| For centuries, Eastern cultures have embraced this | | | | inhales, the smoke first travels through water and is |
| simple, yet curious device known as the hookah. | | | | cooled before it ever reaches the smoker's mouth. |
| Though the designs and materials have changed | | | | This smooth experience is quite different from smoking |
| through the years, the hookah's social function is still | | | | cigarettes or cigars and is almost always commented |
| intact. Too few things exist that are able to bring | | | | upon by first-time hookah smokers. |
| people - sometimes complete strangers - together in | | | | In addition to being a cooler smoke, the tobaccos used |
| such an intimate fashion. Struggling for a place in the | | | | in hookahs are generally flavored. These flavors range |
| United States and European countries, the hookah has | | | | from fruits like apples and oranges, to modern-day |
| found its place in college and university towns. | | | | flavors like bubble gum and cola. It's this flavored |
| Hookahs have seemingly always had a place in | | | | smoke that has really made hookahs the preferred |
| Eastern cultures. The hookah has, however, only | | | | smoke among college students. |
| recently begun to grab footing in the United States and | | | | Look around a hookah bar or cafe and you will see |
| European countries. Less than 10 years ago, you'd be | | | | tightly-huddled masses sitting around a dozen or so |
| hard-pressed to find a hookah bar or cafe outside of | | | | hookahs, talking about everything from this week's |
| the cultural areas of larger cities. These days, if you | | | | exams to next year's newest cars. This simple device |
| survey the land around large university campuses, you | | | | has an extraordinary power to bring together people |
| will find a strange, new type of business cropping up. | | | | of all backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities. It knows no |
| Though some offer exotic coffees and others offer | | | | boundaries and performs its social function with |
| alcoholic beverages, hookah cafes and bars are giving | | | | relative ease. |
| today's college students a much-needed place to | | | | Business owners recognize the power of college |
| unwind after a day full of studies. Drawn by curiosity, | | | | towns. They provide businesses with a constant flow |
| students find themselves in a world of sheer | | | | of fresh customers from semester to semester. New |
| imagination that is truly unique among the countless | | | | students arrive and seasoned students bring the new |
| hangouts that abound around colleges and universities. | | | | students to the cafes and bars. It's a process that |
| Hookahs were created to solve a problem among | | | | repeats itself over and over again. |
| tobacco smokers. When heated, tobacco creates a | | | | So, if you're looking for a new, fresh place to meet |
| smoke that, without cooling, is harsh and nearly | | | | new friends, go on a hunt for your local hookah |
| unbearable. The hookah introduced a simple, yet novel | | | | establishment. You'll be glad you did! |
| way to cool the hot, harsh smoke. When a smoker | | | | |