Tomi's Talk
22.9. THE WAY OF THE CRAZY GANG
For me, there are three equally important components of which this
tour consists of:
A) learning more about FOOTBALL
B) learning more about the SOCIO-CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS of Turkey,
Syria and Lebanon
C) learning HOW TO BUILD COHESION AND CREATE SYNERGY within the
framework of 15 male students with multicultural backgrounds
Now that the more serious footballing part is successfully completed,
we are able to concentrate on the two other aspects of the tour.
As I keep repeating, the SOAS Crazy Gang is very fond of it's unique
team spirit which is built on principles of democracy, equality and
inclusiveness. This is not only about some Happy Family -mentality,
for it carries with it a lot of responsibility and also discipline.
Every member of the team has the right to speak, and giving your
opinion is encouraged.
Last night we had a three-hour long discussion on how the remaining
tour fund should be spent. After some very passionate and heated
debate Jackie Reynolds stood up and suggested a democratic vote on
the most crucial questions.
That was done and everyone went to bed settled with the group decision.
To me, this is the key to understanding how this team works and sticks together.
Long live democracy, long live the Crazy Gang!
TOMI 21.9.
It's been a while since I wrote to you, but there's been some groovy
choogling going on!
Some members of the Crazy Gang miss home, while some have their energy
levels low and some (including myself) are still enjoying a state of
prolonged diarrhea.
In spite of this, it's all been jolly and good. When I've been around
since 14th of Sep, we've played three more serious games of football
and the results are as follows:
15.9. SOAS vs. Syrian 2nd div. side (still don't know the name) 3-1
17.9. SOAS vs. University of Aleppo 4-3
18.9. SOAS vs. University of Damascus 2-5
As I've written earlier, the two first games were hard fought
victories with everyone playing well and running their guts out. The
third one was not so good, as the opposite side was by far the best
team the Crazy Gang has ever played against. They gave us a serious
lesson in football. Some of their boys were ridiculously witty on the
ball and had their shooting been any better we would have been
slaughtered.
After the match we had an unforgettable dinner with the the University
of Damascus 1st XI with some great apple shisha included. We got
engaged in fascinating debates on the deepest nature of the beautiful
game. Football certainly is a global language.
We found out that the opposition had a couple of players who had won
the Syrian league last season and their captain had even played 25
games for the Syrian national team. He was a lovable dude, but
slightly arrogant too. He told Taurean that he looks like Man United's
Anderson, but definitely not when playing football. In spite of an
amount of stingy banter, the Syrian hospitality was overwhelming and
the mood among the two teams very joyful.
Cheers!
TOMI
18.9. IT CAME OUT THROUGH THE BEDROOM WINDOW
We played a game last night against the University of Aleppo and won
4-3. Sadly the game wasn't played at the National Stadium as planned,
and even more unfortunate we felt when,
contrary to our local deep throat's predictions, there were no 5000
spectators but 50.
At first we felt a little disappointed and our warm-up looked very
unconvincing. But when the ref blew his whistle, we were suddenly up
for it and fighting for every ball on the ground and in the air.
Like on Tuesday, the opposite players were arguably more skillful and
more comfortable on the ball than us. Three of their players had
recently played for the Syrian U-23 National team. The key to our
victory was the amazing work rate we put in. We really wanted to win
and the end of the day our pragmatic way of football won us the game.
It was certainly one of the maddest games I've ever played and we
really needed Toib the Bone shouting at us: "It ain't over 'til the
fat lady sings!"
But unfortunately, the big man of Nigeria and the referee had a bit of
disagreement over some of the latter's decisions which led to the
former being sent off the pitch.
After some epic moments another big man Alex Williams got a red card
and our keeper Tom "Neville Southall" Bateman broke a rib. There we
were, playing with too little men and Taurean as the goalkeeper's
deputy. He wasn't the one to blame when they scored two from the
penalty spot and got us panicking big time for the last 15 minutes.
For me this was the greatest game by the SOAS Crazy Gang ever. It was
even more valuable due to the fact that almost everyone of us was more
or less crippled after a heavy week of football. As mentioned earlier,
Bates broke his rib, Roland broke his leg earlier, Josh had to go home
because of family reasons and the rest have either diarrhea or just
ordinary fatigue.
Me and my roommate Alex K-W, aka Jacko, belong to the diarrhea group.
After the game we both felt so sick we ended up throwing up through
the window together. It wasn't too much fun then, but afterwards it
made us laugh. The view over Aleppo was beautiful, even romantic. An
orange kitten ran across the street just to get a taster of our mixed
puke.
We travelled to Damascus from Aleppo during the night. I felt horrible
the whole journey, but the boys took very good care of me. Now that
I'm resting in my neat single room in the University of Damascus, I
feel almost healthy.
Let's born to rock!
