for Repatriation, came. He smoked non-stop. People like him are a symbol for so many others, with a totally Soviet mentality, in Abkhazia. We want to build Abkhazia in a different way. That’s not a criticism, not an opinion,’ the mufti tries to cover himself, ‘only an objective observation.’ We tell them how obligatory we find the Abkhazian drinking tradition. They must surely have difficulty with that. The Abkhazian Abdurrahman tells us how he refuses a toast. ‘If people want to toast with me, I always ask: why do you drink? You’re better off being who you are than getting drunker and drunker and losing yourself. People accept that. I’m convinced,’ he says, ‘that alcohol isn’t an Abkhazian tradition. We’ve borrowed all our words for drink. Vodka is Russian, chacha is Georgian. For grape and wine varieties we only have Georgian names.’ The men - they are already a little late - go and prepare to pray. The imam goes first and everyone, children included, stand behind him. With our interpreter Angela we withdraw. Angela swears by the newcomers, she says. She is also learning Turkish at the university. ‘I’d also like to become a Muslim,’ she says. ‘The repatriates have a sort of purity about them, with Islam and the old traditions that they bring with them. They are courteous, good-natured people, very different from many Abkhazians.’
Promised land
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