FIFA Qualifier Game Uzbekistan-Australia
Yesterday was Namejs' birthday. A few weeks ago we learned that the Australian team would be playing the Uzbek team. The other Australian on staff worked hard to organize tickets for a large group of people. The boys and I signed up for them as well because Namejs said that he would really enjoy this as a birthday gift.
So we planned it all out. The game began at 8:30 (which usually is Namejs' bedtime). We thought that the boys would take a short nap and then a shower to be well awake for the evening. We organized for Ahat to take us to the game, because we thought that he could just drop us off and we would then walk in to the stadium. Nothing quite worked out the way we had thought it would.
First of all the boys didn't sleep, but did take a shower. This did not bode that well for Namejs. We agreed that we would basically leave around halftime, because we knew that realistically he would just not be able to stay that late, and
I did not relish carrying him through throngs of people. We were going to leave around 7:45, but a friend called and said that due to the 5 (!) lines of police checks that we better get our butts out sooner. So we rushed to Ahat. He got dressed and drove us.
Ahat had not planned for us to walk in by ourselves because he knew the reality of the situation and that I would not get very far on my own with two children in tow. So after a tense search for a parking spot we found a space in front of a store and convinced the parking guy to let us park there for 1000 sum. Then we walked towards the stadium. Groups of men kept running by us in a hurry to get to the game on time. We got through the first check point easily. They checked one of my bags for water, but ignored the other one (I snuck in water and doritos). The second check point was not bad either.
The third line was directly at the gate where they were finally taking tickets. Interestingly enough there was a crowd of Uzbeks standing trying to get in. Somehow they had convinced the police in the other two lines that they had tickets, although they didn't... Now when I say that they were just standing it simplifies the story a bit too much. You need to understand that Uzbeks never just stand in line. It is always the loudest, the most obnoxious, and the one with the best ability to push to the front of the line that gets in. So here we had over 25 people pushing right in front of the gate to try and sneak in as someone with tickets pushed there way through to the front. Now Ahat, bless him, is really good at pushing to the front of lines. And he always knows the exact thing to say to get where he needs to. This time the mantra was "This mother and her children are from Australia, let them in to see the game!" We got through that point also.
The next one was not as easy. There is a VIP section that ends up being on the long side of the stadium right be the entrance. The police would not let anyone through this area because they only let VIPs through. Now Ahat didn't want to have to walk all the way around the stadium to get to our seats that were just on the other side of the barrier. Thus after 4 attempts he finally got the guards to let us through. We walked past the VIPs and back into the stands.
The last check point was to get into the section where our seats were. It turns out though that there are obviously too many seats sold, or the police just don't really count the number of tickets per person as carefully - after all there were four us, but only 3 tickets... Once we arrived there were no seats in our section. We found the friends from school and realized it was either sit in their laps or find new seats. Half of the school people had moved over into the section that had been reserved for the Australians, but left the other half in the regular seats. Ahat said that we should go there. He talked to one of the guards, and the guard took us over to the Australian section. After another few minutes of talking all 10 of us pushed our way into the Australian section past local Uzbeks who were begging to get the seats for the game in this "special" section that was almost empty.
The game was pretty good, but it was a bit nerve wracking to have police on every seat at the end of each row. Every time the crowd stood up, they would stand to check that no one was planning to throw anything at us. Especially when Australia scored the only goal of the game. There was really no need for the extra protection of the area, but I guess that in the past things have happened.
Namejs was really happy to be there after the experience of getting in. He watched for a good while, and then asked to sit next to me, and put his head in my lap. He tired valiantly to stay awake as long as he could. Below, you see a picture of the boys in their Australian shirts and the flag behind them. Namejs had just begun to become tired.
Here you see the crowd seated in the form and colors of an Uzbek flag. From this area you could hear the loudest cheering and there was a drum that kept beat to the cheers.
Here is that same section now, but they are carrying the Uzbek flag above them.
Here are two other teachers from school. Notice directly behind and above them the number of police. They were all around us. A modicum of safety.
We did go home earlier a bit after half-time, and were able to still catch the end of the game on the television.
