How did you start smoking?

[alice]

There was a good hookah/pizza bar in Portland that I enjoyed and visited with my friends. Then it shut down, and there was the smoking ban in Washington. We discussed all going in on a hookah, but we all separated for college, so nothing came of it. Recently my roommate's boyfriend flew out here and we decided to "just look" at a hookah bar downtown that got shut down and is now a head shop, selling all their hookahs on sale. Naturally, he bought one, and I was hooked. When he took it back home with him, I missed it so terribly that I bought one, using my birthday as an excuse, even though it's still a month away

[qtphatfarm]

My first experience with a hookah was actually this
spring.  I recently just came back from college and had nothing to do
during the nights because; I live in a small town outside of Portland
ME.  So one night my friend Tbox said
we all should try the hookah bar that is open 2-2 in Portland. 
My first flavor we picked was strawberry and kiwi and I loved it.  Ever
since then I have been hooked on hookahs.  My friend recently purchased a 30" Khalil Mamoun Egyptian Hookah but paid
$120.  Looking back now, he almost paid double the price he should have
and got ripped off so bad, but it was worth the experience.  I recently
bought a smaller hookah off hookahcompany.  I bought a 21"
Custom Egyptian Hookah, which has two, hoses and only cost $45.  I have
yet to get my hookah, but I am pretty sur it won't rip as hard as my friend’s
larger one, but none the less will be just as enjoyable with the two hoses.  While using a hookah my friends all gather
around and have some of the wildest conversations ever.  We call it the “That 70’s show round table”.   

[NEO_WRX]

My first experience with Hookah was actually by accident. I'll start this off by saying i really like beer. Thats my socail get together, and i'm alway up for checkin out a new pub and such. So my friends say "hey, you want to head to this new bar". by "bar" they really meant "hookah bar" but my acoholic ears simply heard "bar". So i go in there, ready to sit down to a nice pint and i see a bunch of wanks puffin on bubblers. I asked what was going on and my friends just said "relax and try to have a good time". So i sat down, and the owner came over and started talking to us, explaining about hookah and what it was all about. Well, my friends ordered a strawberry bowl and gave me the first draws. i'd say i took about 3 nice, slow deep inhales and than the buzz hit.(i hadn't smoked anything in YEARS) so i was pretty laid back. I just kinda slumped into the couch and listened to the music, pulling every now and than when the hose ended up back in my lap. Ever since than, i've been hooked. It's a great time with friends, i love experimenting with new flavors and frankly...it's a good alternative to drinking. Now, i realize that smoking is just as harmful...only in a different way. But atleast you don't have hookah hangovers.

[icra]

I was in a trip in Turkey and ther i smoked first. I like the flavor.

[steve07]

Just decided to try something different about 5yrs ago.

[Eden]

I started when i was 17 years old sitting around a campfire in my backyard.  One of my friends came back from United world colleges in Whales.  he showed me the hookah and i thought it was cool but decided not to try it.  After i had seen it used several times i decided to give it a go.  My first flavour was Orange and i fell in love with it.  Not i smoke a few times a month and sometimes a few times a week.  My routine varries greatly.  I love it and my favorite flavour is Al Waha Mint.

[Abyssmal]

i tried my first hookah a few weeks ago....i had been reading into them and researching them for maybe...3-4 months.  normally before i try something new like that i'll just read and read until i feel satisfied....and when i think i'm satisfied, i'll read some moreso anyways, i treated a couple of my friends to a hookah at a local bar down here in miami.  we had no clue what we were in for, so we had the owner just prepare us his favorite flavor.  we go, sit down on the most comfortable couch i've ever laid cheeks on and wait about 5-10 minutes while he gets everything setup.  he brings us the pipe, i'd say it was about 36"s approx, single hose and we start going at iti fell in love right there......we started talking, trying to figure out the flavors (which we told him to surprise us with it) and in the end, it turns out it was mango/cherry, and right when i got home i ordered my hookah, and i've got two more coming in this week lol[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/Abyssmal/IMGP0656.jpg[/img]

[MrGuy]

[quote name='Abyssmal']i tried my first hookah a few weeks ago....i had been reading into them and researching them for maybe...3-4 months.  normally before i try something new like that i'll just read and read until i feel satisfied....and when i think i'm satisfied, i'll read some more[/quote]Wow, my story is pretty similar. i first saw a hookah 2 weeks ago, at a house party, i decided not to try it.  went home, n for that past 2 weeks, i've read non stop. next week, the friend i saw with the hookah at the party is taking me to a hookah bar in huddersfield (UK.) And that will be my first experience. i really really REALLY can't wait. especially if it's what you guys make it out to beI'll prolly stick a thread in the forum detailing my first experience.I can't wait though. I am looking for a skill to perfect as i have 10 weeks of doing nothing until college starts. Originally it was going to be narcolepsy...but then we realised you have to be born with that so we changed it to being reborn (with narcolepsy) but depending on how my first experience is, it may very well be hookah smoking Wish me luck!

[jtemes]

How I started? I was walking around the grand bazaar in Istanbul for like 4-5 hours and I got soo turned around. So when I finally found my way out I decided to walk back to my pension and got completely lost. It was  really hot and I hadn't eaten for over 6 hours. I finally found my way and found this awesome outdoor lounge near the blue mosque. I sat down got a beer, some delicious food and decided to order shisha (which I called "one of those" and pointed). It was double apple and tasty. I immediately got interested and picked one up before I made my way back to Canada.

[HookahSmokingCaterpillar]

I was introduced to hookah my second day at Rutgers University by my cousin; apple shisha in a four hosed hookah.  I didn't smoke it again until a year later when a friend bought one last summer. We smoked his every day until everyone was hooked and started buying their own.  Now I smoke multiple times daily and recruit everyone I can to the hookah lifestyle.

[Buford]

First time I ever smoked a shisha was back in college, 1997 or 1998. Some Egyptian guys at the school smoked and pretty much let anyone smoke with them. Heck, I didn't even know them and couldn't tell you their names if I wanted to. An Indian guy from Thailand I knew introduced me to them First shisha experience ever - Nakhla double apple. I bet a lot of folks started with that one.

[Barnzy02]

My girlfriend introduced me to it close to 2 years ago.  A couple of her friends owned one and she ha dsmoked before.  I had never tried it.  About a year and a half ago when we moved in together she convinced me to get one after about 7 months of having one, i started doing a little more research and expanding my knowledge.  i've since gotten a few of my friends onto the hookah boat and am planning my 2nd hookah purchase in a few weeks.

[Verata]

My brother-in-law took a few of my buddies and I to a hookah bar. I had never had hookah before so I was in the dark with anything to do with it. After we smoked I thought that it was probably one of the greatest experiences I had encountered. The social aspect of the whole thing really brought me in. I went back to that hookah bar serveral times and always had the same great feeling. I even met my girlfriend in a hookah bar. After a while though I had to quit going because it wasn't exactly cheap to smoke. So i bought one of my own, and now I have my closest friends comeover and we share the experience.

[frontmanpb101]

my mom showed me an article in the paper about how hookah bars were becoming popular and i immediately(sp?) wanted to go...but i was 16. when we were in new orleans the next weekend we went to a hookah bar and just looked around and i decided that i really wanted to try one when i could. for the past 2 years i've been reading up on them off and on, until this past weekend when i got the chance to try one at another hookah bar! i fell in love and got one the next day and am now trying to decide what flavors i should order next! and i'm looking for another, bigger hookah... i'm addicted