European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                At Home in Moscow by Jack Redden United press International d using the night the Winter cold seeped through the apartment windows stiffening the air in the living room where 16-year-Oldtanya  was still dark when she began stirring on the sofa a piece of furniture by Day her bed at night. The Northern Sun would not slide above the horizon for More than two hours but the girl s Mother Marina already was Busy in the Kitchen preparing breakfast. These Are the real russians not party officials or even angry dissidents but the average russians who keep their nation going. Tanya awoke and cleared the sofa to make seating room for the morning meal. She was joined by her father Viktor. Her 18-year-old brother Mikhail and her Mother sat on the other Side of the Coffee table in Matching but drab Mustard coloured armchairs. So sleepy Marina teased her daughter As she Drew on the first of the Day s Many cigarettes. Each morning the family of four started the Day with a heaping plate sometimes potatoes sometimes Macaroni sometimes cakes made from cabbage. Bulgarian bottled peas rolled around the Edge. This is not a country for croissants or a soft boiled egg. For this family As for most russians there was Little difference Between dinner and breakfast save perhaps an opening course of borscht beet soup in the evening. It is a diet heavy in fat and carbohydrate and Light on meat fruit and vegetables. Still Marina varied and balanced meals in a Triumph of shopping Enterprise. Marina dominated the family. Viktor a slightly built scientist with an elfin smile said Little seeming preoccupied with his research in physics. It was left to Marina to Rush about and get Tanya to the bus on time. Marina 40 years old and bursting with Energy argued with Tanya to Wear a hat that the dark eyed girl found less than flattering. Tanya ran out the door at 7 45 . In time to catch the first of two buses she must take to reach her school. More than an hour later Viktor with the colourless Dawn Light spread Over Moscow silently wrapped a Scarf around his neck donned his coat and fur hat and left for the subway about a 20-minute walk away. Mikhail however was not feeling Well a frequent complaint in the family and skipped the hour Long subway ride to his mathematics Institute in favor of study at Home. The minus-4 degree temperature which crept in to chill the whole apartment May have been a Factor but Marina optimistically said he studies harder at  with the family taken care of Marina went shopping. Dressed in an old fur coat and the fur hat that All but the poorest of soviets own she walked Down four flights of stairs past the cylindrical garbage chutes and out the Dingy front Entrance. Marina s neighbourhood was indistinguishable from innumerable other parts of Moscow where a building Boom has sprawled across the Countryside in the past two decades. Unlike the private houses of the West or even soviet satellite nations Here there Are rows of identical 10 to 15 Story High rises their gayness broken Only by Frozen Wash Hung from the balconies. Apartment buildings Are separated by Large tracts of grass and Trees. The russians keep their Countryside in the capital. Marina and Viktor were among the Early residents moving from Central Moscow about 15 years ago. By soviet standards their life is comfortable. The two bedrooms and living room of their apartment cover 550 Square feet although they would like a room for Tanya. A 5-foot-wide windowing the living room helped dispel the gloom of the Dull Orange wallpaper and dark stained furniture. Water pipes were visible on the Wall. The furniture a Mustard coloured sofa two chairs a dining table and a Wall of Book shelves looked 1960s style but was a major Purchase Only a couple of years ago. The Black and White television at the end of the room was rarely on. The move to their new Home meant a one hour commute to work but the end of life in the decaying s8.s illustrations by Betsy Duncan layout and design by a Argit Joelo communal apartments of Central Moscow. Those old apartments with a half dozen families sharing one Kitchen and bathroom Are being vacated As new buildings Rise on the edges of the City. Marina taking a trip Back to harder times showed a Friend around the dreary apartments. The impression of age was reinforced by the people still in the pre revolutionary buildings. An 84-year-old woman in a communal apartment Only a few minutes from the Kremlin said she lived on a pension of 50 rubles $65 a month. With this i cannot afford one piece of meat or sausage the old lady said. She spends most of the Day in her one room wandering into the common Kitchen Occas Only to make a cup of Tea. But residents of a nearby apartment said theirs had been converted to a single family unit Progress that was Only a dream when Marina and Viktor were waiting to move. Although in Many ways the move to the outskirts of Moscow helped improve Marina s life it is still often Boring. The family s Lack of a car restricts travel and the number of Heaters cinemas and restaurants is Low for a City of More than 8.5 million people. By 10 . The streets of Moscow Are deserted. Entertaining  is the most common diversion and the most attractive aspect of russian society. No matter the difficulty in finding ingredients there is always food and drink piled up for visitors. Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev s crackdown on drinking especially Vodka makes it Only More difficult not impossible to offer the traditional hospitality. For a party Given by Marina and Viktor Marina spent the morning scouring an expensive private Market for ingredients and worked through the afternoon cooking specialities with ground meat and cheese. Guests included both old friends and new. A Friend with a guitar Sang a few songs and there were toasts to health and happiness. Marina spread her afternoon s creations across the dining table and the plastic tops were Cut off the bottles apartment High rises identical Grey structures of 10 to 15 stories crowd the outskirts of Moscow. Up photo of red and White georgian wines considered the nation s finest. Mostly it was an evening of chatting and enjoying Marina s food an atmosphere not greatly different from that of the West especially in the pre television Era. At the end of the evening Viktor put on his coat and escorted the guests to the subway station. The flaps on his hat were Down when he returned a sure sign of sub Zero temperatures in the harsh russian Winter. That hospitality spending 40 minutes walking people to a station they have seen a Hundred times warms what is largely a Bleak life. There is an atmosphere of boredom and Drift reflected in the heavy drinking that Gorbachev is trying to curb or the teen age couples who stand together for hours inside the cramped Entrance to Marina s apartment building because they have no place to go. Despite what in Moscow is a comfortable Middle class Standard of living Marina clearly hoped Tanya s life would be easier. Marina and Viktor have seen a lot of Progress from their Early shared communal Flat to their current relative affluence. But Tanya s bed on the sofa is a reminder that not All their Hopes have been fulfilled. Shopping Long lines Little to buy by Jack Redden United press International he girl discreetly slipped a White Blouse from the bag and showed it to a prospective buyer in the crowd. The English Label meant a High Price but it also meant High Quality. But the Clandestine Sale at the moskva univ Ermag department store never took place. A plainclothes policeman stepped from the milling shoppers grabbed the merchandise and escorted both buyer and seller away. In the soviet Union Selling is the business of the state not individuals. Nevertheless the state monopoly is so inefficient that one routinely sees Small attempts at free Enterprise. But what is considered Good business in the West is considered profiteering in Moscow. The group of shoppers was clustered around the girl when Marina entered the department store on the key City artery of Leninsky Prospect. It dissolved with the appearance of the police. Larger crowds were elsewhere for Moscow is lines. There Are lines for dresses lines for shirts lines for underwear. For shoes soviets will stand patiently in subzero temperatures or spend half a Day in a line winding through a major store. It was below Zero along the wind swept expanse of Kutuzov sky Prospect a main Road leading straight to the Kremlin but a line waited silently outside a shoe shop opposite the apartment used by Yuri Andropov the late president. The clock was ticking toward the 2 . Lunchtime closing and Many would not make it in. In moskva a major store that bustles with people but is devoid of glitter the line for the third floor shoe department started on the second floor. A woman in a heavy coat and fur hat who had been standing for about three hours said she did not know exactly what she wanted. The line was the Only Way in. Most clerks in the soviet Union look bored and Are often surly. They tend to clump together and Chat while potential customers Are ignored. The Only shoes visible from the front of the line were half length boots priced at 70 rubles $90a medium Price. However most women try to buy Quality Winter boots costing up to $ 160. Another line had formed for plaid Cotton flannel shirts from China the sort sold in discount basements of the West and at Only $10 about half the Price of most soviet shirts. Other women waited for newly arrived dresses priced at 100 rubles $130 More than two weeks pay for most people. Clothes Are a priority. Many women on the subway Wear leather or fur Coats costing a minimum of $1,000, and one of those Mink hats Bobbing in the sea of fur in a Moscow subway station can Cost $500. It is one of the Many ironies of the soviet system that despite the Low pay savings accounts Are bulging. There is Little to buy and Many people have second illegal sources of income labelled left hand  people have the Cash to buy items that westerners would assume were unaffordable in Russia. Although the minimum wage is 70 rubles $90 a month and the average hovers around $240, consumer items Are almost universally More expensive than in the West. More than $60 for a simple Wool sweater close to $200 for a Well made dress that would Cost $60 in the United states. A pair of cheap italian boots that were available in England for $30 were on Sale in Moscow for $156 a level of profit for the state that would be unimaginable in a free Market Economy. But Opportunity to buy not Price is the key in the soviet Union. Despite marked improvements in the past two decades shortages run throughout the Economy. Deficit is one of the commonest russian words. Priorities for production and Selling Are set by the communist party s plan not Consumers. An example of what can result is a hardware store where there Are a few pots a few wooden spoons a few pans and shelf upon shelf of state manufactured Green plastic toilet seats. That is the official Economy. But As the girl arrested in the department store demonstrated there also is a vast underground Economy. To shirts with English writing the Michael Jackson Button worn by Marina s daughter and foreign labels adorning the backs of jeans Are a constant reminder of that Economy. Some people resell scarce items originally purchased in state stores some sell goods received from abroad and others sell goods produced illicitly at Home or in state factories. Although the penalties can run the Gamut and All those sales Are illegal officials just Wink at most entrepreneurs. Babushka grandmothers will stand in line for hours to get items for three rubles that they can resell for five Marina said. They have nothing else to do and it supplements their  other people Deal in bigger things like radios but that is More dangerous she said. Foreign labels Are equated with Quality often continued on Page 17 Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday March 2, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 15