A Surprise Singing Lesson
June 10, 2006 – 3:59 amThere’s a brand sparkling new public toilet facility between Trg Bana Josipa Jelačića and Vlaška Ulica, but I had little chance of making it there in time to file my paperwork, so I ducked into a cafe, politely ordered a kava, and promptly aimed myself at the water closet.
When I returned, the kava was waiting patiently on the bar for me. I sat across from some colorful gentlemen in the middle of their afternoon wine and listened intently to the conversations around me, attempting to recognize words and phrases. I know enough Croatian now to recognize dialect and regional inflections, and the sound of Zagreb Croatian actually reminds me of Chicago English. I’m not yet sure exactly why, but something about the coloration and rhythm of speech suggests a similarity to my ears. L’s and J’s seem to be commonly pronounced from the upper rear of the mouth over a widened, withdrawn tongue.
The accent I currently inflict upon the Croatian tongue isn’t immediately recognizable here as Midwestern American. They often say I sound Russian here. When you couple that with my poor grammar and low vocabulary, I stand out like a sore thumb when I speak. When I asked the barmaid how much I owed for the kava, the gentlemen with the wine struck up a “conversation” with me. What was I doing in Zagreb? From whence in Russia had I come? And, would I have a tipple in their company? I graciously accepted their offer, requested a bevanda, and enjoyed the free-fall of this solo jump into colloquial Croatian.
Three rounds later we were all pals. Before I knew it, I was learning Croatian songs in a Zagreb cafe.
