But my own memory of Malik is of a cocktail party at the Czechoslovak UN Mission just a year or so after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Prague. She says she's fine, just enjoying the churches, and he asks with a smile how she likes Moscow. Why Before I left for Moscow, I was bombarded by horror stories about political instability and crime in the streets. I get the sense from friends and relatives who communicate by e-mail that the image of Moscow life conveyed by American media is still one of random contract killings, political chaos and violence. And yet daily life here is far from chaotic and violent.
People go about their business.
A lot of people don't look happy, with good reason, because they haven't been getting paid, or their pay can no longer buy enough to eat, or the medical care they used to get free is now life- threatening and yet beyond their means. According to the security people at the U.S. Embassy, they try to knock down their targets, and then, with consummate professional skill, use razors or short, sharp knives, to cut purse straps and slash up a man's jacket or pants leg to cut away the entire inside pocket that holds the wallet.- without touching skin or drawing blood. Generally, the victim doesn't see them coming, and it's over before he or she can react. The advice given out by the Embassy, and veterans of Moscow life, is to threaten the kids, hit them fast and hit them hard, and scream like a siren. There are so many foreigners, that even the few incidents a week are a drop in the bucket.