Bozenna, a former employee of mine from my halcyon days in Greece has just skyped me on the eve of her departure for the island of Zakynthos, known to the Venetians, who ruled it for more than three hundred years, as 'The Flower of the East'.
Thanks, Bozenna! I remember with great fondness my 'Greek salad days' and still wonder what sudden rush of blood to the head made me leave a job and a location others would have killed for. Having grown weary of my Arab employer's fickleness and a misdiagnosed case of homesick-ness may have had something to do with it.
Of course, we were all a whole lot younger then. You had answered my ad in the English language newspaper "ATHENS NEWS" in which I was looking for a "shipping person" who could do my many complex Laytime Calculations (for all you landlubbers, laytime is the period of time agreed between the parties - ship owners, charterers, cargo shippers and consignees - during which a chartered ship is available for loading / discharging without payment of additional freight.)
You did a wonderful job which saved my employer large sums of money and, on a personal side, you and your late husband Ted introduced me, a newcomer to Greece (I had just spent a miserable and very "dry" eighteen months in Saudi Arabia), to the many delights of Greek wining and dining. My many fond memories of Greece are entirely due to your wonderful friendship which has endured to this day!
Thanks for thinking of me, Bozenna, as you start your summer holiday on Zakynthos while I shiver through another winter at "Riverbend".
