Two years ago I went to a Latino club in New York with a friend. He and I actually attended the same high school back in Guyana but we were never friends until I attended my first high school reunion twenty years later.
When we met at our high school reunion in New York, we instantly bonded and he became my hang out buddy whenever I visit. We would go out to bars, clubs, restaurants, shows, museums or whatever I am in the mood for. That Friday night after an early dinner, he said there was a Latino club he wanted to take me to. I really liked that idea because I love watching couples dance to the seductive beat of Latino music. Dancing is something I love to do as well – and although I am not a good dancer I could usually convince myself otherwise after a few drinks!
When we walked into the club I immediately liked the atmosphere and intimate setting, there were cocktail tables scattered around the room, most of which were already taken. Everyone was shaking to the music but not really dancing as yet. We ordered Coronaritas and I was stunned when they arrived in soup bowl size cocktail glasses with Corona beers sitting bottoms up in the tart goodness. Oooh! sooo delicious! If you’ve never tried one of those then you really should.
We couldn’t have much of a conversation so we sipped our giant cocktails and watched the crowd. Soon the music became a tad faster and like magic, all of the empty tables filled up. The ceiling was partially obscured by the clouds of aromatic smoke from the hookah pipes that almost everyone was smoking. My friend leaned over “have you ever done that?” he asked me, motioning with his chin. I looked over at the couple nearby who were sharing a hookah pipe. ‘No I’ve never tried it’ I said. ‘Me neither, wanna try?’ he asked ‘Ok’ I said hesitantly.
The server came and did the little ritual of lighting the pipe and asked me what flavor I would like. I chose blueberry after he recited the list of flavors he had. He fussed around some more then eventually handed me the hose. I looked doubtfully at the mouthpiece, how do I know that it’s clean? My companion held up a little pack of what was apparently mouth tips.
Now I was all set but I hesitated, he was looking at me expectantly. Usually I’m eager to try new things and he was probably wondering what was taking me so long. While I stood there posturing with the hose in my hand as though I knew what the hell I was doing – my mind raced… would the smoke burn my throat when I inhale? Was there marijuana or some kind of opiate in the pipe? The other thought that crossed my mind was, what if the server had something contagious? weren’t those other people worried about that as well? maybe the heat kills the bacteria or germs or whatever? I really didn’t have a clue!
Finally, I mustered up my courage and took a hit, pleasant-tasting warm blueberry flavor flooded my senses and I blew the smoke out. Not bad! it tasted like blueberry pie! there was certainly no burning in my throat and there was no disgusting ‘smokey’ flavor. I passed it to my companion and we took turns passing it back and forth. Another couple he knew joined us and we offered to share the pipe, the woman politely said ‘no thank you’ and stared disapprovingly at her partner when he took a hit. I thought oh! oh! he is going to get it from her when they get home!
Eventually the server returned to take the pipe and remove the tables. We danced, certainly not the intricate dance moves like everyone else. I remember laughing a lot at our crazy improvised dance/shuffle. I imagine we went home when we’d had enough fun. Honestly I’m sure it was way before the sun came up.
Hookah Pipe 
Dancing Couple
When I finally pulled myself out of sleep’s sweet embrace it was almost 5 pm on Saturday! I had slept for over 12 hours! I had no idea whether this deep satisfying sleep was because of the hookah or the giant caronarita or a combination of both. The good thing is that I felt very rested and relaxed, in fact, I felt amazing!
Fast forward to last October when I purchased tickets to a Halloween fundraiser for a respected charity in Antigua. My cousin and I were a bit worried since we thought it was a costume party and we weren’t dressed up. We arrived at the middle eastern restaurant where the event was being hosted and surrendered our tickets to get in. As soon as I walked in I realized that it was definitely NOT a costume party. I was surprised to see that everyone was smoking hookah pipes, only a few people were on the dance floor.
We headed to the bar, got our drinks then decided to sit in the semi enclosed outdoor area. There were even more pipes out there and some folks were also smoking weed! It certainly wasn’t what we expected. It appeared to be a very young crowd and my cousin and I watched incredulously as a bunch of seemingly underage youngsters smoked continuously.
I wondered if they were smoking hookah pipes because they thought it looked cool or whether they were actually enjoying it. I guessed the flavors are appealing to the younger crowd but I couldn’t help but wonder if it is as harmless as it seemed. I remembered my own misgivings the one time I’d tried it and I decided that I should do some research.
I needed to find out what exactly goes into the pipe. More importantly I wanted to know whether it was safe, especially for such young people. My cousin and I eventually left the party (which was pretty boring) and I immediately began my research as soon as I got home.
What I found out needs to be shared with young people who think that smoking the hookah pipe is cool and harmless. Hookah is definitely not harmless as you will see when you watch this episode of AUA Healthy Perspectives . Note that I do not own the rights to this material, I am only the scrip writer.
World No Tobacco Day is on May 31st, please share this post.
