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 t...