I arrived here in Sweden a few days ago, and the weather's been absolutely shitty. You've got huge rainshowers and it's as cold as in the autumn here. Sometimes the sun shines, though, and the overall weather becomes slightly better. This little "shenanigan" with the weather really left me wondering if I had left home at all. Guess I didn't.
But I'm not here to talk about the weather, hell no. Instead, I'm informing you potential readers on my latest acquisition: the Arabic "waterpipe", also known as a "Nargile" or a "Shisha". Most of us westerners refer to this psychedelic device as a Hookah, but I believe that this specific name along with its' etymology comes from some western country rather than from Lebanon, India or Persia where the original names came from.
Anyway, nowadays Sweden carries Hookah-pipes all over the major cities (and maybe around a few of the smaller towns too, who knows) and the popularity of the pipe is increasing globally as well. It wasn't exactly hard to find a small shop around the parts that had Hookah-pipes for sale in the right district. Of course you can't just waltz downtown and start looking for places with these pipes, instead you've got to set your course down to the more ethnically varied blocks. You will certainly come by several shops willing to sell them along with all the possible accessories available.
We picked up this fine little specimen from a shop run by just one man on a street corner. He had the smaller models going for twelve euros and the bigger ones were, as I understood, only slightly more expensive. It's quite obvious that you can't find Hookah-pipes with these sorts of prices from back home: in fact, I've read that they cost from around 24 to 60 euros back home.
I chose the smaller model purely for ease of transportation. The bigger one would've certainly been more tempting, but unfortunately it has never been easy to bring back stuff from this country anyway. So, after buying the pipe, we went down to another shop nearby, and incquired if they had any molasses for the pipe. Now, first of all, I have to inform you that the molasses used in the Hookah-pipe are not exactly traditional tobacco: the Hookah molasses are usually flavored with the taste of a fruit, and it includes no tar and a very small amount of nicotine, if at all. The molasses contain, in most cases, some tobacco, but they're also binded together with honey and sugar. These things are alot more safer to smoke than normal tobaccos, as a matter a fact.
So, this little shop we arrived in carried small packs of apple-flavored molasses. We bought a pack, and the older relatively who I had with me said, that maybe we should go and check out this nearby mall that also includes an "oriental store that might be carrying other tastes". So we went, and arrived to see a large table chucked full of various flavored molasses ! We bought a small case containing molasses by the Coca-Cola flavor (and I'm sure that the producers of this stuff had surely asked for a permission to use the Coca-Cola brand's name and taste on their products, too).
As we arrived home, we tested how the thing worked. Since I don't smoke - not even Hookah-pipes - I ordered my male relative to have a go at it. He was very anxious to try it out, and after a few moments on Google and using common sense, we got it set up and working. After about fifteen minutes, the room was filled with the distinct smell of Coca-Cola. As my associate had tasted the stuff, he said that the stuff coming out indeed tasted like the real thing ! The room started to smell like Coke too, so we decided to call it quits and open the windows for some instant fresh air.
The inner workings of the pipe were quite simple: you put the molasses on the little cup on top of the pipe, and cover the whole cup with some tin foil. Then you punch little holes on the tin foil and put some hot coal on top of the punctured tin foil. The next step is to fill the little (or big, depending on the model) water container located at the bottom of the pipe with some fresh and cold water. You can even add some ice cubes in the water in order to make the smoking experience slightly more "cool". As the coal burns the tobacco, some very smooth and relaxing smoke should start coming out of the hose in a few moments. It might take some time to get the pipes running though, so don't be surprised if the first smoking experience won't resemble huge freakin' amounts of riot gas going off.
As final words, I can tell you this: I've bought this pipe purely as decoration. I'm not interested in smoking anything, nor did I even have a taste. However watching the whole process, I've learned that the experience of smoking can be very different depending on the culture: out here we just pull one from our pockets, light it and get moving. In the Middle East and India, however, setting up the pipe and smoking it requires more preparation but eventually is alot more fulfilling and fun. The reason for the preferance of the water pipe over the "more modern" cigarettes is simply the reason that it's more healthier and the entire session of smoking a Hookah can also serve as social event where people discuss daily events while puffing away.
I'd have to say, that the Hookah is indeed alot more than meets the eye at first glance.
No comments:
Post a Comment