Ankaragücü v. Galatasaray

Big blogging day for me today! I've been nursing a slight cold since Wednesday and spent the majority of the weekend sleeping; I think I've put in about 34-40 hours of sleep in the last 72 hours! Apparently my body needed it! As I'm feeling much more chipper today I decided to do a little cyber-housework and get on track with my blog posts....the pomegranate juice has really been pulling me through my sickness which also happens to be one of the best things about Turkey - a litre for less than iki (2) lira, or a little more than 1 USD. Fantastic! and delicious! Down side, Ben & Jerry's, my other favorite medicine when I'm feeling ill, is 14 (on dort) lira for what looks like less than a pint....wa wa wa.


Last Sunday = time of my life!

Keeping in mind that I've never really been a huge sports fan, I think I'm on my way to becoming a zealous support of Ankaragucu! I had thought the Fiorentino fans were wild when I went to my first ever soccer match in Florence, but the Turks take the cake! I don't know if I really even have much to say about it besides - Wow!
The week prior, I told all of my students that I was planning on attending this match and they vehemently replied "No Hocam (teacher), it's so dangerous!" Dangerous? Apparently so. As it is, Ankaragucu has several extreme fan bases, one of which being the Gecekondu. Please, search youtube and check out the amazing videos entailing they're devout support for their team!

Back to the story, according to my students, it's dangerous and they advised me not to sit in that particular section. Altogether, there was somewhere around 15 of us going? I think? that seems about right anyhow and Jamie bought all of our tickets for us. Where do you suppose we were sitting? Amongst the Gecekondu. Personally, I'm not taking my students advisories too seriously and am more than looking forward to the game. Again, some of my fellow teachers who are on the second year and have been to serveral Ankaragucu games encourage caution.

We arrive at the stadium in Ulus, wait in an obscenely long line, during which our always entertaining friend Charlie becomes ill from the previous evening's dinner of Mussels from a street vendor in the wee hours of the morning -- never a smart choice! We meet the simit guy (left) which by the way happens to be one of my new favorite foods ever! So cheap, so simple, so good....and some fellow Ankaragucu supporters (below) eager for a photoshoot.



Sidenote: Little boy in the photo? Adorable! He offered me his scarf because I didn't have one. I refused, he persisted. I finally accepted the scarf, kissed him on both cheeks in gratitude, which resulted in half the line clapping at the young man's accomplishment.

Anyhow, we finally get into the stadium after a thorough frisking by security: no coins, no bottles, no lighters - in short, nothing that can be thrown - are allowed. And somehow, for safety's sake?, our group decides to sit at the end of our section away from the potential riots and turmoil, but also away from the best part of any sporting event: screaming and cheering! I was not having it. Joe, Natalie, and I opted to go mingle and make some new friends and were quickly welcomed into an ambitious section of the crowd ....it was the best decision I've ever made!

We had so much fun!

An example of the Gecekondu's zeal: http://youtube.com/watch?v=o4X1JTcn13I

The video is from the end of the game, after Ankaragucu scored three goals within a matter of minutes (but no worries, I've never seen so many police at a sporting event in my life, it was quickly subdued)! Overall, it was fantastic and well-celebrated! We were beginnning to feel mighty bored when 4/5 of the way through the game, neither side had scored and then the underdog completely dominated. Again, considering I know little about sports, there's a link at the bottom of the page for Ankara Football, check it out, esp. the post from October 5th, which references this game from the 4th.

Thus, chaos had ensued, but danger? Thankfully not. Granted, things might have been different had Ankara lost, but yet again, even fanatical Turks were hospitable and all around pleasant.

After the game, the new friends we had made in the stands were insistence on introducing me to what felt like everyone and their brother. Among them, the leader of the gecekondu, or so I'm told. My Turkish is still worthless and he spoke zero English. Yet, somehow we were thrown into a conversation and surrounded by a circle of devout fans. Afterwards, he insisted on a picture with all of the yabanci (foreigner), which I'm still waiting to hunt down and steal from acebook! We headed back to the bar at which we initially started our day , new friends in toe, watching as the overjoyed fans tried to tip over cars in the middle of the street, still cheering incessantly only now with the added "uch, uch, uch!" (three). My new scarf is currently pinned to my wall and I cannot wait to go to another game ASAP!