The nose knows

In the spring of my junior year of college, my sorority went on a weekend retreat, as we do every semester. We broke off into small groups and played that game where everyone writes a question on a piece of paper and puts it in a bowl, and then one by one people pick out a question and answer it for the group. If it was a particularly good question we always insisted that everyone answer it instead of just the person who picked it.

Someone drew the question, "Name one smell that you associate with a specific memory, and tell us about the memory." My sisters decided it was a great question and wanted everyone to answer. I, as the eternal cynic and not-giver-of-a-shit-about-lame-things-in-people's-lives, groaned. I did my best to not pay attention as everyone else answered, and when it was my turn, I couldn't come up with anything. Smells, memories, what? People are weird.

Not a week later, I was in the sorority house kitchen, cooking myself dinner. I got a whiff of the chicken I was making, and all of a sudden I was transported back a few months earlier to my time in Sydney, where I had made this dish at least once a week. I could see my Aussie kitchen and townhouse clearly, and could almost hear the daily rantings of my Irish roommate, Michael. It was a trip.

I have since learned what many of you probably know already, which is that smell is the sense most strongly linked to memory.

Since that time about 5 years ago, I've experienced the crazy smell-memory sensation less than a handful of times.

Last night, I was washing my face with a lemongrass scented sample size face wash I had never used before. As soon as it hit my face, I was no longer in the bathroom of my brother's upper west side apartment. I was in my freshman dorm, surrounded by my hallmates, dressed in skimpy tanktops while dancing to Britney Spears and getting ready to go out to the hot frat party of the moment. The reason? My face wash smelled exactly like Bacardi Limon, my freshman year pregaming shot of choice. Overconsumption of the stuff led me to swear it off early in my sophomore year, and I haven't had it since (at least not straight).

I hope the next time I have a crazy smell-memory experience it conjures up something just as pleasant and just as powerful, only without the sudden onset of nausea.