hookah party 2

Last night, I was guest/unofficial co-host for my boyfriend E's 2nd annual hookah party, which took place in his home in the San Carlos mountains. I attended his first party last year, and had a really great time - in fact, it was the impetus for us to begin dating :) This year, as girlfriend, I assisted E in cleaning the house and getting food ready, and we welcomed our guests at 7:30 pm. The first half of the evening focused on drinks, chatter, and eating hors d'oerves such as borek (a small pie made with feta, parsley, and flaky pastry) and E's hand-caught abalone. After the food and drinks, we all moved out to E's backyard deck, and began the ritual of smoking flavored tobacco with his elegant, authentic nargiles, or "hookahs". Hookahs are essentially large water pipes; smoking them is a pastime from his native Turkey, which allows friends to relax, chat, and share smoking flavored tobacco, which is filtered through the water in the pipes. The nine of us sat around a blazing fire pit and shared two pipes, using individual disposable mouthpieces; we alternated between mint and cappucino-flavored tobaccos, sipped red wine and Raki (a popular Turkish liqueur, similar to Ouzo, made from dried grapes), and conversed while E occasionally stoked the fire. At the end of the night, we were pretty tired (and smelled strongly of smoke!), but were pleased that the evening had turned out so well. Now we are looking forward to next year's party :)