European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Special assignment a disabled muscovite plays for passers by. Private markets Are Well stocked but prices Are High. Here a Vendor offers a the freshest Mutton in  Moscow where the improbable is commonplace stories by Randy Pruitt photos by Ken George Clearing customs at Moscow s Sheremetyev Airport proved easy. Exchanging dollars for rubles the official currency was not. A permanent sign at the change Booth proclaimed 24-hour service. A smaller Handwritten sign announced Quot no rubles 11 the dour cashier confirmed both signs. Quot yes we re open 24 hours and we have no rubles Quot she said with finality Quot it s another mystery of Russia Quot said Maria our translator. She would repeat those words More than once As the stars and stripes criss crossed Moscow for 10 Days visiting soup kitchens hospitals grocery stores outdoor markets newspaper offices and private Homes. Quot it s another mystery of Russia Quot sums up the somber paradoxes and perplexing ironies that make up modern russian society visitors to this City of 10 million Are left with a dizzying array of contradictory images a the battered Volga taxi fishtails a Ong the Grey Snow crusted Street Russia is Freer than Ever yet Quot prison music Quot drifts from the car radio. A lonely voice and a Lone guitar. Like a Man in a prison cell. The music reflects the Drivers mood As he takes a slow drag on his Cosmos cigarette. He looks out the window of his cab his face As gloomy As a face in the gulag. Quot the Middle class has been destroyed says Alexander Podam a journalist at Moscow news Quot a typist might make 3.000 rubles a month a highly qualified Engineer 1,000 rubles months ago. A doctor was continued in Cjon 2