Teaing like Russians

PC: Masha Healy Our trip to Valaam was our first shared I-wish-I-could-go dream and the last far-off destination on our ambitious itinerary. Initially, we had wanted to go on our own, but we soon found out that it really wasn’t that simple. In order to get to the island, you had to know the personal phone numbers of the boat captains…which you couldn’t get unless you were already on the boat. So, you really couldn’t. Otherwise, you could go with a pilgrimage group. So we did. Sveta, our Moscow friend, booked tickets for us. She was stressed when we asked her about it. Finally, she admitted that everything had been going smoothly until she sent in the passport information. Within minutes, they called her: “This is a trip special for Russians. We have tourist (as opposed to pilgrimage) groups. Different content, a price and a different level of comfort, since what’s ok for us is not at all ok for foreigners. So please tell them that they can’t make us uncomfortable or comp...