Dizzy, Busy, Fizzy

When I said I have Vertigo a friend told me is reminds him of Hitchcock! Believe me Hitchcock thrillers are tender to how I feel. Dizziness is not the right word to describe the feeling of world floating and turning around you! Yes the world is turning around me in the non-sarcastic sense!
I have to deal with so many things alone now- I am overloaded! Martha, where are you? I hope you are happy in Moscow because I can hardly manage this work since you are gone. My only comfort will be your happiness...
I completed the 10 finger writing training in Abkhaz and I want to turn it into an online training so that the methodology I created would be of use to more people- but when??? I also want to install Linux in Abkhazian in my computer but I need to clean it up and take it there for a few hours. There should be an online version but I just could not find it...
I have also completed the pilot study of the agricultural assessment and I should be in the field soon but I do not know if I will survive a whole day- considering we will be travelling up the mountains (where most least developed villages are) and it can be tricky for my central balance system!
I feel my eyes burning now so I cut it here. I hope to write back soon- and upload some photos from the ongoing weekly events of repatrianst and local youth! They are playing (Чааҧшы) Chaapshy- a traditional diaspora meeting game! Where people hit each others' hands or a selected leader hits everyone's hands if they don't want to give away their partner sitting next to them. If they give away, than the partner changes place with another of same sex. So that all boys meet all girls during the play. The more the people, the more fun it is...

Istanbul-Abkhazia

When I was just a high school student, with my best friend we used to pass this road and dream of a future where we could buy this house and repair it. We could live in it if we were rich enough. If not we could repair it to turn it into a cafe where we could have space for people who like to read or study in a cafe but don't have money to eat or drink all day long. We never bought that house. No one did. We changed a lot. We have not seen each other with that good friend for over 10 years. I don't even know where she is, what she does. Istanbul is too big to know, too big to come across on the road, too big even to remember... It needed 15 years to pass before I remember those days we used to walk dancing under an unexpected rain, it needed 14 years before I remembered I learned how to play tennis in the French school on the corner (Saint Joseph). It needed 20 years before my mother reminded me how I had chosen to go to a state school instead of that private French school to protect the economy of my family. And it needed 30 years for me to stop and look at my life- how I came to Abkhazia from Istanbul- from the city of dreams, from the city of my youth, from the city where my father sleeps his endless dream, from the city my grandmother sings the song of silence...
And now looking at my life, I live somewhere which I did not dreamed of. And I have many new dreams, I am not sure if I will see the days they become real. I dream of the days the Abkhazia hotel will be repaired. Now it is only covered with a painted set of cloth!

And I dream of the warm days to come to play tennis in the courts that many tennis players won't count as courts. In those courts, there is no line on the ground- territory is specified by white tread which you stumble upon when you are running, and the ground is so bumpy that after every rain you find yourself all over in mud.

But I like life here. It is a life many fear, many try to run away from it, many do not want to pass near... But for me, it is a life full of question marks, like a matrix I need to find the code of. It is not to master the matrix what I aim, but to be able to see it as a whole. To be able to see what is behind that clothes hanged over a building by the sea, to be able to see what is in the mind of a tennis teacher teaching tens of children how to play tennis in this courts, to be able to see what makes the people so powerful to stand against the will of "others" who wish something different for them, to be able to see myself looking from the eyes of "others"...

Ҽааныбзиала...

(The luck coin from the Greek cake)
Happy new year to everyone!
I feel so tired. There is no other way to legitimize my laziness. Followers may think I am talking about not writing to my blog. However, I mean the last three days which I want to do nothing at all. Sleeping till midday and being sleepy the rest of the day... Even after new year I spent an hour sleepy, lying on the bed. But pushed myself out after 1 o'clock to the private late night party at Anya's cafe (Glitsinia).

(I turned my back when they cut the Greek cake and I was the one to tell who would get which piece)
I did not stay till the end of the party since we were afraid they will rob our house. What is to be stolen if they break in: my computer which became my life in the recent months due to the research projects. Well I would lose only some photos few months ago- but now: posters, photos, reports, questionnaires, the latest version of my methodology book, and many more. That is everything I have managed to build after 3 years. I know it is necessary to backup your most important documents online. The reality is I used to do that very often back in the days when I did not have a laptop but used university computers. I tried to find some docs recently and I managed to find nothing! Some questionnaires for example, or data, or even some reports that I participated in writing. I have no copies of the latest versions. So I decided to load things when they are ready only. But this creates a risk of loosing them- when a computer crashes or gets stolen!

