Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
It's like being in a gang...
Walking through the halls of the high school today, I came across the Turkish colleague, with whom I had gone to the Beşiktaş match. We had marched to the stadium with an army of fans, a peculiar troupe including his mother, my room mate, and two other foreigners, all clearly tipsy.
Last Friday's game still rings in my ears...
He was intently listening to another teacher, but we still made eye contact. Over the shoulder of the speaker, whose back was to me, he performed a wink, cocking his head slightly to the left, but never distracting the teacher speaking to him. The gesture said everything, "We are Beşiktaş."
That is as much as we've interacted all week...
It inspired me to post a couple of Beşiktaş songs here, and maybe I'll be bothered with translations, later.
Beşiktaşım/
sen çok yaşa/
Canım feda olsun sana/
Hiç bir şeye/
değişilmez/
Seni sevgim bu dunyada!
The tune is identical to that of "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show".
OK, I lied... the tune is nothing like that.
Here's another that I appreciate for the 9-11 reference it incorporates.
Nasıl bıraktın o mübarek sakalı/
Amerika'yı bombaladın/
Usame Baba bize kıyak yapsana/
Kadıköy'ü bombalasana.
"How did you grow that holiest of beards/
you, who bombed America/
Osama bin Ladin, can you do us a favor/
And send a bomb over to Kadıköy/
Kadıköy is the home of Fenerbahçe, the arch rivals of Beşiktaş, with whom we are forever locked in an enduring struggle for control of the universe. Inciting Islamist terrorism is a very Machiavellian approach for the notoriously secular, politically left fan base, but one must consider the cause. We're just doing it for the cause.
Anyhow, you'll surely catch me singing these and more when I'm state-side.
Last Friday's game still rings in my ears...
He was intently listening to another teacher, but we still made eye contact. Over the shoulder of the speaker, whose back was to me, he performed a wink, cocking his head slightly to the left, but never distracting the teacher speaking to him. The gesture said everything, "We are Beşiktaş."
That is as much as we've interacted all week...
It inspired me to post a couple of Beşiktaş songs here, and maybe I'll be bothered with translations, later.
Beşiktaşım/
sen çok yaşa/
Canım feda olsun sana/
Hiç bir şeye/
değişilmez/
Seni sevgim bu dunyada!
The tune is identical to that of "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show".
OK, I lied... the tune is nothing like that.
Here's another that I appreciate for the 9-11 reference it incorporates.
Nasıl bıraktın o mübarek sakalı/
Amerika'yı bombaladın/
Usame Baba bize kıyak yapsana/
Kadıköy'ü bombalasana.
"How did you grow that holiest of beards/
you, who bombed America/
Osama bin Ladin, can you do us a favor/
And send a bomb over to Kadıköy/
Kadıköy is the home of Fenerbahçe, the arch rivals of Beşiktaş, with whom we are forever locked in an enduring struggle for control of the universe. Inciting Islamist terrorism is a very Machiavellian approach for the notoriously secular, politically left fan base, but one must consider the cause. We're just doing it for the cause.
Anyhow, you'll surely catch me singing these and more when I'm state-side.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
These folks are happy about Obama...
So happy, in fact, that in the city of Van they sacrificed forty-four sheep!
Following Friday prayers, in the village of Çavuştepe, the sheep were sacrificed in the hopes that Obama will be able to solve the global economic/political/terrorism problem (take your pick, there was a list). According to the daily newspaper, Milliyet, the villagers smeared the blood of the sheep across several posters, bearing slogans such as:
"The people of Van love Obama!"
"Obama, you are the man who will change the world!"
"You are one [a part] of us!"
After the sacrifice, portions of the sheep were combined with rice and the people of the village enjoyed a feast.
The people of Çavuştepe will also send several of the posters, and the famous Van cat, to the White House. I hope it doesn't bother Malia's allergies.
Following Friday prayers, in the village of Çavuştepe, the sheep were sacrificed in the hopes that Obama will be able to solve the global economic/political/terrorism problem (take your pick, there was a list). According to the daily newspaper, Milliyet, the villagers smeared the blood of the sheep across several posters, bearing slogans such as:
"The people of Van love Obama!"
"Obama, you are the man who will change the world!"
"You are one [a part] of us!"
After the sacrifice, portions of the sheep were combined with rice and the people of the village enjoyed a feast.
The people of Çavuştepe will also send several of the posters, and the famous Van cat, to the White House. I hope it doesn't bother Malia's allergies.
You'll never walk alone.
I like a spectacle, so any large gathering of people can pique my interest, regardless of whether I intend to share in the emotion of the experience. Whether it's airports, concerts, sporting events, political rallies, or the end of the school day, I'm always keen to be on hand to watch.
