would return the day after, to celebrate the first evening of the new year. Once we arrived at Ivanhov's home, it was still very pleasant. We still watched TV and talked together. By early morning we fell asleep. I enjoyed being with Ivanhov.
We woke up around early afternoon. Ivanhov went to freshen up in the bathroom and I hung around in the living room.
“Luc, come!”, I suddenly heard him shout.
Huh?
“What's wrong?” I asked from the hallway. The bathroom door was closed. Maybe it was Ivanhov fallen? It didn't sound like that, he sounded calm.
“My rubber duck jumped out of the water!” he shouted.
“What?!"
“Which rubber duck?! Do you have a rubber duck?”, I asked. I was confused, I laughed, I felt make me nervous; What was going on?
And rubber ducks don't jump by themselves?!
“When I take a bath, I sometimes play with a rubber duck! But come in and you can see it!” shouted Ivanhov.
I felt a lot at the same time. I opened the door. Ivanhov was sitting naked in the bath and he smiled at me. He pointed to the floor.
“There, in the corner, it is!” he said.
I looked from Ivanhov to the floor and sure enough, there was a yellow rubber duck. A cute toy.
“Will you give it back?” he asked.
“Yes, yes of course,” I said.
I moved and grabbed the rubber duck.
"Please!" I said laughing. My voice cracked a little.
Splash, the rubber duck went back into the water.
“See you soon!”
I closed the bathroom door again. Around 7 p.m. it was time to head to Red Square. It was very busy again. I then did something that perhaps I shouldn't have done: I separated myself from the group for a moment. There was a statue of Lenin in the square and I wanted to see it. There were also police officers around that square. Shit. They came to me and asked for my papers – which I don't have. Fortunately, Ivanhov saw it happen. The whole group came towards me, Ivanhov put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer behind. He spoke to the officers. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him do the “money” sign with his thumb and index finger. That gesture is understandable in any language. I put rubles among my residence documents, which were uncompleted and not in order. I gave it to the officers. They stood in a circle so that we were all shielded from the other party goers. They checked the papers.
"Another happy new year!” laughed the only officer who spoke English.
He laughed and put my useless residence permit back in my hand. The rubles were, of course, gone. We wanted to leave as quickly as possible. With the whole group we quickly walked to the exit of Red Square - and there was another group of police officers. The same song played. Apparently they had been briefed by the previous agents I bribed. There was nothing I could do but pay again. Once again came a “happy new year!” thank you from them. We had to go home now. My supply of money was gradually exhausted.
We took a taxi home, not a subway – it was safer and faster. It was a shitty situation, but I didn't blame these officers. They were paid so little by their government and then you get these situations.
We agreed with the group that from now on I would stay indoors, with Ivanhov. That wasn't a problem for me, because it was taken care of. I made sure I had a gift for each group member as a thank you. I also contacted the Belgian Embassy to explain my problems. I had no official papers and had to be able to return to Belgium within a few days – I had to get past the Russian security services. They understood the situation and would meet me at the airport and guide me. The last day of my stay I exchanged my rubles and dollars for euros - they would go into circulation from this year onwards. I still had €100 left for my return trip. The group took me to the airport. We knew this was not a nice farewell. In the summer they would play concerts in Belgium again, including for Father Johan. Still, many tears were shed. Lots of love
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