Namejs will still celebrate his birthday with friends this weekend. As I type I am waiting for the ice cream on the cake to freeze a bit more so that I can put on the second layer. Tomorrow I will add the whipped cream and MnMs.
So we planned it all out. The game began at 8:30 (which usually is Namejs' bedtime). We thought that the boys would take a short nap and then a shower to be well awake for the evening. We organized for Ahat to take us to the game, because we thought that he could just drop us off and we would then walk in to the stadium. Nothing quite worked out the way we had thought it would.
First of all the boys didn't sleep, but did take a shower. This did not bode that well for Namejs. We agreed that we would basically leave around halftime, because we knew that realistically he would just not be able to stay that late, and
I did not relish carrying him through throngs of people. We were going to leave around 7:45, but a friend called and said that due to the 5 (!) lines of police checks that we better get our butts out sooner. So we rushed to Ahat. He got dressed and drove us.
Ahat had not planned for us to walk in by ourselves because he knew the reality of the situation and that I would not get very far on my own with two children in tow. So after a tense search for a parking spot we found a space in front of a store and convinced the parking guy to let us park there for 1000 sum. Then we walked towards the stadium. Groups of men kept running by us in a hurry to get to the game on time. We got through the first check point easily. They checked one of my bags for water, but ignored the other one (I snuck in water and doritos). The second check point was not bad either.
The third line was directly at the gate where they were finally taking tickets. Interestingly enough there was a crowd of Uzbeks standing trying to get in. Somehow they had convinced the police in the other two lines that they had tickets, although they didn't... Now when I say that they were just standing it simplifies the story a bit too much. You need to understand that Uzbeks never just stand in line. It is always the loudest, the most obnoxious, and the one with the best ability to push to the front of the line that gets in. So here we had over 25 people pushing right in front of the gate to try and sneak in as someone with tickets pushed there way through to the front. Now Ahat, bless him, is really good at pushing to the front of lines. And he always knows the exact thing to say to get where he needs to. This time the mantra was "This mother and her children are from Australia, let them in to see the game!" We got through that point also.
The next one was not as easy. There is a VIP section that ends up being on the long side of the stadium right be the entrance. The police would not let anyone through this area because they only let VIPs through. Now Ahat didn't want to have to walk all the way around the stadium to get to our seats that were just on the other side of the barrier. Thus after 4 attempts he finally got the guards to let us through. We walked past the VIPs and back into the stands.
The last check point was to get into the section where our seats were. It turns out though that there are obviously too many seats sold, or the police just don't really count the number of tickets per person as carefully - after all there were four us, but only 3 tickets... Once we arrived there were no seats in our section. We found the friends from school and realized it was either sit in their laps or find new seats. Half of the school people had moved over into the section that had been reserved for the Australians, but left the other half in the regular seats. Ahat said that we should go there. He talked to one of the guards, and the guard took us over to the Australian section. After another few minutes of talking all 10 of us pushed our way into the Australian section past local Uzbeks who were begging to get the seats for the game in this "special" section that was almost empty.
The game was pretty good, but it was a bit nerve wracking to have police on every seat at the end of each row. Every time the crowd stood up, they would stand to check that no one was planning to throw anything at us. Especially when Australia scored the only goal of the game. There was really no need for the extra protection of the area, but I guess that in the past things have happened.
Namejs was really happy to be there after the experience of getting in. He watched for a good while, and then asked to sit next to me, and put his head in my lap. He tired valiantly to stay awake as long as he could. Below, you see a picture of the boys in their Australian shirts and the flag behind them. Namejs had just begun to become tired.
Here you see the crowd seated in the form and colors of an Uzbek flag. From this area you could hear the loudest cheering and there was a drum that kept beat to the cheers.
Here is that same section now, but they are carrying the Uzbek flag above them.
Here are two other teachers from school. Notice directly behind and above them the number of police. They were all around us. A modicum of safety.
We did go home earlier a bit after half-time, and were able to still catch the end of the game on the television.
Namejs will still celebrate his birthday with friends this weekend. As I type I am waiting for the ice cream on the cake to freeze a bit more so that I can put on the second layer. Tomorrow I will add the whipped cream and MnMs.
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