Maine Voices: Griner’s experience reminds us of the pitfalls of world travel

The Brittney Griner odyssey should be a wake-up call for any American traveler to another country, especially for teenagers champing at the bit to test their maturity and freedom away from the constraints of parents and country. The WNBA star last week was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony for carrying vape cartridges containing less than 1 gram of hashish oil into Moscow.

To start, it’s important to know the local laws of the place you’re visiting. Be prepared to abide by them – as silly as one may think they are related to one’s own comfort zone in America.

I speak from experience as a leader of youth trips. On more than one occasion, I had to deal with some hairy situations involving a clash of culture and the natural adolescent inclination to stretch the rules. As a retired teacher and coach from a New England boarding school now living in Topsham, I led student archaeology trips to Central and South America during spring break, and in the summer traveled with soccer teams to Eastern Europe, Finland and the former USSR. I speak from experiences that, had my charges been silly enough to be involved with testing certain international standards, might have bordered on international incidents.

U.S. Women’s National Basketball Association basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/AFP/Getty Images/TNS) Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Once, in Mexico, my van load of eight students was stopped on a road in the mountains near Tuxtla by supposed “military” personnel with uniforms and weapons. We were ordered to unload our gear, empty our duffels and spread everything out on the side of the road. They were meticulously searched for whatever – drugs, alcohol? Finding nothing, they left us to repack our luggage and be on our way. That far off the beaten path, who knows what the outcome might have been had anything irregular been found.

On a separate trip, another favorite ploy by locals surfaced when we hit the beaches 60 miles south of Cancun. One of our kids, while enjoying the beach, was approached by a local teenager and offered something, probably marijuana, for a small price. The game is that, if there is a transaction, the local then goes to a purported “constable” and tells him about the deal. The buyer is then questioned by the so-called “authority,” a purchase is established and the buyer is “detained.” Now, the parent or supervisor of the naïve American teenager is given an opportunity to avoid “prosecution” or embarrassment. Money might then have to quietly change hands.

On a soccer trip in Russia, I myself was involved in a situation. I was asked to come into a room in the hotel where our team was staying and was interrogated alongside a local street vendor with whom I’d been negotiating an exchange of a jersey from my school for one from a Moscow professional team – a common enough thing among teams and coaches on an international sports trip. But this was Russia, and the question was whether the seller had accepted U.S. dollars, which was very much against Russian law at that time. It was finally ascertained that I had not actually acquired the jersey in question, although I might have in a different situation in a different country. In the end, I was unfortunately not allowed to keep the jersey and mine was returned. I was finally excused and had no idea what happened to the other individual.

The traveler should always remember that we are guests in a foreign country, and we should have some knowledge of and appreciation for their laws, customs and practices in order to make the trip more enjoyable for both sides. Younger Americans are sometimes seen as gullible and naïve and can be targets of the street economy of many countries.

So a “bon voyage” as you make your way around the globe this year. Enjoy the food, the culture and the spirit of the host nation. And be understanding about, and respect, differences and expectations.

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