. When he smiled up at me I saw that he was missing two teeth on the top row. “That’s in Corvallis, right? I’ve never been there, been to Portland and Eugene though.” I felt gravitated towards this man who seemed so familiar so quickly. He spoke in perfect English and yet had just the right thickness of accent to tell that he was a native Greek. It turned out that his name was Γιώργος (the Greek version of George) and he owned the little jewelry shop he was perched in front of.

He asked me after a few minutes of us talking if I want to sit and have a coffee with him. I hesitated, not sure how far we would be going in order to get coffee but he just pointed to the café right next to his shop. I basically took about 5 steps to the left and sat down at a small table. He took the seat across from me and hailed over an older man who appeared to know Γιώργος quite well. He asked me if I wanted a beer or a coffee and I must have looked puzzled at why the choice was necessary. “It’s around noon,” he said, “maybe you were looking for a beer.” I told him that a frappe was fine and he seemed impressed that I knew of such things. He ordered a bottle of water for himself and I scolded him for not getting a coffee with me like he said. “I’ve already had three today,” he explained, so I let it slide. We talked about his job as an engineer in the states and why he had visited Oregon. We talked about Greek culture and what Athens was like compared to the islands. He recommended an island or two that I should go see before leaving Greece, or maybe coming back to visit in the future.

When the topic of what I had purchased so far in Greece came up I told him I had been buying a lot of jewelry. I told him my favorite piece so far was a blue opal ring I had found in Crete. This was when he got up from our little table and asked me to come and look at his jewelry. I found a bracelet of Turquoise that was beautiful and he had me wear it around for a while. He wrote the price down on a small piece of paper and set it down on the counter. “Guess how much it costs,” he said, “I won’t change the price, it’s on the paper.” I was flustered and guessed something higher than I actually thought it was as to not offend. He laughed when I guessed, “70 euros?” The price was only 30! I finally decided to buy the bracelet as a memento of this strange coincidental meeting. I’ll always remember my time in Olympia, Greece when I wear it and I’ll smile to think of Γιώργος and his two missing teeth.