TOMI
17.9. BANTER, BANTER AND SOME MORE BANTER IN ALEPPO
It's our last day in the fascinating city of Aleppo. We're sad to
leave because the people here have been extremely friendly to us and
the facilities have been ideal.
At the moment we are doing amazingly well as a group and there's
endless banter going on between Nick, Joe, Taurean and the rest of the
Crazy Gang. We're only hoping that not all of the practical jokes
implemented remain in the documentary film the camera group has been
filming.
The value of team spirit is even more crucial if you consider the fact
that only a limited number of local people know any of the languages
we are familiar with. And Joey Watfa, the Vinnie Jones (or Winnie the
Pooh) of Lebanon, is the only one of us speaking Arabic.
This morning I had a brief chat with a French girl who's having her
year abroad in the University of Aleppo. She had arrived just three
days ago and was already worried of how she's gonna cope in an
environment where she can't speak to many people. And there's also the
complete change of lifestyle. Living without boozing, dating and
partying is undoubtedly a big step to take for a young European used
to living in more secular surroundings.
Nevertheless, I'm sure she'll fall in love with this town.
TOMI
15.9.2009 WITNESSING FLYING KICKS IN THE SOUKS AND WINNING A GAME OF FOOTBALL
According to a guidebook I've been reading Aleppo remains both more
religious and more morally conservative compared to Damascus. We
naturally want to respect the local customs, but this brings with it a
couple of curious nuissances. Firstly, wearing clothes that cover
knees and shoulders doesn't feel like a cool thing to do under the hot
Syrian sun if you've packed shirts and pants of dark colours.
Secondly, during Ramadan eating and drinking are forbidden until the
sun goes down. Most of the boys are other than Muslims, but still eats
feels rather dodgy to enjoy a nice meal when the people around you
cannot have any.
We visited the famous Souks of Aleppo today. Those are very old,
narrow alleys full of tiny shops selling whatever one needs. The shop
owners are much more relaxed here than what I've experienced in Turkey
or Tunisia, but still people are very passionate about their blankets,
jewellery, chess boards or nuts. We saw a proper wrestling match in
the middle of the alley with some serious kicks flying in. Shopping
back home must feel like going to see a dentist, it is so conventional
and boring compared to this.
Tonight we played a game against a local 2nd division side. We had to
resort to some defensive and ugly way of playing football, because the
opposition were moving so quickly and passing the ball around
smoothly. Fortunately, our midfield-trio consisting of Joey Watfa,
Skanker Skinner and Taurean Chaggar were slide tackling all over the
place and for us defenders the match was actually quite easy. After
all, we won 3-1 and were extremely happy about it.
Hooray for the Crazy Gang!
TOMI
14.09.2009 HAPPY FOOTBALLING MOMENTS WITH THE IRAQI REFUGEES IN ALEPPO
I'm finally in Aleppo with my mates. My journey here was anything but short,
comfortable or boring. I'm actually very surprised I've already settled in
and even played two games of football tonight.
As soon as I arrived to the airport of Damascus at 2.30 am I started feeling
sorry over my arrogance towards Lonely Planet guide books. The feeling grew
when I realised I've no idea where to hop off the airport bus. I
was ultimately convinced of the importance of external advice when
I understood I cannot speak a word in Arabic, that these guys cannot speak
any language I know and that I've no idea what is a reasonable price for a
3-mile drive in taxi.
I guess I was nicked a bit of money due to my ignorance, but the main thing
was that I actually managed to find the right bus station in Damascus and
even the right bus towards Aleppo. After all it took me 2 airplanes, 3
taxis, 4 buses and some 20 hours to travel from my lovely flat in
Helsinki to the Hospitality Centre of the University of Aleppo. But as
if that hadn't been enough, it all got even more complicated when I
noticed my phone doesn't work and that I had written Jasper's number
wrong anyway.
I was exhausted, but feeling sheer happiness when Jazzie in his dodgy
sandals and Jackie in his tight pink shirt came to greet me.
The boys put me to bed and after five hours sleep I was ready for
football. We played two games of 45 minutes against a pretty good
Armenian youth team (0-0) and another against a team whose players
were Iraqi refugees. In the latter game I scored probably the most
beautiful goal of my entire career with my left foot from 30 yards
away from goal. However, it was disallowed for Alex "Skanky" Skinner
having caught offside.
After the match the Iraqi children gave us their Wishing Tree, which
is going to be planted somewhere near SOAS in London. It was a very
emotional moment as all of our players picked a letter each with a
wish in it and read it aloud. I got a letter from Ahmad, 11 yrs, whose
greatest wish is to own a bicycle one day, for he's never had one.
The whole event brought both sides plenty of joy and the feeling that
we are all young human beings with similar kinds of needs and
aspirations. Walking back to our accommodation we were all quiet. I
felt both happy and sad at the same time and innumerable thoughts were
travelling through my mind.
Increase the peace!
TOMI
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