This last week was special because I was witness to two spectacles.
Wednesday morning, I got up early (3:30 AM) to watch election results come in with a gathering of expatriates. The event was interesting, and I'm sure that Obama's election is important... I'm just not sure if it is for me. There were tears of joy, shouting, and cheering when Obama was declared the winner. My first thought was:
"It's 5:30 AM, and we've only been here for an hour. How can the show be over already?"
The memories of two successive elections, left undecided after a night of tallying results, left me feeling that Obama's landslide victory had robbed me of my spectacle (for which I had payed 5 TLY).
Friday, I made up for it by going to a Beşiktaş match.
They say that there are three types of foreigners in Istanbul, and you can distinguish them by the team they support:
Fenerbahçe fans are 'fresh off the boat', and taken by the widespread popularity of the Blue and Yellow. They don't know Turkish, and certainly don't know Turkey, so they can hardly be blamed. These are people who buy Yankees hats when they visit New York City, fair weather fans.
Expatriate Galatasaray supporter have been in Turkey long enough to meet some actual Turks, and at least make their acquaintance. Self-identifying "liberals" (according to the American definition), this group will take up the Red and Yellow mantle for the experience of "Turkish" football, and upon their return to Starbucks, email friends and family from their MacBook Pro and blog about their experience at "the crossroads of civilization".
Foreigners in Turkey have to find Beşiktaş. The informed ex-pat, one who speaks Turkish and knows about Turkey and Turkish history, who approaches the world with a sense of ideology, and who knows that the fan base is more important than the team, will sift through the mosaic of Turkish football and come realize it's fundamental duality, embodied by the Black and White.
In my first year here, Beşiktaş was merely the home team. The stadium was close, and it made sense to support them... I could hear the games from our apartment. These days, home games are part of the rhythm of living in Istanbul. It isn't about about geography anymore, nor the team, and much less football, instead it's part ideology part song. If I'd been in Spain in the 1940s, I would have been a leftist for no other reason than the people. Beşiktaş offers me that, so I'll continue to walk with them.
Friday afternoons, school lets out early, so myself and two colleagues were in Beşiktaş and sipping rakı by 4:15. We snacked on appetizers, drank, talked about past matches, and were joined later by one colleague's mother and two English teachers. Around 6, things began getting rowdy...
It started with songs. These were hymns, really, as the tunes were often the same while the words changed. Our fan base is creative, and the song list is endless. For over an hour we sang and cheered, drinking and eating, until at 7:30 we began the march to the stadium.
I've been in Kadıköy during a Fenerbahçe match, and one could always distinguish when the goals occurred by the peak in sound. From outside Inönü Stadium, it sounded like a riot was happening around some corner. It was sheer volume.
Inside, the sound was the constant white noise of a cheering croud. Occasionally, coordinated in song, but never less than the volume of a baseball game when a run is batted-in: a crush of sound. The passion of Beşiktaş has no analogy, and I now remember ball games as study destinations, like libraries or well-lit corners.
The match took ninety minutes, but for my effort I got a lasting, six-hour dose of pure spectacle. It should tide me over to the next game.
This last week was special because I was witness to two spectacles.
Wednesday morning, I got up early (3:30 AM) to watch election results come in with a gathering of expatriates. The event was interesting, and I'm sure that Obama's election is important... I'm just not sure if it is for me. There were tears of joy, shouting, and cheering when Obama was declared the winner. My first thought was:
"It's 5:30 AM, and we've only been here for an hour. How can the show be over already?"
The memories of two successive elections, left undecided after a night of tallying results, left me feeling that Obama's landslide victory had robbed me of my spectacle (for which I had payed 5 TLY).
Friday, I made up for it by going to a Beşiktaş match.
They say that there are three types of foreigners in Istanbul, and you can distinguish them by the team they support:
Fenerbahçe fans are 'fresh off the boat', and taken by the widespread popularity of the Blue and Yellow. They don't know Turkish, and certainly don't know Turkey, so they can hardly be blamed. These are people who buy Yankees hats when they visit New York City, fair weather fans.
Expatriate Galatasaray supporter have been in Turkey long enough to meet some actual Turks, and at least make their acquaintance. Self-identifying "liberals" (according to the American definition), this group will take up the Red and Yellow mantle for the experience of "Turkish" football, and upon their return to Starbucks, email friends and family from their MacBook Pro and blog about their experience at "the crossroads of civilization".
Foreigners in Turkey have to find Beşiktaş. The informed ex-pat, one who speaks Turkish and knows about Turkey and Turkish history, who approaches the world with a sense of ideology, and who knows that the fan base is more important than the team, will sift through the mosaic of Turkish football and come realize it's fundamental duality, embodied by the Black and White.
