have your cake and smoke it too...

so i must make a correction or two (o dos for my spanish readers , ow itnaan for my arabic speaking readers) to my previous post...

first off, i switched language levels meaning that i am a little smarter and useful than previously thought, but not much....it basically just means i have more homework, so insha allah, everything will work out for the best and i will beat the crap out of this language, but so far, its winning...

finally, in my last post i said that shisha was a "harmless" tobacco product that is smoked socially all over egypt...and boy was i ever wrong about harmless. estimates say that one hour of shisha is equivalent to a pack of cigarettes (or like 18 seconds walking in the streets of cairo)...but nonetheless its an experience everyone should endure at least once...which brings me to my latest post...

shisha

if you have any social aspirations beyond meeting and hanging out with american kids in egypt, shisha is the first stepping stone toward this goal. smoked out of a hooka (many of my friends may have used or owned one of these contraptions, not naming any names...you know who you are), shisha comes in a bunch of flavors and they are all equally tasty...including melon, apple, regular, cherry, orange, many other fruits and various flavors i have yet to try...keep in mind i hate smoking, it is neither cool nor attractive, but as the saying goes...when in rome...

so i have partaken in shisha several times, coughing a lot and making a fool of myself...picture this...me taking a little puff and coughing up my liver and both lungs, exhaling a tiny bit of smoke, while next to me several egyptian dudes smoke away, plumes of smoke surrounding their entire bodies, smoke exiting from every oriface, without so much as flinching, much less coughing...needless to say i am not helping america's reputation with my lack of smoking skills...but i digress

otherwise...shisha is fun, makes your clothes smell and costs like a dollar...not too shabby, and you better believe any of you who visit will at least try it...it reallly is a social gateway (not a gateway drug) shared by the upper, middle and lower classes alike...plus the hookas are often some of the most beautiful things i have ever seen, thus they are fun to look at...and they are readily available in everywhere from the nicest little western style coffee shop (picture starbucks smushed into a minivan) to the shadiest, dirty little hang out...

i mean, my lungs are already taking the beating of their life from the pollution, often times the shisha is a welcome relief from the polluted air...god, i never thought i'd say that...oh well, the tobacco is natural and pure and free of additives thus i won't be a chainsmoker when i return, no worries ladies (or anyone for that matter)...but i thought i must this fascinating little habit that egyptians frequently indulge in...

check back soon as i address america's reputation in egypt...i certainly have some funny stories about my nationality, but i'd say 85% of this country has no ill will toward america...knock on wood...i am frequently greeted by eerie little voices whispering to me "meeeeeester bush"...it is kind of awkward, but hilarious since those are the only 2 english words many people know...alright, until next time...salam

p.s. contrary to the popular song "walk like an egyptian", i have yet to figure out anything that distinguishes the way egyptians walk from the rest of us...but my research is ongoing...