Thursday, October 06, 2005
Smoker's Delight
This particular gem to the right is what we here in America call a "hookah", but which every decent Alexandrian here and abroad knows as a "sheesha". I am absolutely certain that the origin of the word "sheesha" has its roots in hashish, but I won't say anything if you won't.
This one, in particular, is one we bought at a street vendor in Sidi Gabr in Alexandria for LE 10 (which is about a dollar and a half). It is a beautiful table-top model, the base of which is blue blown-glass, embellished with designs in orange, yellow and white. Karim has actually used it, and intends to use it again, but that will be unnecessary after I've forced him to quit cigarettes...HA! The base is filled about half full of water and the top replaced. The little "saucer" at the very top, which is hand-made of terra cotta, is filled with tobacco and then covered in foil with tiny holes poked in it. Hot coals are placed at the top. The hose and mouthpiece, which here are in their "off-duty" pose, are long enough, generally, to reach the smoker's mouth without him having to lean too far into the sheesha.
There are several flavors of tobacco that smoker's use, one of the most popular being Apple, but I have a fondness for the scent of cantaloupe. They have a very pleasant odor, much like incense.
The one drawback of smoking a sheesha, which is something this little girl will never do, is that it is equivalent of smoking approximately forty cigarettes at one time. (SHEESH!--Hmmm!) Therefore, it is best for the individual, if "he" MUST puff on sheesha, to only do so on rare occasions. However, this is not the case for many men--and ladies--in Egypt who spend hours at a time every other day at the local coffee shops with sheesha in one hand and very strong nescafe cappuccino in the other. (nicotine and caffeine--we'd NEVER do that in America...hee, hee...). I expect there must be a high rate of lung cancer and COPD in Egypt.
The truth of the matter, however, is that I really do miss the atmosphere of the Egyptian coffee shop, which is something that is only seen here in privately owned coffee shops in Washington State. People go to them to socialize, to unwind, to discuss politics and religion. They go to play Tawla (backgammon) and chess. Some go to read and study. Here in my little corner of Texas, I have not seen anything except Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks, neither of which fit the bill. I don't think Texans truly appreciate the POWER of a good book and perfect cup of java. No offense to Texas. (Y'all seem to prefer the watered down version.) As for sheesha, there are a couple places here where it is available, but they are in "secret" places downtown Houston. Karim has been with a friend, to one of them, but he has reported that it isn't Egypt.
I'm in the way of wondering what kind of Egyptian coffee shops there might be in Seattle. We're kind of thinking in that direction. At any rate, for the time being, our little sheesha will continue to sit on the table beside the sofa as a conversation piece (as long as I can keep Karim away from the tobacconers).
