Turkey Wins!!

I've found myself in a lot of crazy situations overseas, but I think tonight might be the craziest so far. Since I know most of my readers have no idea what the Euro 2008 is, I'll give a little background.

Euro 2008 claims to be the second biggest soccer tournament in the world, after the World Cup. In a shocking come back against Croatia, winning by penalty kicks, Turkey put themselves into the semi finals next week. This is Turkey's first ever trip to the semi finals.

So, all that to say, things have gotten a little crazy here in the city, because Turks LOVE their futbol. I was watching the game at a friend's house, and decided I would splurge on a taxi home, just to be safe. Actually after midnight, that was pretty much my only option to get home anyway. I was a little nervous on the ride back as my taxi driver very excitedly honked his horn with all the other thousands of cars, as he continued to speed up with excitement while listening to the goals being replayed on the radio, and as he seemed to be paying little to no attention to the perilous road he was driving down. Then, we turned on to a side street which forced him to slow down, so I relaxed. I even laughed while sitting at a red light he did a special little back and forth cheer with the car sitting beside us. Cute. Then, we turned down my street. There's where the real excitement began.

The whole reason I was happy to be in a taxi was because I wanted to avoid walking down my street. It tends to get a bit extra excited during events like this. But, as we turned the corner, the mob that greeted us stopped us in our tracks. There was no driving down that street. The driver frantically asked me if there was another way to my apartment. I said, no! I have to go down this street. He apologized but said there was no way he could drive through that. So, I seriously almost asked him to pray for me, but refrained, paid my money and faced the mob. I quickly ran to the sidewalk and pressed myself against the building, under the nearest awning as I heard guns going off just feet from where I was standing. I actually didn't really know what to do when I heard the guns being shot, but as I watched several people duck and run for the awning, I decided that was probably a good idea. Gravity can be dangerous. Anway...I stood there a bit in shock for a few minutes, trying to figure out what I should do, when the mob seemed to disperse a bit. I took that moment to shoot the gap, and walked as fast as my flip flops could take me. If not for the dangerous flying bullets part, it was a really fun cultural moment.

I'm home safely now, listening to the serenade of chants and car horns. Did I mention that it's 1:30 am? Congratulations, Turkey!! Good luck against Germany next week!