International Women’s Day, March 8 is a big deal in the former Soviet bloc and Eastern Europe. It is a national holiday in many countries including Uzbekistan. The socialist government made a big deal of promoting women in the workforce, one of the good aspects of the USSR. The goal was for women to contribute to the good of society outside of their homes and in factories and the front lines, during World War II and beyond. The day is still recognized, although it has more of a Mother’s Day feel to it with all female employees receiving chocolates and flowers from the company. There are many luncheons and parties held in their honor.
I took Ocean this morning to the Compass Mall to meet a friend to watch Uncharted. She was excited to see Tom Holland star and spend time with her friends. We arrived early and had some time to kill so we posed by the Women’s Day displays in the mall. Later on in the day, handsome male models with red bow ties were available to take photos with any women wanting to do so. Ocean also said there was an entertainment show in the parking lot featuring weight lifting and magic with lots of audience participation.
In the afternoon I interviewed a possible chemistry teacher, helped Oliver set up for the Personal Project and coached basketball practice. Our teams have our season-ending tournament this week so I’ll be blogging about some good old March Madness. Sadly international teams will not be visiting, but we will have teams from the city competing. Overall, a good day mixing family and work!
I saw these cool photos in the Gazette.uz today showing the International Women’s Day celebrations through the years in Uzbekistan.
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