Friday, April 12, 2019

Tashkent Peace Park

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Thirty-six years ago, my mother traveled to Tashkent with the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association on a peace mission of sorts. They brought with them hundreds of clay tiles made by the children of Seattle. These tiles were subsequently installed in one section of  the Tashkent Peace Park.
Amusement park from another era

Today we set out with our friends to find these tiles, and supposedly, one made by me. Like amateur archaeologists, we searched and searched, but if I ever did make one, it was not to be found.

In another corner of the park, there was a Korean-style park which included a memorial to the 200,000 Koreans who were forcibly moved to Tashkent in 1937 by Stalin. More than a 1/2 million ethnic Koreans now live in the countries of the former Soviet Union. So many things to learn about the world

Peace-themed tiles made by Seattle school children in the 1980's
And finally,the park contained a fading amusement park that seemed like a lost relic from another world.

And lots of lovely green all around...