Broken cutlery and tasty chicken: dinner with the Navigators

The couscous salad was a bit bland, although redeemed to an extent by tasty feta cubes. The baguettes were nice, and so were the hamburgers. But the highpoint of the menu at Navigators Studentenvereniging Rotterdam (NSR) had to be the chicken satay and chicken wings! On Monday night, the Christian students association welcomed several Eureka groups for diner.

A particular Eureka group informed EM that while NSR’s plastic cutlery breaks fairly easily, there were no complaints about its waste collection service. And indeed, every now and then, someone passes by our table with a garbage bag to gather up used plates and cutlery. “They’ve done their best to make the hall cosy with bunting and party lights,” suggests one of the guides. After a warm welcome, the group are invited on a tour of the association’s stately hall on Eendrachtsplein. They politely decline: “We were really hungry,” confesses Cavoa van der El.

The group didn’t see much evidence of their hosts’ Christian background, although one member admits expecting they would have to say grace before dinner. Incidentally, the students don’t see religious foundations as a decisive factor in their own choice of association. Aspects like ‘conviviality’, ‘discovering yourself’ and ‘feeling at home’ are more important. “I’d prefer a co-ed association” is another salient point, and yes: the presence of nice/good-looking/cute boys and girls is another biggie – although they aren’t all equally prepared to admit it.