To Hookah or Not to Hookah

Inhaaaaaale . . . hold it all in . . . take a shot of Jägermeister . . . then, release the smoke . . . and aaah . . . now repeat . . .

I smoked hookah for the very first time at Santa Fe Station Casino's circle bar called Club 4949. My husband, Alan, was hesitant to join me at first. He thought we were going to a dance club. Far from it, actually. It's a contemporary lounge -- a place to just hang out, listen to Metal Rock music, have a few drinks, and smoke hookah.

By the time Alan and I arrived, our friends Jay and Deb (a young couple who invited us to experience this craze) were already seated at the velvety dark brown sofa at the far end, opposite from the entrance. They had just finished smoking mojito-flavored tobacco.

Sitting atop a low table in front of them was the fancy waterpipe. Its water-filled base looked like a flask, triangular in shape at the bottom with a long narrow neck and stem. Connected to the stem is a hose used to smoke the tobacco. Charcoal and tobacco is stored in a bulb-looking container on top of this gadget.

I guess how it works is that the water acts as a filter and cools the burning of the tobacco. It makes inhaling the smoke a lot smoother than smoking a cigarette. And you don't really need to deeply inhale. You can take in just enough and let it linger in your mouth before releasing the smoke clouds. (See more resources at the end of this article.)

Deb handed me a plastic disposable tip to put on the hose for smoking. (We each had our own to use as we took turns with the hookah.) With the hose on my lips, I inhaled like sucking on a straw. The water in the base bubbled up as though rocking to Golden Earring’s “Radar Love” (check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeRa3RtBiIU) which was blaring through the speakers. I let the cool smoke fill up my mouth and then slowly, I let out itty-bitty smoke puffs.

It didn’t make me feel dizzy nor giddy. What gave me a buzz were the shots of Jägermeister I had in between puffs. :o)

So is hookah good for you? Here’s what I found: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hookah/AN01265

Smoking – no matter how you do it – is still smoking.

Resources:
How to smoke hookah
http://www.hookah-shisha.com/hookahlove/70-how-to-smoke-a-hookah-hookah-charcoal-and-heat-management.html
To find out more about Hookah lounges in town and how much it costs: http://vegasmadeeasy.com/nightlife/hookah-lounges/52-las-vegas-hookah-lounges

To see a diagram and how it operates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah