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.