Winter apparel

You can learn a lot from the details of life. I think these are quite telling about us and our city.

Ian (aka Yanka): The measure of a mother's love and competence in Belarus is how warmly she dresses her child. Perfect strangers on the street (especially babushkas, or grandmothers) feel free to tell me of my failure as a mother, despite the fact that it takes me a minimum of five minutes to bundle my boy. He's incredibly patient for a 14-month-old, laughing at the "where are your toes" game, and only sometimes screaming like a baby pterodactyl or moaning in resignation. The wool-lined snowsuit and fur-lined boots in our picture were bought secondhand from the Belarusian e-Bay--a newspaper.

Me: My freshman year at Iowa State, this Texas girl went winter coat shopping after the first walk through campus in stinging, blowing snow made me cry. I found a Columbia coat in my then current favorite color, periwinkle, only it was a size L. I bought it anyway. Now, my 27-year-old self who's still wearing that two-sizes-too-large coat just sighs at the naivety of my 18-year-old self. Maybe if I'm ever in my third trimester during winter I'll be happy about that choice.

Dan: Perfectly happy with his Belarusian-made winter boots, and while didn't understand why I had to pay three times more for my Finnish boots, let me anyway. (I love my husband!) He has a tendency to lose hats, but still wears the awesome fake fur ear flap hat given to him by his former IV supervisor, Jason Brown, and the dapper leather/tweed cap sent by my mom.

Belarusian women: They are not afraid that their authentic long fur coats and hats will splashed by a bucket of red paint. Only once have I seen a flyer about how wearing real fur is cruel. I myself would someday like to invest in a real sheepskin coat (after all, mutton is sold in the market--why not use the rest of the sheep?), as they are super warm and last 10, 15, 20 years. The fashion statement that gets me is wearing basically a very real, small stuffed creature around your neck--little face in front, and little paws hanging down your back. A little too vivid! ("Because I'm worth it...") You do also see plenty of what we would consider "normal" coats, knit hats and scarves. The other fashion element that baffles me is footwear. Belarusian women like to wear heels, and often wear knee-high stiletto boots even with a layer of ice on the ground. They don't fall, either, which is simply amazing, because snow removal is not what it is in the States. It's most often middle-aged and older women with twig brooms.