And, I added, "He won't respect you in the morning."

The souq police.
No, really. The sides of their saddles said "Souq Police."

So I've lost track of the days. We've been on three continents in the last week--home to Doha to London. I don't know what day it is, and I don't know what time it is. I'll do my best to get this right chronologically.

Wednesday we took our first tour of the market/bizarre/souq. I posted about that below. Then Thursday, John had final interviews, I got to tour the grocery/mall and met with some very special people, and we both had lunch with Molly and Clifton, a Texas couple living in Doha who are trendsetters in "how to be generally awesome" and "how to bring a little redneck to the land of the dunes."

That was all before 5 PM. Actually, John went back to the hotel around 3 PM Qatar time, and I took a fantastic walk on the Corniche (http://www.qatarliving.com/node/171817) with a dear, dear friend. This friend and I have known each other for a while professionally, but we have never had the time to just talk. She now has a daughter, and we took a long walk along the beautiful park built along Doha's Persian Gulf Bay. Lots of people of different nationalities were walking, too. It was gorgeous and peaceful, and it was the *perfect* way to end my interaction with the Qatar/Aggie folks.

I got back to the hotel at 5, and at 6, we decided that YES, WE WOULD STRIKE OUT IN QATAR WITHOUT CHAPERONES. All week, our sweet array of hosts showed us the best time, and for newbies in the Middle East, lots of "experienced companionship" is definitely required. But we wanted one last thing from Souq Waqif, so we got a driver through the hotel and headed over.

The thing we wanted is called a "shemagh," which is a scarf for a dude. Worn around the neck or on the head, you've seen them on guys before, only maybe not on a Scottish-Texan who wears cowboy boots, plays the pipes, and tawlks awl funnnneee. John had tried to buy it Wednesday when we visited, but we haggled the seller down and he put the wrong shemagh in our bag by mistake.

See the thing to do at the Souq is to haggle. Some have told us any amount off the marked price is good, while others have said that if you don't get at least 20% off, you aren't doing it right. You have to name your price with padding for negotiation built in. The tag says 20 Riyals (Qatar dollars), you say you'll give 15, the seller counters with 16, you say yes and walk off with a 20% discount. SUCCESS.

Except that John is totally not a haggler. So he gives me the money and either (1) just pays the asking price or (2) makes me do the haggling. Well, John had talked to some TAMU-Q folks, and he had gotten an introductory lesson on bargaining. After an hour of wandering (remember, the souq is a maze of little shops with narrow walkways and no signs), we FINALLY found the stall with the perfect shemagh that John had tried to buy before. Here's how the conversation went:

John: "How much for this one?"

Seller: "30 Riyales"

John to me: "How much should I give him?"

Me to John: "Well, how much do you think?"

We then had to sort through all the advice we'd received...and we settled on offering 20 Riyale but really being able to go up a little more, up to 26 QR. We had read AND heard that if you pay full price, the seller will think you're an idiot...and that even, after a hard-driven bargain, the seller acts mad, really he's not mad at you because you were successful.

But remember, John is not a haggler.

J to me; "Okay, 25 QR, but what if he doesn't accept?"

Me: "Then walk away. You have to be willing to walk away."

J, looking distressed at the thought: "I don't like to bargain. I'll just pay the 30 QR."

N: "You should try it anyway."

J: "But I hate bargaining."

N: "If you pay full price, you know he won't respect you in the morning."

John was very quiet for a moment, then he just took the money and started bargaining, got the price down ~25%. He told me later that the whole "won't respect you in the morning" line was the key. :)