Evening Out

Grazing in the park

It is a warm (25°C/77°F) summer evening, so after the class, Ramaray Prabhu takes us all to the Devran Dinlenme Tesisleri (Devran Recreational Facility), the public park near the Golbasi lake here in Ankara where we held our first nama sankirtan last Sunday.

The parking lot is crowded; there are hundreds of families out enjoying the evening, sitting on the benches or the grass, picnicking, kids playing in the playground or flying kites in the cool evening breeze.

As we walk past the misir vendor boiling his corn in a big outdoor cauldron, he recognizes us from the week before, and asks when the singing will begin... but we're paying for our supper tonight.

We order some traditional Turkey dishes from the cafeteria: gozleme (a roti-like wrap filled with cheese, spinach, potatoes, or honey and nuts) and some misir or boiled corn.

Yes, we're out enjoying, so while we sit in a circle around the outdoor table waiting for the order to arrive, I remind everyone that everything is meant for Krishna's enjoyment (bhoktaram yajna-tapasam).

The gozleme is delicious!