Day 254 - Smoke a Hookah

Date: September 17th, 2010

When did hookahs get cool?  Has this always been a thing or did it just happen?  Because it seems to me that, having never heard of them, I was in the majority for most of my childhood.  Then, when I went away to college, they were just everywhere.  People I'd only met once before were asking me if I wanted to go smoke a hookah.  Assuming that it was an offer of illegal drugs, I politely declined.  Seriously.  At least once I did the "no thanks, I'm not into that stuff", assuming that hookah was cool new college lingo for pot.  So imagine my surprise when, after walking past it for five years completely oblivious, I realized that there was a hookah bar inside my favorite Ann Arbor cafe.

Of all the coffee shops along all the streets in Ann Arbor, my absolute favorite is Rendez Vous.  I know, I know, most people get happier than a dog on a walk for Zingerman's and Sweetwater, but those are not the magnificent joyful experience that is Rendez Vous.  I spent many vital study hours during my formative years in Rendez Vous and, for whatever reason, never really stopped and noticed that the entire upper floor of the cafe is a hookah bar.

So, on Friday night, after spending the evening cooking a lovely dinner with Justin (he made pasta and sauce, I made veggies), we drove into downtown Ann Arbor to get ourselves some delicious, delicious hookah and smoke a crepe.  Wait.  That's backwards.  We got delicious crepes and smoked hookah.  Bam.  Fixed it.

First and foremost, let no person on this earth ever sully the simple joy that is a crepe from Rendez Vous.  Its the best thing ever.  Second, sitting out under the stars on a crisp fall Friday night and watching the world go by is about the best feeling in the world.  I was very keenly aware of where I was at that exact moment a year ago (indoors watching TV) and two years ago (indoors playing World of Warcraft).  In particular, I felt so thankful to be out where I was, truly living a life of experiences.  I remember thinking about how beautiful one of the zones in Warcraft was and wondering why the world didn't look that pretty two years ago (no, I'm not kidding).  As I sat there under the stars, it hit me that nothing, truly nothing, was as beautiful as the sky that night.  It seemed blasphemous and delusional to have ever thought that a video game world could rival the night sky, but you spend enough time away from something and its hard to remember how beautiful it can be.

All this I realized before the hookah even showed up.  Justin and I made a pact as we nibbled on crepe, sipped hot cocoa and watched drunken freshman stumble over each other, that whatever happened and wherever we went, we'd make sure that we spent time out under the stars.  As the guy from the store (hi Sam!) brought over the hookah, I started to get a little nervous.  I'm not a smoker and Justin has asthma.  How was this a good idea?

It turns out that hookah smoke is significantly smoother than cigarette smoke.  I'd tried cigarettes before and generally avoided them what with all the throat burningness they create.  The thing that was most interesting about smoking the hookah was how strong we could taste the flavor.  We got strawberry and raspberry flavoring in our hot coal and ice in the water portion of the hookah (pictures to follow when I manage to steal Justin's phone and upload them).  The ice cooled down the smoke a lot and the flavor was delightfully sweet and subtle.

What shocked me was that I could taste it through my nose.  I know, that makes no sense at all.  It made no sense to experience.  You know the Stride gum commercial where people are chewing the gum in a focus group and they all start screaming "berry to mint, berry to mint!!!" like they're all high on crazy juice?  Yeah, I had that moment.  But I didn't flip out like they did.  Take a lesson there, Stride gum focus group.  Hold it together!

In all seriousness, when the smoke was in my nose I could smell the berry, but I could also taste it, despite only smoke being in my mouth.  It was an incredibly unusual and strange sensation.  While I doubt I'll smoke a hookah again (it just wasn't my thing), I found myself really understanding why people like it.  It was a very different experience from what I anticipated.  And I felt badass.  Not gonna lie.