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Meeting in President-elect Yushchenko's office, January 23, 2005. Left to right: President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Marta Zielyk. ventured Powell. "No, 6,000 years old," replied Yu shchenko, appearing pleased that he had managed to surprise Powell. Yushchenko gave a short discourse on Trypillian culture, which existed on the territory of Ukraine many millennia ago. He also explained that he was a collector, but not of gold or silver or other precious metals. No, he likes to collect things made of natural materials like wood and clay. On the way out of the office to a joint press conference in a small outside courtyard, Yushchenko suddenly realized that he was about to face TV cam eras with not a stitch of orange on his person. So while the whole of Kyiv and, indeed most of Ukraine as well as substantial parts of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia were covered in orange, the future Ukrainian President was scrambling to find some thing, anything, orange to wear. Someone from his staff had an orange shirt—that wouldn’t do. Another had an orange tie, but it would have taken too much time to exchange Yushchenko’s understated red “power” tie for the orange one. Finally, after a few hectic moments someone produced a small orange handkerchief, which Yushchenko stuffed into the pocket of his suit coat with a practiced hand. Now, he was ready. Thanks to being part of Secretary Powell’s entourage, I was lucky enough to see the events of the inauguration up close and very personal. It was ex hilarating, it was emotional, it was dramatic. It was, in the truest sense of the word, a celebration. There were more people on the Maidan than I had ever seen in my life, and each and every one of them was smil ing. For so many centuries Ukrainians have had little to smile about, but on that day their smiles conveyed belief in the power of the individual to change the course of history. They smiled at the orange balloons released into the air, at blue and gold confetti that rained down on the inaugural stage, at the doves with orange ribbons tied to their legs that were released after the inaugural speech. As I was watching all of the festivities I couldn’t help but contrast them with our recent U.S. inauguration. Ours was choreographed down to the smallest detail, devoid of any spontaneity. Theirs, while executed according to plan, seemed more natu ral and unconstrained. In ours, the President was shielded by what seemed an endless security detail to keep the “bad guys” away, whoever they might be. In Kyiv, there was plenty of security, but it was to keep overly enthusiastic supporters away from the new First Family. And it was indeed not only Viktor Yushchen ko but also the whole First Family that was very much on display that afternoon on the Maidan. First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko (who, I have no doubt, will be a tremendous asset to her husband’s Presi dency) glowed in a beautiful winter white suit. It was truly refreshing to see a young, dynamic, attractive couple on the podium, surrounded by children, and grandchildren. It radiated a sense of familial warmth and love and subconsciously reinforced the idea that the President would work for a better future not only for his own children but also for his whole nation. The rest of inauguration day passed by in a whirlwind of official and unofficial events. The new President hosted a reception for the diplomatic corps and the VIP guests, he accepted the oath of Com- mander-in-Chief, and he was hosted by the Parlia ment. In the evening, the new First Family attended an official concert in their honor at the Natsionalny 18 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2005 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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