Death and Trafficking

So, I returned home yesterday, and this was what I saw, propped up against the door to my apartment complex. My first thought was, "Wow! That looks like a coffin. But surely it's not, so I'm going to take a picture!" Of course, in order to enter the building, I had to get up all close and personal with the thing, at which point I discovered that not only does it look like a coffin, but it actually *is* a coffin - or at least the lid to one. (Well, what else would it be, right? But who leaves their coffin-tops hanging out outside the front door?) I was a bit weirded out by the whole thing, and perhaps it showed in my face, for when I entered our apartment, Nina M. asked me if I was frightened. My response, "Well, there's a thing downstairs. For dead people." (I didn't know the word for coffin at the time. How is it I know the Russian words for grave and cemetery, but not coffin?) At which point she told me that our neighbor died last night. I'd never met him, or even seen him, except from a distance. Apparently he was old and had been sick for a long time. The coffin-lid was still outside when I left for work this morning. I wonder if that means that the neighbor is still in the house in the, you know, bottom part of the coffin? *Shiver*

This afternoon I had my second class with Marina, my individual student who is leaving for Egypt in three weeks (whom I wrote about HERE). After our initial lesson, I felt quite strongly that her job offer seemed unbelievably shady, so I sent an email to The Angel Coalition, an organization that works to prevent human trafficking in and from Russia. I told them exactly what I wrote in my blog last Thursday, and asked for advice. This is the email I received in response:

Dear Jane,

Thanks a lot for the information and your genuine concern! Please find attached Russian-language information that your student may find useful. Please let her know on your own that you believe the attached should be read thoroughly, and any decision should be well-informed. Some sections may seem redundant for her case, however, they might prove useful in the future.

Please emphasize for your student that no tourist visa can ever be legitimate. A contract should be sent to the lady BEFORE she leaves Russia. If she’s asked to leave and take care of trip-related financial issues “later on”, this should indicate a scam.

Thank you very much.

Oleg Kouzbit
Director, Trafficking Victim Assistance Center,
The Angel Coalition, Moscow

The lesson itself went much better than the previous one, as I was prepared for a Z2 level student, and as I was loaded up with worksheets on the present tense and vocabulary lists. But, since she's paying to practice conversation, we did do a good bit of that too. I asked a lot of questions regarding her potential job in Egypt. It turns out that she was at a night club, dancing, when a man approached her on the dance floor, and offered her a job in his hotel. I explained what she says the job will involve in my last post, but this time she mentioned the rules she has to follow: she must smile all the time, she must always have a good attitude, she must come to the club 6 days a week, she can't talk to one man for longer than ten minutes, and she is not allowed to have a boyfriend. Creepy, creepy. She also said that she will be in Egypt on a working visa, although she said she applied for it through a tourist firm in Moscow (the name of which she could not remember). At the end of the class, I gave her the five-page, Russian-language document sent to me by The Angel Coalition, and told her that it was information for Russian women about being safe while traveling overseas, and she took it eagerly. I hope she reads it! I also told her in great detail about how M and I fled Korea in the middle of the night, in case she needs suggestions on how to pull a runner... I guess we'll see what happens.