Facing the white silent walls in my apartment and the faint painting of the fire place, the place was full with beautiful memories. I couldn’t stand staying inside and force myself to sleep again. I was sick, but I got somehow better. To fill my lungs with fresh air was a good idea, but the weather and the breeze reminded me of my old days when I was living in Iraq with my friends and family.
I was lucky because it was Friday; it’s the day of belly dancing at the Hookah House, downtown Lake Worth. I always get invited by the owner to visit the place on Friday and watch the show. It sounded like a good idea to visit a place I considered part of my culture, where I can listen to the Arabic music and enjoy, and maybe smoking Hookah with some refreshing flavors, or drink some Turkish coffee and ask for Psychic reading. That would be fun!
I rode my bike slowly because I was still sick. I reached the place. It was half full and two tables were reserved. The time was 9 pm. The owner came to me and with a smile he welcomed me. I ordered a green tea with mint because it was good for my headache, and to smoke hookah was out of the question.
Most of the customers at the Hookah House were American or Spanish. They were fan of the Arabic culture especially the Hookah. They were enjoying themselves breathing out the smoke from their noses.
The place was amazing with it's Egyptian tables, furniture and lights but it gave the sense that the one is in Morocco or Algeria. The music was American at that time. Truly, it was a nice mixture of cultures and civilisations
I started to drink the tea. I was enjoying myself, or trying to because of my headache. I was waiting for the belly dancers; there should be two. That’s what I read in the schedule. About 10 pm they showed up. Two beautiful ladies that had changed their clothes to wear the belly dancing custom.
Before they started two girls in the 20's walk in and sit next to me at the reserved table. I thought they were Arab girls because of the color of the complexion and the way they were dressed, but I was wrong. They were Hispanic but not from Cuba because they had a different dialect. I started to make guesses.
The belly dancers showed up. They stood and started to make Zaghareed or trill. That’s how they started the show. Then the girl next to me followed her with another trill. The music was Arabic this time, they were shimmying, bending, and using the cane. They were really good! The show would continue until 11:30 pm, then they took a break to start solo dance later.
I used the break time to start talking to the girls next to me. I commented on their dialect. They were from Colombia, and they got surprised when they knew that I was from Iraq. We had many things to share. Catalina with black eyes and black long hair was sitting and turning her face to me, holding the hookah pipe, she was listening of how I was missing home by just breathing the nice breeze of Florida, and she had the same feeling. She was touched because she was missing her home too. For a moment I thought she was about to cry because her eyes turn red.
Ten minutes later the belly dancers started their solo dance one after the other. I was not sure how long each solo took but I enjoyed it. Catalina was a belly dancer for ten years, but she doesn’t do shows. Many American ladies participated in the show. They started to shimmy, Catalina left her place and joined the dance.She was very good to the point that she got a job offer from the belly dancer, but she refused it.
Catalina dancing with Miss Tarifa Salem one of the belly dancers
Most of the customers at the Hookah House were American or Spanish. They were fan of the Arabic culture especially the Hookah. They were enjoying themselves breathing out the smoke from their noses.
The place was amazing with it's Egyptian tables, furniture and lights but it gave the sense that the one is in Morocco or Algeria. The music was American at that time. Truly, it was a nice mixture of cultures and civilisations
I started to drink the tea. I was enjoying myself, or trying to because of my headache. I was waiting for the belly dancers; there should be two. That’s what I read in the schedule. About 10 pm they showed up. Two beautiful ladies that had changed their clothes to wear the belly dancing custom.
The belly dancers showed up. They stood and started to make Zaghareed or trill. That’s how they started the show. Then the girl next to me followed her with another trill. The music was Arabic this time, they were shimmying, bending, and using the cane. They were really good! The show would continue until 11:30 pm, then they took a break to start solo dance later.
I used the break time to start talking to the girls next to me. I commented on their dialect. They were from Colombia, and they got surprised when they knew that I was from Iraq. We had many things to share. Catalina with black eyes and black long hair was sitting and turning her face to me, holding the hookah pipe, she was listening of how I was missing home by just breathing the nice breeze of Florida, and she had the same feeling. She was touched because she was missing her home too. For a moment I thought she was about to cry because her eyes turn red. Ten minutes later the belly dancers started their solo dance one after the other. I was not sure how long each solo took but I enjoyed it. Catalina was a belly dancer for ten years, but she doesn’t do shows. Many American ladies participated in the show. They started to shimmy, Catalina left her place and joined the dance.She was very good to the point that she got a job offer from the belly dancer, but she refused it.
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