Plain Amerikankas at a Ms. Universe Contest

Suzanne called in frustration to tell me about another last minute meeting she had to attend: “They just grabbed me and said I had to come. I had no idea what they talked about for over an hour, although I did know it was about HIV/AIDS. I had not done a thing with myself except pull on jeans and brush my teeth and there I sat in a room full of women dressed like mothers of the bride!”

I knew what she meant. That was the day the library called me at 12:30 to say I must be there at 1:30 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of poet Ivan Savich's death. I sympathized. "Yeah, I've been to plenty of those meetings, looking a wreck and not understanding much to boot." I used the analagy of being a plain Amerikanka at a Ms. Universe contest. We laughed knowingly at the image.

At a seminar at the university last week I stood out yet again. Besides my blue shiny winter coat, which you know is not considered fashionable, my pants were too baggy, my black shoes unpolished and worse, clunky, like combat boots (photo right), and the only makeup I wore was a little lipstick, applied in a hurry.

I think some of our Ukrainian colleagues feel sorry for the Amerikankas in their midst, who don't understand anything and don't measure up when it comes to standards of beauty, style, fashion, and good shoes, meaning (very) high heels and pointy toes. A misfit in a room full of mothers of the bride? A frumpy old maid at a Ms. Universe contest? We PCVs sometimes have it rough. Ah, Ukraine! So many beautiful women, impeccably dressed, and so little hope of our measuring up!

Suzanne and I think some things are “engrained Ukraine." It might be hard finding common ground in the political arena, or a united national identity, but the bonds of fashion and lifestyle are strong, very strong. Engained Ukraine. If only we could transfer this strong sense of style to the political scene. Ukraine would take off like a rocket in high heels, mixed metaphor intended!