... My impressions of life in Russia are more like vignettes. ... Life here seems equally good and bad. It is multi-textured and widely varied. ... Russian friends are much more than merely friends. ... You will never feel more at ease or more welcome than in the home of a Russian. ... Russians like Americans. ... He said he had never dreamed that he, a Russian man, would be walking with an American. ... Maybe I have been sheltered by my family or by the ease of American life. ...