In my first year here, Beşiktaş was merely the home team. The stadium was close, and it made sense to support them... I could hear the games from our apartment. These days, home games are part of the rhythm of living in Istanbul. It isn't about about geography anymore, nor the team, and much less football, instead it's part ideology part song. If I'd been in Spain in the 1940s, I would have been a leftist for no other reason than the people. Beşiktaş offers me that, so I'll continue to walk with them.
Friday afternoons, school lets out early, so myself and two colleagues were in Beşiktaş and sipping rakı by 4:15. We snacked on appetizers, drank, talked about past matches, and were joined later by one colleague's mother and two English teachers. Around 6, things began getting rowdy...
It started with songs. These were hymns, really, as the tunes were often the same while the words changed. Our fan base is creative, and the song list is endless. For over an hour we sang and cheered, drinking and eating, until at 7:30 we began the march to the stadium.
I've been in Kadıköy during a Fenerbahçe match, and one could always distinguish when the goals occurred by the peak in sound. From outside Inönü Stadium, it sounded like a riot was happening around some corner. It was sheer volume.
Inside, the sound was the constant white noise of a cheering croud. Occasionally, coordinated in song, but never less than the volume of a baseball game when a run is batted-in: a crush of sound. The passion of Beşiktaş has no analogy, and I now remember ball games as study destinations, like libraries or well-lit corners.
The match took ninety minutes, but for my effort I got a lasting, six-hour dose of pure spectacle. It should tide me over to the next game.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A quick update...
There's been a lot happening, and I feel bad that I haven't been writing as much, so I'll throw all these out there in short-form:
- My employers have finally figured out why they hired me, and I've been doing actual work, at work. That's not to say they can keep me completely busy, because I found time to write this.
- I bought a bicycle, and I'm taking new risks with Turkish cab drivers and delivery mopeds with each new day. It's exhilarating. I'm also perfecting the over-the-shoulder-flick-off with my left hand, while keeping control of the bike with my right. Good times.
- We have a new President... apparently, he's a black man?
- We threw a crazy Halloween party at our place, last Friday. One of the neighbors got angry, and challenged our forty-strong group to a fight in the street. We sent him home without his fight, and brought the party to Taksim. Homeboy didn't want things to end, though, and came back looking for a fight (specifically with me) on Saturday evening. Luckily, I was busy, looking at a bike.
- Turks are ridiculously happy about Obama becoming the President... all except the two guys who make my sandwiches, at the grocer's. They don't think that the American political system changes dramatically with a shift in leadership. They believe the United States is a fundamentally right-of-center country, no matter who's in charge. They also don't think that a black man will behave all that differently from a white man, when it comes to issues of foreign policy (they cited US support for Israel, an aggressive posture for foreign interventions, the diplomatic stance to leftist nations like Cuba and Venezuela). All I could do is shrug... I am about as cynical as they are, and the excitement about Obama has been lost on me. I just don't place hope in people. They, on the other hand, are Marxist-Lenninists, so their opinions probably don't matter.
- My room mate Emrah went to India. I hope he's having fun there. He'll get back tomorrow evening to find an American using his bed... I love guests!
- If it has ninjas, it must be cool? Ask this guy...
- My employers have finally figured out why they hired me, and I've been doing actual work, at work. That's not to say they can keep me completely busy, because I found time to write this.
- I bought a bicycle, and I'm taking new risks with Turkish cab drivers and delivery mopeds with each new day. It's exhilarating. I'm also perfecting the over-the-shoulder-flick-off with my left hand, while keeping control of the bike with my right. Good times.
- We have a new President... apparently, he's a black man?
- We threw a crazy Halloween party at our place, last Friday. One of the neighbors got angry, and challenged our forty-strong group to a fight in the street. We sent him home without his fight, and brought the party to Taksim. Homeboy didn't want things to end, though, and came back looking for a fight (specifically with me) on Saturday evening. Luckily, I was busy, looking at a bike.
- Turks are ridiculously happy about Obama becoming the President... all except the two guys who make my sandwiches, at the grocer's. They don't think that the American political system changes dramatically with a shift in leadership. They believe the United States is a fundamentally right-of-center country, no matter who's in charge. They also don't think that a black man will behave all that differently from a white man, when it comes to issues of foreign policy (they cited US support for Israel, an aggressive posture for foreign interventions, the diplomatic stance to leftist nations like Cuba and Venezuela). All I could do is shrug... I am about as cynical as they are, and the excitement about Obama has been lost on me. I just don't place hope in people. They, on the other hand, are Marxist-Lenninists, so their opinions probably don't matter.
- My room mate Emrah went to India. I hope he's having fun there. He'll get back tomorrow evening to find an American using his bed... I love guests!
- If it has ninjas, it must be cool? Ask this guy...
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