(The late night cooking: shashlik)
Well I know that we are being paranoiac but thats normal after being robbed once. A few years back my grandfather was robbed by armed gangsters. He passed away afterwords. Than they robbed our car when I was in turkey stealing my camera with photos from the first fieldwork on the topic of political participation-bad luck.
Than they tried to rob me on the bus (2 times) - one received the reaction he deserves at least from me (the other people did not react which is a shame) thats why the second time I preferred to play a game with the boy!
Anyway, these events are distributed to the last 4 years so maybe it is really paranoiac but if you have knowledge to lose you care...
Anyway, it is important to tell what new year means in Abkhazia since in every country understanding is different. The new year joy starts mid december, by bombachki (çata pat in turkish, small size explosives) blowing around. The 31st is much more noisy together with thousands of fireworks and gun shots.

Of course the new year is also identified by non-stop drinking, no work (even for shops which sell PRESENTS were closed on the 31st!!!), long tables (no bread in the few open shops for three days-they say "dont you know how to bake achof??"- kind of covered cheese pizza), many calls and messages (luckily the phone companies make many campaigns but sure they will take it from us in the end), and 4 different days of celebration: 24th of DEC-Catholic Christmas, 31st of DEC- New Year, 7th of JAN- Orthodox Christmas, 11th of JAN- Abkhaz New Year-The Day of the Blacksmiths.
The new year is celebrated with family on a long lasting table. Young people ran away to the streets at midnight. Come together and spend time cooking again in the middle of the night.

Bagapsh re-elected

Election results:
59,7 it is 59% for Bagasph, 15,44% for Hacimba, 10,8% for Ardzinba, 8% for Butba, 1,5% for Bganba
Bagapsh re-elected for presidency.
The observers have positive impact- they say it was free and fair, democratic. Will let you know more later...

Bazala TV Ad

Life fast and busy...

Everything is in a period of change. Martha Jonua (linguist-social researcher) has left for Moscow-getting married tomorrow.

From GoodbyPartyforMarthaJonua

Dijin Churey (linguist and ethno-musicolog) came to Abkhazia and got married today...With traditional clothes on her, the groom, the tatsayuza (brides' friend who is an unmarried girl from the family of the boy). I wanted to have something traditional too. But time and economic limits resulted in this creative piece. Of course it is a result of 4 day delicate embroidery work by Trapsh Ece from Shelly.

From Achara/Jeug/Wedding/Düğün

I have also prepared an advertisement for the training that will start on Tuesday but I couldnt catch the advertisement on TV tonight because i did not realized the time after I came from the wedding and missed the first 15 minutes of Abkhaz State TV So I can not makes sure if they published it :(

And posters to be hanged tomorrow.

And though it is after midnight and I am dying since in total i slept 15 hours in the last week I feel like sitting here and writing all about these...

New Visa information for International Visitors of Abkhazia

I frequently hear and read complaints about the problematic entrance to Abkhazia. I had visitors from Hospitality Club before and I fought for them in four languages with all levels of the bureaucracy. I promised them if they arrange the visit of my friend I will never ever again come to their door for an international visitors visa issues. Though, I failed to keep my promise since I value the outside view and the importance of non-Russian speaking/Western visitors' word in the recognition or even increasing the knowledge of Abkhazia's independence.
Ofcourse, the international visitors do not realize that the citizens of Abkhazia can not go anywhere outside of Russia, only a selected few can take visa for Europe or USA with the international Russian passports since they are officially registered, working, studying in Abkhazia- which is an unrecognized country. For repatriants the situation is really much worse since they do not have Russian passports but Turkish or other-which receives Russian visa for really expensive and hardly. Besides most repatriants passports have very likely expired since they are here for over a year (the 2-5 year Turkish passport costs really a lot) and the Russian visas are not given to expired passports. And there is no direct transport from Abkhazia- so nearly all the population has been limited to the small country all their life. Because of many impossibilities, - economic, social, political, security- many did not have the chance to see even the most touristic attractions in their own country like Ritza Lake or Bedia Church till recently.

So please do not complain about the visa and entrance procedures of Abkhazia but make suggestions, tell the responsible personnel how it can be better, easier for them and for you. Give examples from similar situations. But do not compare to Europe where citizens of Europe, USA or Canada can go around however they want, whenever they want. Compare with realistic examples... Consider that that responsible person who is responding to your request my have never been to a country other than Russia which is a land of bureaucracy!

Here new information in English is available for the interested:
Press here or copy one of the links:
http://www.mfaabkhazia.org/en/mfa_chart/visa_to_abkhazia/
http://therepublicofabkhazia.org/pages/contact-us/visitor-info.shtml