My "visa," paid for with a bottle of brandy. Then one evening in Moscow, a gathering of men at the back of an ugly restaurant building. They were shuffling around in early March's muddy snow, grinning and winking at one another; but their grins were tense, their gaze fixed on two broad windows open on the first floor. Inside, in a halo of fluorescent light, could be seen a white-tiled wall, two mirrors, and a hand dryer buzzing in the void. A woman appeared in front of one of the mirrors, unbuttoned her coat, and, unconcerned by the presence of the spectators, exposed the naked whiteness of her body. She even spun lightly around on her high heels, revealing very full breasts with brown nipples, the well-rounded triangle of her belly. Another hitched up her foot onto the sill and began tugging at the zipper of her boot. Beneath her miniskirt her leg was exposed right up to the hip, her broad thigh enclosed in red tights… This parade, improvised by prostitutes in a restaurant bathroom, bore witness to an ude-niable liberalization. Less hypocrisy than before, more imagination. "Progress…" I reflected, as I continued on my way. I was to echo this thought two days later, in a large city on the Volga. To kill time while waiting for my train, I let myself be carried along by the crowd and found myself in a park. Amid gaudily painted booths, noisy festivities were under way, some kind of "town celebration," or quite simply a fine Sunday, the previous night's snowfall reflecting the dazzling sunlight. I walked along, stumbling over deep drifts, intoxicated by the snow's sharp freshness, bonding with the laughter, the glances, the language I no longer needed to translate. This homecoming was like a dream where everything is instantly comprehensible, where physical contact – all hearts beating as one – is wonderfully palpable. Drunk with the sunshine and the gaiety around me, I even had this exalted and sanctimoniously patriotic thought: "They may only have three rubles in their pockets, but here they are, laughing and celebrating just the way they always did.