Andy Found Himself in the Middle of a War

While we were in Turkey, Andy somehow found himself the unwitting accomplice in an all out war between Turkish soccer fans. After having lunch in some new Turkish friends’ home one day, Ugur (pronounced OOor) gave Andy a gift—a hat from his favorite soccer team, Galatasaray. He instructed Andy to make sure and put it on in front of Fikret, our other Turkish friend. He assured us it would create quite a stir because Fikret roots for the rival of Ugur’s team, Fenerbahce. At dinner that night, Andy did as he was told and I caught a picture of Fikret’s reaction. He was soooo mad and it cracked the whole table up in laughter watching him steam.

Later that night, Fikret gave Andy a jersey from his favorite soccer team (the rival) and instructed him to put it on and go parade it through the other room where Umut was (who, turns out, is also a big fan Galatasaray). Umut shook his head, disgraced at Andy’s betrayal, while Fikret cheered on, declaring his gift determined Andy’s true allegiance to Fenerbahce.

Lastly, while Umut was taking us around Istanbul one day, we passed the official store for Galatasary and walked in to check it out. Umut made Andy put on this ridiculous hat so he could take a picture (above). Subsequently, Umut posted the picture on his Facebook page which has now generated a dozen or so comments back and forth between the warring fans. Andy was a pawn in their battle with each other, and it was fun!

CimBomBom (victory cheer for Galatasaray)!