Two Alumni Dinners for the Price of Zero!

While in Ankara, we organized dinners with SPEA MPA alums who live in Ankara and work in the government. Both dinners were for Iftar, which breaks the fast at sundown during Ramadan. The first was on a Sunday night and was prepared by the family of the wife of one of the alumni. The food was incredible. Here are some pictures of us sitting at a table and standing in the living room.

The second was at Hacettepe (Haa-JEH-teh-peh) University. We alternated seating students and alumni so everyone could chat with an alum, and we had a great time discussing Islamic philosophy, Turkey's history and SPEA. Hacettepe is on a hill, so we had a beautiful view of Ankara around us.

Since it was Iftar, we had to stand around and chat before eating at sundown, which was at about 8:30 the whole month.

The Iftar meals we ate in Ankara were all pretty similar. There is a salad with carrots, lettuce and what I think is purple cabbage. And soup, bread, some kind of main course and dessert. The fast is traditionally broken with dates, which is what Muhammad ate. There are also walnuts and cheese.

SPEANs young and old in Turkey!!

And this beautiful photo shows very well how lovely it was seeing Ankara at night.