I spent the first half of today in class, learning the abilitative verb forms, and the second half wandering around the center of Ankara, shopping and trying to stay out of the heat. I didn't get home until around 8, and ate dinner right away with my host family. In order to burn some of the food calories off, I walked to a local park with my host mother and the younger of my two host sisters.

The park was still pretty busy, given that the sun had long since gone down and it was considerably late in the evening. Locals were relaxing on benches, playing soccer in the central fields, and walking or running around a four-lane athletic track that formed a ring within the trees. At one spot on the track, a set of aerobic structures was set up to allow people to continue their workout after a run. We circled the track two times before sitting down on one of the benches to people watch. We took out the water and bag of sunflower seeds my host sister had carried along and slowly (allowing for frequent pauses and step-by-step verb conjugations) chatted about food, exercise, and my plans for the future: bilmiyorum - I (still) don't know. I learned (or at least tried) how to eat the seeds while my host mother and sister cracked away at the shells, leaving two discarded piles on either side of our bench when we left. I had only managed to eat about 20 seeds before giving up, and my pile paled in comparison.

I was glad to have gotten out of the apartment after dinner and to have seen a little bit of Ankara on a weeknight. Of course, on the way home, we had to stop at my host sister's favorite dessert stand for a healthy portion of ice cream. I guess my host mother wasn't so serious when she told me the walk was about fitness. As we got closer to our apartment, I noticed quite a few beer and liquor stores lining the road, probably the highest concentration I'd seen in Ankara thus far. I was still reflecting on this as the last call to prayer began, projecting over the neighborhood rooftops as we turned the corner onto our street.

In other news, I'm heading out to Cappadocia with the CLS program tomorrow and won't be back until late on Saturday. (I don't know if I'll be on a computer much before then.) It's weird to be traveling on such a scheduled trip, and to not have to worry about train tickets, hostel reservations or any other logistical details that make traveling so stressful. I kind of miss doing all of that on my own, but I'm excited to be able to relax this summer. And for those of you who are American, you should be excited that your tax dollars are paying for our four star hotel. I know I am.