Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Sheesha Pipe...

An oriental tobacco pipe with one or several long flexible tube(s) connected to a container where the smoke is cooled by passing through water; "a bipolar world with the hookah and Turkish coffee versus hamburgers and Coca Cola"
http://www.google.ae/url?sa=X&start=2&oi=define&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheesha&usg=AFQjCNE4w16QGX8jd4IWxhaQItjcUnbDbA

Sheesha smoking was one of the very first things I noticed after my arrival in the UAE. My husband took me to a fantastic Lebanese restaurant called “The Lebanese Flower.” as we were eating, I noticed other patrons that had finished eating smoking this thing that reminded me of a bong only much bigger. It smelled fruity. My husband told me it is a “Sheesha Pipe.” There are areas around town, outdoors dedicated to Sheesha smoking.

I can understand everyone wanting to try it once. I even thought having one of the really pretty pipes might be nice. We had some friends over for a few drinks and one of our friends brought the Sheesha pipe upon our request, of course I am regretting it now. The next day I was researching a little bit on-line and found out that one Sheesha is equivalent to 18 cigarettes. I also read there is no nicotine in Sheesha. I was under the impression that Sheesha was better for you than smoking. I read that the minister of environment along with some others were trying to ban the Sheesha in the tents during Ramadan because of how unhealthy it is . The pipe breaks all the way down for cleaning. I was cleaning the pipe out and saw first hand what was coming out of the different pieces. I am really glad I didn’t try it now. I gave up smoking cigarettes in 2001 and haven’t looked back.
References:
http://www.thehookah.com/history/1.htm
http://www.hookahcompany.com/hookah_history.htm
http://sheesha-uae.blogspot.com/2007/03/history-of-sheesha.html
http://article.wn.com/view/2008/08/26/Sheesha_smoking_ban_in_Ramadan/

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