Because of this holiday we had had 9 days off of work (from last Saturday through today). We were quite excited for the time away and so had made plans to go and visit Istanbul and some of the friends we have living there. It was fun to get away as tourists and get to explore all of the sites of the city. We felt like we saw a lot, but a week was not nearly enough, more about that later.
On Saturday morning, we spent some time around the house getting things somewhat straightened up before we left. We also had to get two boxes ready to ship back to the States with presents for Christmas. We spent most of the morning try to find suitable packing materials and boxes to ship everything in. We were able to get the last box we needed from our friend Seljuk who works in the little bufe (shop) in the apartment complex. Kylie spent a long time getting things neatly packaged and ready to go and then we headed downtown to find the post office. We took the bus towards the area where we knew there was one and a little ways before our stop we spotted a post office. So we jumped off and backtracked the few blocks only to find that branch was closed. So then we walked up into the main part of town hoping to find another one, but not knowing really where it was. We were starting to wonder about what to do when I looked down at the two guys standing in front of me and realized that they were carrying messenger bags full of letters. Perfect! Ask the postal carriers where the post office was. The guy was even nice enough to walk us back to where we could see it before sending us on our way. We got to the post office and eventually found the right counter and explained what we needed to do. We were a little surprised with how simply it was going. But then the guy started asking us what was in the boxes and pulling out each of the items that had been neatly wrapped, labeled, and arranged (albeit in newspaper but better than any wrapping job I've ever done) and opening them up. Thankfully after the first three or four (out of a lot) he decided that there was nothing too harmful and stopped unwrapping the presents. So now we just have to hope that they arrive within the 10-14 days they told us (but we are banking more on 20 or 25).
After getting the boxes shipped we went to find a place to get baklava to take with us to our friends in Istanbul. Since Gaziantep is famous for its baklava this is the expected gift anytime we leave the city. As we walked into the baklava shop we were greeted with "welcome on board" by a guy in a Turkish Football Federation warm-up suit (we assume he learns most of his English by traveling). As we ordered our baklava we found out that he and the other two guys in there were referees who had flown in to Gaziantep to referee the Gaziantepspor-Fenerbache match later that night. So with that piece of information, and since it was bayram, we decided we should go try to get tickets and go to the game. We walked the few minutes to the stadium and found the place already pretty busy with fans decked out in the teams colors. We got ushered into what we think was the fan club office, we aren't really sure, but they sold us two tickets for the game that night and even included jerseys in the deal as well. We were pretty excited. We went home and did a few other things to get ready for our trip before heading back to the stadium that night.
The game was quite the experience. It was a little bit different than the Colorado Rapids games I've been too (the Rapids who, by the way, I'm really expecting to win the MLS Cup tonight!). When we found the gate we were supposed to go in at we had to make our way past the 10 and 12 year old kids who were being dragged away for trying to sneak in, or something. Then we went through a series of floor to ceiling turnstiles that felt a lot like cows being herded through the stockyards. Then at the end we were met by security guards who frisked us, took away our water bottles and almost took away our camera too. Finally, we went up the ramp into the stadium.
The whole arena had an ominous feeling with a heavy mist hanging over the field. There were police officers encircling the field spaced about 5 yards apart with their backs to the game just watching the stands. Our tickets sort of told us that we were supposed to be in the fan section with all of the jumping, dancing, singing crowd that watched like none of the game. We stood with the group for about the first 30 minutes of the game. We met a few college aged guys who were really nice. We got asked about 200 times where we were from. After a while one of the guys we met took a scarf from a younger kid and gave it to me. I tried a bunch of times to give it back but he wouldn't let me. So I at least got a picture with him (and we got to celebrate later!). We were enjoying the game, although it was hard to really watch because of all the fans. Then about 30 minutes in one of the police officers pointed to me and called me down to say something through the fence. I didn't really understand what he was saying, other than that since Kylie was a girl we should leave the fan section and go sit down. So we decided we should obey. It was hard to tell if we were getting the celebrity or the six-year old scolded child treatment.
At half-time many of the fans made their way to the only concession stand on our half of the stadium. It was just a table right behind the goal with a couple of guys selling chai and simit (the two turkish staple foods). This meant though that all of the fan section had to walk past where Kylie and I were now sitting to get to the food. This turned into a lot of just stopping and staring (again back to the celebrity or six-year old question). Pretty soon there was a huge crowd circled around us and only like five feet back. It was really odd, but there wasn't anything to do or anywhere to go. After a minute or two of this awkwardness some of our friends from the first few minutes came by and started yelling at people to move and leave us alone. For the rest of the game if anyone really even stopped and stared within a few seconds someone would walk by and just smack them and tell them to keep walking. It was kind of funny to watch.
During the second half we were able to watch more of the game. Sometime during the half someone else came down and gave Kylie a scarf. So we were both fully decked out in jersey's and scarves. Gaziantepspor came back from down 1-0 to tie the game with maybe 20-25 minutes to go. Then not too much later they got a second goal to pull ahead 2-1. It was awesome. The stadium went nuts. My friend who gave me his scarf jumped over a couple rows of seats before I picked him up and we yelled to celebrate. It was great. The game ended 2-1. A really good win for Gaziantepspor over one of the "big three" teams from Istanbul. It was a great first Turkish football game to watch.
After the game, we went up to one of our new favorite places in the city. It is one of the only places we know to find really good coffee. It is a third-floor cafe that overlooks one of the main streets into the downtown section of the city. We went up there to get some coffee and warm-up after the game. As we were sitting there drinking our coffee we heard a huge commotion down in the street. We looked off the patio to see a whole parade of fans still celebrating the victory.
The whole experience was a great start to our weeklong holiday. It was all rather spontaneous, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Well, the first day of vacation has already taken too much space. So we will do another post with stories from our week in Istanbul.
Here are a few of the pictures from the game:
The boy who gave me his scarf! :-)
You can also find more pics here: http://on.fb.me/9fw0NH
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