Ankaragücü Part III

The big difference between the match that Meredith, Jeremy, Seccad, Osman and I went to last Saturday and the one in October was that we sat with crazy fans, instead of the rabidly insane fans. I have since found out that the group we sat with at the first match is known as the (ghetto) fans. When I tell my students that I sat with them at a match I hear how they are all violent hooligans, and I should watch out for my safety. One of the students also informed me I could buy a bomb in the chinchin part of town. It is mostly a class issue, since my students aren't really from the rough areas of Ankara.

At any rate, the Antiko fans we sat with were still as nutso as any you would find in America, even if they didn't have to take breaks from the constant jumping and running side to side. One middle-aged gentleman in particular, dressed in rather European fashion, was fun to stand near. Throughout the match he loudly disparaged the officials and the opposing team (if you've ever been to a Lawrence High School basketball match you can think of about a half dozen people he would remind you of), and each time I got to shout "I agree with him! I am also angry!" This made Meredith laugh, but I think she was also nervous that we weren't the only ones who understood English there.

After the game we went to Kızılay with Seccad and Jeremy for some kokoreç (sheep intestince sausages). Yup, you read that translation right, I ate sheep intestines! And they were spicy. When I mentioned this part of the trip in class, I got a mixture of horrified stares and approving nods, divided along gender lines. Anyway, the sheep innards were great, especially after a long day of cheering and walking across the city to get to them. However, around 1am I had to ask Meredith if I could steal some of her imported antacids; by 2am I realized that American antacids versus spicy Turkish sheep intestines was about as even as my immediate family playing the 2007 Patriots in pick-up football. I haven't seen someone sleep that poorly since one my Summer @ Brown students OD'ed on caffeine pills.

Since then things have been pretty normal, the GI system is slowly recovering and I made bulgur with stir-fried vegetables for Meredith and James and Melanie this Saturday. Wednesday we are leaving for Sofya, Bulgaria for most of Christmas break, although we will be back on campus the 25th because we are working the next day. So wish us luck on the next adventure, and be in touch!