Hold strong Alex

I'm constantly amazed by the lack of historical understanding of Russia versus our collasally banal understanding of their former system.  If you watch this segment from Alexander Nevsky, the great "crusade" film of the 30s (score by Prokofiev)

I spent a lot of years there.  I thought the entire idea of struggling to free itself from the yoke of communism and the system was noble and I did my best. 

There is history there. Deep and long. It is as much a "feeling" of the land and your place in it as it is book learning about it.  Here, where we are, we feel we can do anything and get bent out of shape when things don't go our way. Over there was something of an acceptance of fate as the country presents it. Not that there wasn't ambition. There was. But it was ambition to further the country. Now that the break up of the Union is 20 years old, I'll visit this now and then.