Tag Archives: Galatasaray S.K.

Karagöz ignores the war drums, slinks back from Celtics-Fenerbahçe game

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Celtics player Rajan Rondo accepts flowers from a Turkish fan in Istanbul – heart warming to me (eye rolling from Karagoz commences)

Karagöz has been absent over the past few days – that impish puppet man with the screeching voice and penchant for somersaults – he is just blocking out the drums of war that we are hearing from Erdoğan’s now-infamous peace via war comment.  As for Saf and Dobra’s revelation about the unexpectedly humane and thoughtful new police chief in Diyarbakır, Recep Güven, he just says “count the days until he is killed – or it is revealed that he is not for real.”

He is a pessimist as he knows that if he expects the worst, it will not be so bad, so painful, when the worst happens.  Esma, the hippie puppet tells him to have hope – and to trust in Mr. Güven’s inspired vision for forging a new understanding between Turks and Kurds in the Southeastern Region of Turkey.  But Karagöz is not listening to Esma – rather – he is bouncing a basketball on the living room wall again, and again………..and again at alternate interludes so that there is no rhythmic order.  It is driving me about as nuts as I would imagine the people in Akçakale in Şanlıurfa province must be feeling, waiting for the next mortar shell to drop, at any moment.

The Celtics in Istanbul to play Fenerbahce

And, you may ask, why a basketball? But you already know, as the title of the post gives it away! Yes, the New England team – the Boston Celtics – played the Fenerbahçe team in Istanbul this weekend.  And while this is a Galatasaray Blog, is it any surprise that our resident agent provocateur is a Fenerbahçe fan? Of course, for those of you not in the know, the two teams are dire enemies – and not even frenemies…

current logo 1996–present

Current Celtics logo 1996–present (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is not often that the general populace around these parts – New England to be exact – have direct exposure to things Turkish – but they did this week when the Celtics played in Istanbul – although nobody really got the Fenerbahçe name quite right…you can catch a recap of the game here – the Celtics went home with their tails between their legs, as I hear tell from Sir Karagöz.  I don’t know the first thing about basketball – or most any sport – but my Turkish husband has been “all over it” since he moved to this country 20 years ago.  As I see it, he immediately transferred his male soccer love behavior for male baseball and basketball love behavior…just kept the Galatasaray “cim bom bom” cry going the whole time!

Despite this momentary distraction, I can still hear the drums of war, though, despite the basketball un-rhythmic efforts of Karagöz…what about you?

Galatasaray Flag

Galatasaray Flag (Photo credit: Cycling man)

P.S. I just told my husband that Karagöz has “come out” as a Fenerbahçe fan, and M. is really, really disappointed.  I think we are about to have a fight – even if the *rest* of the puppet troupe are staunch Galatasaray supporters.  “Why,” M. cries out, “why would Karagöz support those bribing, cheating bastards? Don’t make that post, it’s bad for humanity!”

Laughing in a spluttering fashion, I remind him that Galatasaray team managers, while not busted for bribing (thus far?) they did switch the jerseys of banned players – so the good players could play – and got busted for it.  In response, M. says “that was nothing, just a disappointment – I can’t believe you are posting this, terrible.”  I think he is serious.  And so it goes when one is married to a Turkish futbol fan.

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Cross-cultural explanation moment #456: Yes, many Turks drink alcohol (and a lovely video)

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A wide variety of Turkish raki

This blog is about one Turkish-American couple’s road trip through a cross-cultural marriage.  In the U.S., one of our regular cross-cultural moments comes in explaining things about Turkey, the Middle East, and Islam to others – to the best of our ability.

A sign honoring the Galatasaray Spor Kulubu

At work, I have a small Galatasaray Futbol Kulubu sign on my door.  In part, this is to welcome some of the Turkish students who study in the English as a Second Language program where I work.  Sometimes, when my students visit during office hours, this leads to questions.  I consider this a good thing – and try to have a range of interesting objects, art and books that can generate conversations either about the topics I teach – or about the Middle East.  I want to do my part in creating more understanding amongst our students – and our society in general.

So, the impetus for this post comes after reflecting on a conversation last week with one such student, who had noticed my Turkish sign, and had asked about it.  Although it wasn’t a surprise, one of this student’s first questions was “Gee, well, I guess I am wondering – if it is a Muslim country, do Turks drink alcohol?”  In these moments I often sigh inside – and put on my freshest, most open face and walk them through the metaphor about people who are, for example, Jewish, but for example, do not keep kosher.  During this type of explanation, I channel the calm, collected and wise Hacivad, instead of the flighty, oppositional agent-provocateur with no patience, Karagöz.  This usually does the trick.  If it doesn’t work – then I move to Catholicism, and how there can be differing views on abortion, birth control and sex before marriage amongst people who attend Catholic mass on a regular basis.  In this case, I explained that most people in Turkey have Sun’ni heritage – but that many also drink  – beer, raki, etc.

M. alerted me to this video today – and while it is an advertisement for Yeni Rakı, the Turkish equivalent of anisette or the Greek ouzo.  I wish I had had this video in that moment with my student – not only is the video gorgeous – but it shows people singing a popular folksong all over Turkey – the landscapes, traditions and settings of the various regions of the country are shown along the way.  Of course, the downing of Rakı is everpresent in the video.  It’s lovely, take a look.  I especially love seeing the Urfa scene – near the Syrian border in South Central Turkey where we visited last year…a chili pepper is dipped into Rakı before being consumed…

Now I need to decide whether sending that student a link to this video – a link that gets the cultural message across but is also an advertisement for alcohol – whether that is a good idea professionally!