L is 20 years old and a student at USC. She grew up in Michigan, but spent most summers in Lebanon with family. Her dad grew up in Lebanon and immigrated to the United States in his early 20s, and her mom grew up in the United States in a Lebanese immigrant family.

L and I were taking a break from studying and finishing up our coffees when L shared this with me:

“After you’ve drank Lebanese coffee, you flip your cup upside down and then let it sit for a second and with the patterns that form in the grounds at the bottom of the cup, there’s specific readings you can interpret about your future.”

L said that she doesn’t know how to interpret the grounds, only that it’s a rite of passage after every time she drinks coffee with her Lebanese grandmother.

This reminded me of the stereotypical psychic experience that’s portrayed in western media—you walk into a tent, drink a cup of tea, and a psychic is able to discern your future path from the way the leaves sit at the bottom. It was cool to hear a variation of this that actually appeared in someone else’s life/culture.