MAY 2000

Well, I remember it was sometime during April when a friend of mine from my university told me she was going to interpret to Istanbul. I was very excited as I loved Istanbul from the last time so I started telling her all the cool places where she should go and what to see. A couple of months later (it was on Sunday evening) she called me and asked me to rescue her. Her parents didn't know about it and she was sure they wouldn't let her go if she told them. But she started feeling bad and finally decided to tell them. Oops. Houston, we have a problem. 4 days before the departure they told her to stay home. But the company didn't have any interpreter. Fortunately, she knew me. So, I got contacted by the guy from the company and I decided to take the offer. 

Another thing I remember was that the day before the departure there was a final match of the UEFA Cup. I watched it but it got to overtime and it was rather late so I didn't see it all. The following day we I got to know that the guys from Galatasaray Istanbul won it on penalties. The first thing that came on my mind was: "Oh gosh, I can't imagine the mess over there after winning the Cup." And I was right. Istanbul was covered in Red-Yellow flags.