My Fortune in a Cup of Turkish Coffee

Yester we had Turkish coffee for our lunch break in the Konak bazaar. For those who are unfamiliar, a Turkish coffee is lies at a savory midpoint between an espresso and a really strong coffee. Ours came is tiny Turkish delights.

As we drank, Elyas (from Lebanon, the new chemistry teacher at MEF) and I compared superstitions with our host Ipek, whose family has lived in Izmir for generations.

We began by knocking on wood. I "knock on wood" when I mention a plan that isn't yet fulfilled and I hope will go well. Turks use it to ward off evil. They also grab their right earlobe before knocking on wood (they rap their knuckles on their teeth if wood isn't around).

The conversation moved on to fortunes. We were drinking coffee, after all, and coffee grounds are used to tell fortunes.

I looked into my coffee, and all I saw was grounds, more than a quarter inch thick (half a centimeter) on the bottom of my tiny cup.

Ipek showed us to place the saucer on top of the cup and turn it upside down (she actually held it above her head and waved it in a circle). Our conversation moved on to other things as we waited for the grounds to cool.

Once they were cool, I turned the cup over. "You look along the side of the cup," Ipek said, "you find numbers or shapes you recognize."

This was one scene from the circlorama of fortune I found.

One friend I showed this to today said he saw a volcano. I see three friends inside a viking ship, with a high, curved prow and maybe a daily above them. Now the I look at it, I see the continent of Africa.

Reading coffee grounds is a lot like looking at clouds. You see what you want to see.

Which, when I think about it, is what my Fortune (and my past) probably look like to me.

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