Rizespor, Friends and Turkish

A few weeks ago, I went to see Freddy Adu and Çaykur Rizespor play in Güngören. Güngören! Has a nice literal meaning, but is otherwise a very bland outpost far from the center of İstanbul. I'm not here to rag on Güngören, though. It was a actually kind of liberating to ride outside the city and see a different place. The fans of Rizespor were my people. I really need to get back to Rize sometime, but that's a different topic. I guess the second to last thing I'll say about this is I rather enjoy being at football matches of smaller teams. It feels more personal. And the last thing I'll say about this is that a strange emotion came over me when I thought the following: I live in İstanbul and now I have just traveled to the outskirts of that city, where  I am standing in a stadium and watching Freddy Adu of all people playing for a team from a city in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. I guess I just never expected to find myself in that particular situation!

More recently, I started meeting new people again. I find I'm speaking more Turkish as new friends of mine are in various stages of learning English. The language is growing on me very quickly these days. I feel its effects on my mind like a drug almost. Some nights it keeps me awake and other nights it helps me sleep. The feelings that come while forging new interpersonal and linguistic connections are enchantment and delight.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures. Irony is getting my camera cleaned and then forgetting it at work on a Friday. So these were from my phone. More pictures to come as the weather is improving here and I'm getting out more.

Enchanted and delighted,
Jeremy