Another day in Ankara brought beautiful sunshine and cool air.  We lounged this morning (and I finally got 8 hours of sleep!) and walked briskly around the subdivision.  We then drove to Ankara city and met my old student and our friend Mehmet Gulsen.  Mehmet moved back to Ankara after about 20 years in the U.S. last August.  He is enjoying being back home and is currently living with his mom.  We walked (mostly uphill - Ankara is quite hilly) to Hosdere (meaning Pleasant valley) and ate at a nice restaurant called Beykoz apparently know for its tripe soup.  While none of us had tripe soup we did sample a good bit, mainly vegetables.  Memorable were the okra and the dessert - a type of baklava made like bread pudding.

View from our bedroom at Casa Dengiz

Our cozy bedroom at Casa Dengiz

Mehmet tries his lamb leg soup, a specialty of Beykoz

The yummy lunch at Beykoz including okra and cacik and spinach and coban salad and ...

The sign for Beykoz with Atakale in the background (Atakale is a tall tower that you can go up in and is based with a small shopping mall)

Mehmet and Alice at lunch

Mehmet's big sister Aysel at her Eczane (Pharmacy) Gulsen

Alice, Mehmet's mom and Mehmet at Casa Gulsen in Ankara

We walked back to the Fulbright office where I had a meeting at 3:30.  The meeting was friendly and informative and only took about 30 minutes.  We then drove (actually Randy drove, Mehmet navigated and I sat in the back seat) to a poor area of Ankara where Mehmet's older sister Aysel has a large and very nice pharmacy.  After that, we drove across town (now, in Friday rush hour traffic) to Necla Orgen's mother's apartment.  We met there for tea - consisting of a type of su boregi and a rich chocolate and raspberry cake.  (Yes, food is an important part of being in Turkey.)  After a nice visit all together (Berna also joined us) we drove Mehmet to his apartment (actually his mother's apartment) and briefly met her.  She is a traditional lady but friendly and I tried my bad Turkish out on her.  Randy drove incredibly well on the long trek to Casa Dengiz and we were happy to be "home."  After a dinner (for me) of kisir, Turkish green beans and red wine (what could be better?) I called my dad via Skype to wish him Happy Birthday - tomorrow being his 82nd birthday.