My tired tourist legs are complaining, they want to be on a bed, not to hang off from a pink hard wooden chair, but I promised them it is worth it. I take the first sip of Turkish coffee just brought to me by young woman dressed in pink. Crap! It’s sweet. I like my coffee bitter, no sugar, but the lady gave me the one destined for my friend, who has a sweet tooth. I hope that will not have a consequence on the actual purpose of this coffee.
Obviously this is not an ordinary coffee hence I have to be outside my comfort zone when I drink it. We both suffer in our way while drinking it and hope that fortune telling “Turkish style” is worth the pain.
I look at the pink walls around me; they are supposed to give you the feeling of happiness and reassurance. After all that is why the women around me are here. The coffee cup is the clue to glimpsing ones future, you only need to drink the black liquid (that was not prepared according to taste in my and my friends case) and reveal the secrets of future.
My Western mentality expects to see the place full of uneducated lower class old ladies full of superstitions. There is a couple of that sort, is true. But the place is packed, all three floors of it. Sever fortune tellers are working hard to reduce weighting time to under an hour. So, who are all these women who wait holding their coffee cups upside-down?
I look around and I see almost no headscarves. Loose hair women of all ages, well dressed, and some quite sophisticated are discussing about what they expect the fortune teller to see in their coffee cups. Most of them wish that the coffee remains on the cup will reveal a man’s love, marriage, children. Mothers come with their daughters to ensure the boyfriend will marry the girl, friends come to support each other, big groups of friends come for a laugh but secretly hope for good news.
Turkey is not that different than the rest of the world. Definitely not much different than the rest of the EU. People always want to know their future, women always hope for a good man. The only difference with the EU is that western coffee stains less … which makes it difficult for the fortune teller to read the signs.
In the ladies-only coffee shop I feel I am faking it. I am not there because I want to know my fortune, but to look at the people who do.
Obviously this is not an ordinary coffee hence I have to be outside my comfort zone when I drink it. We both suffer in our way while drinking it and hope that fortune telling “Turkish style” is worth the pain.
I look at the pink walls around me; they are supposed to give you the feeling of happiness and reassurance. After all that is why the women around me are here. The coffee cup is the clue to glimpsing ones future, you only need to drink the black liquid (that was not prepared according to taste in my and my friends case) and reveal the secrets of future.
My Western mentality expects to see the place full of uneducated lower class old ladies full of superstitions. There is a couple of that sort, is true. But the place is packed, all three floors of it. Sever fortune tellers are working hard to reduce weighting time to under an hour. So, who are all these women who wait holding their coffee cups upside-down?
I look around and I see almost no headscarves. Loose hair women of all ages, well dressed, and some quite sophisticated are discussing about what they expect the fortune teller to see in their coffee cups. Most of them wish that the coffee remains on the cup will reveal a man’s love, marriage, children. Mothers come with their daughters to ensure the boyfriend will marry the girl, friends come to support each other, big groups of friends come for a laugh but secretly hope for good news.
Turkey is not that different than the rest of the world. Definitely not much different than the rest of the EU. People always want to know their future, women always hope for a good man. The only difference with the EU is that western coffee stains less … which makes it difficult for the fortune teller to read the signs.
In the ladies-only coffee shop I feel I am faking it. I am not there because I want to know my fortune, but to look at the people who do.
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