Turkish Coffee:

I knew from previous experience what Turkish coffee was and that I loved it. But when Alex got his first tiny little porcelain cup of it he was surprised. The thick dark coffee is very sweet and has a distinct grainy texture. This is due to the actual grounds being served with the coffee in the cup. For this reason it is best to let the coffee sit a bit before sipping it and not drinking the whole thing. Not following these pointers Turkish coffee can become a nasty affair.

What I didn’t know about Turkish coffee was that there’s a whole fortune telling culture around it. After finishing my cup our friend Ozlem told me to:

Place my small coffee-plate on top of the cup
Swirl the cup with the plate covering it three times in a circle
Turn the cup upside down onto the plate, flipping it towards myself
Put something personal on top of the upside down cup
(I put the ring Alex gave me)
Make a wish
Wait five minutes

Five minutes later she picked up the cup in a skilled movement. As she turned the little cup downside-up a stripe of brown coffee ran down the edge and she declared my wish would come true. Over the next 15 minutes she continued to look deeply into the cup, finding shapes and figures in the patterns the dried-in coffee grounds had formed on the walls and bottom of the cup. Then she continued to tell Alex’s future, hitting home with a lot of observations about our current lives.

Tamara:

In three days/months/years/decades you will meet a man and he will want to have a relationship with you. I cannot see if you will go with him.
You will have a long and serious conversation with a man. The conversation will be about a path to choose in life, possibly concerning studies or carrier. The conversation will lead you to make an important life decision. The decision you make will be the opposite of what the man wants you to choose.
There’s a boy playing a guitar passionately somewhere in your future.
Your family is big and strong. Your father keeps people together.
Your mother is with a man she truly trusts and whom is a great support for her.

Alex:

A brown haired chubby woman holds a grudge against you.
A woman (possibly the above) wants to hurt you, but you are experienced and will not let yourself be hurt.
What you wish for in your professional life will come true and you will thank one man for it.
A man is giving you advice and you are not listening because you are stubborn. I think you should listen because what he says is logic. You do what you want now because you’re young and nothing’s in your way. Later you will see he was right.
Money will come to you in 1 day/month/year/decade.
You will have to choose in between a clear and stable path and an unstable hard path. If you choose the easy one you will have a decent life, but it will be better at the end if you choose the risky one.
I see three boys, looking like you. Their names start with an A.

What happened to lovey-dovey “you-will-be-happily-married-and-win-a-cruise”? I guess you can choose how to read in to these predictions. One thing is interesting though: Back in Cleveland, Ohio there are indeed 3 tall boys looking a lot like Alex. His Brothers Adam, Aaron and Andrew. Creepy.