At the same time, the air conditioners silently refresh the air, the rooms are impeccably cleaned, the treats in the restaurant are beyond all praise - but dissatisfaction has its rightful place for all those who did not learn English well at school or deemed it necessary to forget it, armed with an expensive tour package.
Russian comes to the rescue completely unexpectedly. Moreover, the hotel staff themselves offer it as an additional free service. The Russian is broken, halting, but quite friendly. Estonians! In Cyprus! In huge numbers! Ready for the convenience of the client to temporarily forget about national sovereignty and, in the interests of the matter, remember the language of the "occupiers."
Porters and waitresses, bartenders and dishwashers, gardeners and decorators - a cheerful young company from Tallinn. Saulus graduated from Tallinn University with a degree in "transport and logistics," but, as he says, always wanted to see the world, to travel. Now the handsome porter is quite satisfied with life: 500 Cypriot pounds "net," plus accommodation and meals free, a six-day working week and fanaticism in regard to work, expressed already in his impeccably ironed trousers and freshest shirt in the hottest heat. The shift is eight hours, the rest of the time is given to sports and reading marketing textbooks. Sometimes Saulus, though, is ready to sleep for 16 hours straight - after having to replace a colleague who for one reason or another did not come to work.
"You know when this happens? When you end up on a shift with Poles or Slovaks. There are also many of them here now, but gradually hotel owners realize how unprofitable it is to cooperate with them. As with the locals. They can get sick or say "I will do it," but not do it, and simply forget about their promise. We - people from the north - are more reliable, we can be relied upon, we are trusted."
The reliability of Estonian guest workers is quickly realized by the initially indignant German-speaking guests. You can communicate with the guys with gestures and get what you want in an instant - unlike their emotionally impenetrable colleagues from other Eastern European countries and the somewhat, to put it mildly, relaxed local residents. Riin does not mix cocktails as deftly as her replacement Panayiota, but a sweet smile and soft English, understandable even to yesterday's underachiever, excuse her slowness. A 19-year-old schoolgirl from the Estonian capital, she does not make plans like Saulus's long-term perspective, who intends to join the board of one of the hotels of an international chain. The girl simply came to earn some money during the holidays: "I thought - it's great that you can go to the warm sea for a couple of months. Money, if you get a job in a restaurant, is in principle the same as at home, but what a beach!"
The beach is truly stunning. But Riin manages to spend no more than two hours a day on it. In the morning, long before the guests wake up, she needs to set the tables for breakfast, polish the cutlery until it shines, if necessary - re-iron the tablecloths (and it is necessary, because the local employees of the hotel laundry finished work the previous evening and are ready to eliminate their own unfinished work only the coming evening). Clear the dishes after breakfast. Repeat the morning procedure before lunch, during the meal - taking orders and delivering drinks to the tables. Cleaning. Preparation for dinner. Free time. True, Riin does not use it, because she stands behind the bar counter, and then - "Well, just lucky!" - she paints the walls in the future children's center of the hotel.
Some of her friends prefer the "second shift" - serving at tables and during dinner, thus the working day increases to 14 hours, but the financial return is worth it: the salary of a foreign waitress or barmaid is 200 Cypriot pounds for eight hours, extension means plus 50%, and during dinner and after it, guests, regardless of nationality, are generous with tips. "Especially tourists from Russia," says Maria, Riin's classmate. "They generally give money for nothing! Well, I said where the nearest pharmacy is, although you can find out from the porter or travel agent. I think they pay just to hear Russian speech. And I speak Russian poorly, my mother is Russian, but in the family Estonian was always accepted. In English - it's easier, but Russian tourists don't need it, and Germans just get angry."
The best Russian is spoken by 17-year-old Kristina. For some reason, this charming girl, who arrived only a week ago, disappears after her first day off. Then her fellow countrymen remain silent, somehow strangely diverting the conversation to another topic. Apparently, the young waitress could not adequately respond to the advances of representatives of the middle management. The hot local guys with a share of Turkish blood are unlikely to have appreciated the modesty of the fair-haired northern girl - her contract ended without having time to enter the development phase.
Why do Estonian boys and girls come here? Some - for the long, excuse me, pound. Some - out of a passion for distant wanderings. Some - yes, yes, there are such - for professional experience. No one - for adventures, unlike, say, some tourists from our once common historical homeland, unsuccessfully trying to replenish a pocket emptied by vacation by offering a variety of services.
The resort season on Cyprus is from April to November. Vacations for most Estonian guest workers will end in September. What then? "Then, probably, we will have to hire Poles," says hotel manager Costas. "It's a pity, we might lose a star..."