Awareness of the outside world. Corning Museum of Glass.
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“The most common item used to ward off the evil eye is the nazar boncuğu, or evil eye bead. The nazar boncuğu is a circle or tear-drop shape often with blue, white and black colors forming the shape of an eye.” Turkish Textbook: Nazar: the Evil Eye in Turkish Culture.
Gifted by an friend who was living abroad at the time. If you can’t be well-traveled, have well-traveled friends.
Current online class, UC Graham: From Istanbul to Cairo: The City in the Historical Novels of the Middle East.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
The bead is beautiful. It’s interesting that this same – or very similar – shape shows up in a number of different cultures.
Cross-cultural comparisons are fascinating.