Hookah Sales and Their Effect

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Middle Easterners make up just a small portion of the diverse ethnic groups we see here in the Heartland. But there has always been a lot of interest about the Arabic culture.

Experts say Western interest in the Middle Eastern Culture began in the late 1800s with Sir Richard Burton's translation of "Arabian Nights." People who practice the Middle Eastern ways of life here in the Heartland say that interest has grown tremendously in just the past few years.

"The Arabic seatings, the hookah we're going to start reminds me of back home in the coffee shops," Salah Shakir hopes to recreate an air of mysticism... similar to what people see in the Middle East with his restaurant Dar Salaam which means *house of peace* in Arabic." "We're bringing some culture here plus Carbondale is an international town, adding a little bit to the community," Shakir says.

Shakir is from Iraq, but has lived in Carbondale for 23 years with his wife and kids. During that time, he's met many people who share his thinking and have adopted his way of life. "It doesn't surprise me see more and more people getting into Islam and cultures getting adapted to that way of life... makes me proud," he says. Terry Hickey is a co-owner of Dar Salaam. She became a Muslim seven years ago. "I was born in Minnesota into an Irish Catholic family and was engrossed in the American culture so, it's quite different to what I grew up with," Hickey says.

Surprisingly enough Hickey says it was her fascination with the Islamic faith and way of life that brought her to Carbondale. "There's a fairly large Middle Eastern population in the Carbondale area that I have become friends with and because of the Islamic connection enjoy the culture along with food, with them," Hickey explains. Hickey enjoys dishing out big servings of food and culture to diners, and hopes to break through many pre-conceived notions people might have.

"The media portrayal of Middle Eastern Arabs and Muslims has been synonymous, which is not the case; the media portrayal of those groups has often been fundamentalist," Hickey says. Of course Hickey and Shakir both say people in Carbondale have always been very supportive towards them, one reason they're not afraid to try new things like introducing the hookah, the traditional water pipe, as part of the dining experience. "When you walk in the Middle East see people smoking the hooka pipes talking politics you know it has an aura of good company good conversation, it's away of life," Hickey says.