Fate's Debt Register

Galina Suvorova is the owner and salesperson at Khali Gali, a little store in the Karelian village of Vedlozero. And while her shop is not spacious and does not have as wide a selection as one might find in the major chains, like Pyatyorochka or Magnit, it has a distinct advantage. Here you can have a heart-to-heart conversation. You can get updates on the sick. You can gossip, laugh, and buy food on credit.

“If I see someone I don’t know, I ask them who they are, where they are from, why they are here,” Suvorova says. “During the pandemic, a couple of Muscovites – a husband and wife – holed up here. They came to my store and were so delighted! The woman says, ‘We haven’t had anything like this for so long, everywhere is so impersonal. But here you chat with me, you show me things, give me advice!’ I am actually always ready to talk about our inventory, and to suggest something. To let someone know if the bread is fresh or not so fresh, whether or not the sausage is good, and cut off a piece as a sample.”

Galina grew up in Suoyarvi District and graduated from school in Petrozavodsk with a concentration in construction. Her husband Marat brought her to Vedlozero, as it was his hometown.