Soviet Afghan Vet Thought Missing Found.

The country of Afghanistan has earned the title "The Graveyard of Empires", and rightfully so. What many people forget is that the United States wasn't the first country to go toe to toe with the Afghan people. Alexander the Great tried to control Afghanistan, as did the British in the 19th century. In the 21st century it was the Soviet Union who wished to expand their empire into what they thought would be an easily fought war to support a people who wanted to drift away from radical Islam (sound familiar?). On Christmas, 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with the invitation of the new communist government that took over the capital in Kabul.  The Soviet Union wasn't prepared for the harsh Afghan environment, and the resilience of the Afghan Mujaheddin fighter whom was motivated by religion. The Soviet Union also faced difficulty because their air power was put in check by American C.I.A. operatives who trained and supplied Jihadist with Stinger Missiles. The result of this was some 15,000 Soviet Casualties with 264 Russians missing in action.

One of these Russians was found over 30 years later, in an Afghan village located near the city of Herat. He had been wounded by the Mujaheddin fighters, and later taken in by a village and nursed back to health. He since then chose to stay in the village, changed his name, converted to Islam, and took up the profession of his care taker and became the village healer. Fellow Russian veterans found him and according to the article Sheikh Abdullah (formally known as Bakhretdin Khakimov) had suffered severe head trauma from the injuries, and never tried to reach out to his family after being nursed back to health. He said that he feels lucky that he survived, and apparently enjoys his new life as a village healer.

Source:http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17197717-missing-soviet-war-veteran-found-living-in-afghanistan-33-years-after-combat?lite

Russian Holidays

     The Russian government recognizes about 9 official holidays, and by official holidays I mean that all government offices and most stores are closed. New Years day (January 1st)  is probably the most celebrated and anticipated holiday in Russia. It is usually celebrated with friends, lots of traditional food, champagne, beer and vodka. It is common to exchange gifts and put up a tree for this holiday, so I suppose it is very similar to the American Christmas. Russians do also celebrate Christmas, but not on the 25th of December. They celebrate on January 7th. Also, Christmas is seen as much more of a sacred Christian holiday, filled with church services and other religious activities. 

Russians celebrate the New Year in 2012- Moscow


Other popular holidays include День защитника Отечества (defender of the fatherland day), Flag day, Spring and Labor day, International Woman's day, Unity day, Russia day, and Victory day. 

Unit 2 Dialogue Recording: Taylor & Alecsa

Here it is:
http://www.mediafire.com/?n2igjl3a5gsxllz

please ignore the weird looking lemon dragon thing, the program we used needed a picture/video format.

Early 1900's Russia, in Color

''With images from southern and central Russia in the news lately due to extensive wildfires, I thought it would be interesting to look back in time with this extraordinary collection of color photographs taken between 1909 and 1912.''
Click title for link.


Found at www.Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/08/russia_in_color_a_century_ago.html