Galatasaray

Alhamdulillah, I'm down to my final two weeks in Turkey, at least for this trip, in sha Allah. The original plan was to return on the 15th, and it looks like that will stand. I may come back next year if one of the acquisitions I have been pursuing materializes - we'll see. I wouldn't mind, certainly - I have enjoyed my time here in Turkey and like it quite a bit. However, I am looking forward to at least seeing my family for a little while before leaving the country again, in sha Allah.

The next couple of weeks look quite daunting actually - there is so much to do. I don't even plan on being in Istanbul most of the time either. I have to pack, shop, empty the apartment, finish and send out Berkeley, travel to Konya, Ankara, Cappadoccia, Izmir, and Greece (over the Bayram break), and see a couple of more things in Istanbul too! Khayr in sha Allah. I will certainly be tired by the end of it. On top of that, of course, I have some things here at work I would like to wrap up before returning home! I don't know how much I will be able to blog over the next few weeks - I may have to post some thoughts and pics once I return home in sha Allah. I hope not, but we'll see.

The team took me out to lunch today to a nice place I hadn't been before - Bebek. I guess that is where a lot of the expats stay (near Etiler). It was nice, right on the water. We went to a restaurant called Divan (the same Divan whose Turkish delight Mobaba and Atiya liked so much). We all had soup and this really small fish from the Black Sea. It was much better than the fish I had eaten earlier this trip, even with what looked like the skin on. At least the bones had been taken out. Alhamdulillah, it was also a rather warm day, especially for early December (compared to Michigan).

Anyways, back to the Galatasaray game. Alhamdulillah, I was looking forward to it since I learned I was living next to the stadium. On game days (usually Thursday or Sunday), my area gets full of people wearing yellow and red, and there are usually traffic jams. We learned why the hard way last Thursday night.

The stadium, Ali Sami Yen, is not that big, especially compared to the Big House. It can fit just over 20 k people, and is from the 1940s. Still, tons of people lined up to get in. We were running a bit late, so a huge crowd had gathered by the entrance where we were supposed to go in. People surrounded the door in a big semicircle. We approached the door from the front, as it was closer distance wise, although the line was less clear. For at least ten minutes, I didn't feel like I had moved. We pushed ahead, and were pushed ahead. It felt a little bit like we were trying to get to the Black Stone or something. Only one person could enter the stadium at a time from that door - it was quite annoying, considering there were at least three hundred people trying to get in at that time, and the game had already started.

There were people shouting and screaming and cursing. I think some curses were even directed at me. I couldn't really make anything out, other than maybe "ya vash", or "ya wahsh". A bunch of policemen showed up and started pushing the crowd, turning the semicircle into a quarter circle. This increased the pressure on us, but luckily, we were near the 90 degree mark, so we weren't sent to the back of the line (even though the pressure was probably most on us). We inched our way onto a step, but this became rather perilous, as we could have easily twisted an ankle or something being pushed back and forth. Still, on the step, there was a bit less pressure. Once we got on there, it was much quicker to get in, although I was a bit worried that the cops would push us to the back of the line, since they weren't letting up the pressure. Adil was quite worried, since the fans were cursing the cops and vice versa, and he didn't want us to get caught in the potential clash.

Anyways, once we got in, we could not access our seats, wherever they were - every stairway was blocked with fans. I guess they oversold the game. It didn't matter too much, since we would have had to stand the whole game anyways - everybody stands, just like at the Big House. We made our way over to a relatively less crowded stairway and alhamdulillah found some nice steps together with a good view. The stadium was packed, except for a small section reserved for FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) fans who came for the UEFA match. There were about ten of them, surrounded by dozens of guards in uniform. The whole section of maybe a couple hundred seats was surrounded by guards.

It was a great atmosphere, alhamdulillah. Everybody was singing the whole game it seemed. There were lots of different chants, and everybody seemed to know them. I even picked a bit of one or two. This link has a bunch of them listed out:(http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Galatasaray/Galatasaray_Taraftar_K%C3%B6%C5%9Fesi/Tezah%C3%BCratlar).

Mobaba liked this one in particular, I think:

Haydi bastır Galatasaray
En büyüksün Galatasaray
Yönetim futbolcu taraftar
Şampiyonsun Galatasaray (İnşallah)

Nobody was selling alcohol, although there were a few vendors I saw. I think our neighbors were typically entertained by Mobaba's typical enthusiasm, alhamdulillah.

Alas, Galatasaray lost the match. I think they were the better team, and although they weren't great, they played better. However, the field was wet, and the Galatasaray Lions goalie slipped and fell towards the end of the match at a crucial point, leading to the Ukrainian goal. Adil left right before this, maybe with ten minutes to go. We headed out as the game entered penalty time, and it was just the right time. A few seconds after we made it to the top of the steps, we could see many more people exiting, and we didn't have to wait to exit, alhamdulillah. Had we waited 30 seconds more, our wait could have hit ten minutes or more.

There was no rioting or anything after the game. Indeed, the fans kept singing even after the goal. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the enthusiasm. I couldn't see why the place was called hell, although perhaps if I understood the lyrics, the moniker might make more sense...Adil did a bit of translation for me to get the gist.

It was certainly a great experience - it would have been nice if we had won, but I guess the Lions were cursed on Thanksgiving this year, back home and in Turkey. Khayr in sha Allah