"Dinç bamba gibi. Enerji var." (Explaning the meaning of a word in class. 'Vigorous' is like a bomb, there's lot's of energy!) [Teacher's explanation of a word.]

Today was relatively sedate. No protests during class, and I successfully have talked my way into a harder class tomorrow. After class, I ate some sucuk with some friends of mine. Sucuk is like beef pepperoni, it is better than bacon in my opinion in part because it isn't over rated. My delicious sucuk sandwich cost the equivalent of $2.50. That cannot be beat. After lunch, we had our first weekly meeting as a group, which went fine, and after that I checked out some bookstores. Underneath where I have class there are quite a few of them. Kızılay is a very nice neighborhood. It's central, bustling, and filled with shops.
Here's what one of the side walkways away from Tömer looks like:

Before I got home, I stopped by the local used book store and bought two books. One is a Turkish translation of Goethe's Faust, the other is a hefty volume, apparently number two on Ataturk's views on the Turkish language. Though I know I cannot read either without a sözlük nearby (sözlük - dictionary; two morphemes. Talk/say is söz, while lük is the abstract noun suffix.) I am excited that I have them both, and I hope to one day be able to read them. :)

After I got home, I went on a walk with my host family. They took me to the campus of Ankara university, which is big, beautiful, and has a large gardeny space with statues, blackberry trees, and stuff. It was a very beautiful and relaxing place, filled with college students studying.

Me underneath a blackberry tree. Gürsel takes excellent photos!

There are a few of these ponds. They contain live fish!

Another park, with a view of Ataturk's mausoleum in the background.

A beautiful Ankara sunset.

 Afterwards, I met some more members of my extended host family, and had a good time at my host grandmother's house. It was an excellent evening.

Coming soon: A panoramic view of Ankara from the 10th floor balcony of Tomer, lovingly assembled in paint!