Thursday, August 11, 2011

This afternoon, I walked around central Sukhum listening to the English Beat on my iphone.  Although I am sure  I was the only American in the capital listening to Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling singing "Stand Down Margret", that one American still outnumbered the Russian soldiers seen in the capital of supposedly "occupied" Abkhazia.  That got me to thinking about the things that are not seen or do not happen in the Republic of Abkhazia.  I have never been told not to photograph something.  I have never been told who to talk to or who to meet.  In fact, I have been encouraged to talk to whomever I want, including journalists.  It has been made clear to me that I can travel to any area in Abkhazia that I wish.  I take these things for granted.  But I realized with the prevailing media narrative in the West about Abkhazia, many people probably are laboring under false assumptions about Abkhazia.

I spent part of an afternoon this week at Amra Cafe.  Amra sits on a dock built over the Black Sea.  It has a spectacular view of the sea, the city and the mountains and a rustic charm.  It was so pleasant to be there, the only fault I can find was with my internet connection.  While I was trying to get connected, I met Albert and Viktor, shown in the above photo.  They were very friendly, even more when I told them I was from the U.S. Viktor is a polyglot who speaks not only Russian and Armenian, but also French, Italian and some English.  We talked about Abkhazia history for some time.  Also, we spoke about the recent death of President Bagapsh and the upcoming election.  The Abkhaz are engaged with current events, but calm.  Of course, this is nothing new. The election will be the 5th Presidential election in Abkhazia's short history.  Since Abkhazia became independent from Georgia, there has never been a violent or revolutionary transfer of power.  Abkhazia is building a civil and democratic society.