Kuwait Souq

I joined Axel on one of his business trips this week. He goes to these allusive places, so it is always nice to experience the countries in the flesh. I have always wanted to see Kuwait. I was a teenager of the '90s and the CNN coverage of Desert Storm piqued my interest. I have a lot of my dad in me--always wanting to walk into the fires.

There isn't a whole lot to Kuwait City. However, I think it has a lot more life to the city than Doha. Maybe it is because of its recent history, I don't know, but I think I would prefer it over Doha (other than the stinky sewage issues that are blatantly obvious in 120 degree weather). Axel was critical of Kuwait as a country, until we moved to Qatar and he officially claimed Qatar as the worst Gulf country--lucky us. Funny enough, I love my life in Doha, but my happiness comes from my immediate surroundings and our social network there, the city itself has little to offer.

Outside of the Avenues (arguably the coolest mall in all of the Gulf boasting all the American stores one expat woman could desire), there isn't a whole lot to do in Kuwait. We did, however, visit the Kuwaiti Souq, which is second to our Doha Souq, but still had life and all the oud Axel could possibly purchase.

Wandering the endless alleys was exhausting but every corner exposed a new group of specialized items. I loved the bright, white dishdasha section:

While we were walking this young man stopped us and asked Axel if he could speak 'American' to his little sister. The situation was quite awkward, but cute:

'How are you?

'What is your name?'

'Where are you from?'

'Do you like Kuwait?'

'Thank you, nice to meet you.'

'Good bye'

We were low on Kuwait Dinars so we asked for directions to an ATM from this kind Kuwaiti man. Overall, the locals are rather friendly. Like Bahrain, our taxi driver was a local Kuwaiti. The only difference is, Kuwait has a butt load of oil money. It just isn't equally distributed like it is in Qatar.

What I also loved about Kuwait is that the local women aren't only dressed in black abayas. They mix it up a bit with a different colored hijab and long sleeve shirts with floor length skirts. It makes fashion critiquing so much funner.

What would a good souq be without a fine selection of dates? They taste even better than they look!
The fish market was also a special experience, especially in blasting 125 degree weather. Think of it, dead fish, in intense heat, mixed with a fine raw sewage odor. It was delicious.

What is a good souq without a carpet selection? The carpets in Kuwait aren't as great as Bahrain, but I did happen to find a sweet kilim pillow for a 1/3 of the price they were asking in Qatar. The selection wasn't great, but it is always fun to stare at carpets, good and bad.

The trip was short, but really fun! I would love to visit again. I just may wait until the weather cools down to a balmy 100 degrees.

Bahrain Booty

Even though Bahrain is right next door, there is something extra fun about being in a hotel, with my husband ALONE. He was sick most of the time, but it was great to visit for dinner and send him off with a kiss in the morning. I did very little on this trip. The hotel had an excellent gym so I worked out for two hours and then came back to the hotel to create more photobooks--my idea of a perfect day.

A typical taxi in Bahrain

It was especially exciting to see local Bahraini people really working. I mean real jobs. Like driving a taxi. After living in the UAE and Qatar, you expect that if a man is wearing a dishdasha he is only required to shop or work in government. It was good for the soul to see that there is less of a divide between 'us' and the local people.

Since we were still in the Gulf we did what all people are required to do-shop. The rank of your country is dependent on the size of your mall. If this is indeed true, Bahrain is better than Qatar. The BCC has everything you need, including an indoor swim park.
One thing that Axel is very thankful for is he has a great staff. Managing 4 countries isn't easy for him because he can't be present all the time. That is why he is grateful for staff members who he can count on. It was a pleasure to have lunch with two of his staff members. It was nice to put faces to the names. One afternoon I met one of Axel's staff and his family. His wife said she reads my blog (hi Bindiya!) and was inspired by my girlcation. If I can encourage more women to go on a girlcation every once and a while, this is all not in vain.

Truly, the highlight of the trip was carpet shopping. A couple of evenings Axel and I wandered 'carpet row' (or so I have nicknamed it) and played the haggling game. We didn't intend on really making a purchase, but we ended up flying home with 4 beautiful treasures.

The most impressive purchase we made was from this man. Axel and I felt like we played the game perfectly. We wanted to look at his 'small silks' because that is the next level for us. (Yes, there is a carpet hierarchy.) Collectively, he had some of the most beautiful carpets we had ever seen. Furthermore, when he threw out his highest quality Qum, Axel and I both looked at each other and immediately knew, 'That IS our carpet'. We both maintained our composure and said that we were hungry and we would return.

At that moment, we ran around the corner, grabbed an ice cream for dinner and began expressing our undying love for that carpet. We discussed our next strategy and walked back in the store knowing we wouldn't leave without buying it. In addition to the Qum (the Holy Grail of Persian carpets), I was very interested in getting a kilm runner (a less expensive rustic Afghani rug). This is how it was played when we returned:

Axel (in Arabic): I LOVE that Qum, but my wife isn't convinced. She doesn't know, but I really, really want that Qum carpet. She thinks it is too expensive. She is more interested in getting a kilm runner. I must have that Qum, but I don't think she will go for that price. Can you work with me on this?

Dealer: (in Arabic): Your wife doesn't know Arabic? She just wants a kilm? I don't know if I can move much further down the price, it is one of the best Qums I own.

Me: I really want a kilm runner, can you show me one?

The boys throw various kilms. One stuns me. It is, yet again, the highest quality (meaning the highest price). I pretend I am not that interested in any of them. I hum...I ahhh.. while Axel converses.

Axel (in Arabic): You have to come down in price. If you give me something reasonable, I can work with my wife on this. It is almost my birthday and I think I can convince her if you go lower than that.

Dealer (in Arabic): Okay, I can give you the kilm and the Qum for *blank*.

Axel (in Arabic): I will talk to her. (In English) Terah, we need to talk.

As we talk I give all the signs that I am distraught, saying statements like, "We can't afford that!"; "That is the price of a small car!"; "That is a trip to Malta and Cypress"; "I would only be convinced if it was *blank*. Otherwise, give it a month, maybe you will come back. I don't even really like it."

Axel (in Arabic): You've got to help me. My wife said she will only do it if we get both the kilm and the Qum for *blank*. If you do it, I can buy the carpet right now. If not, I won't be able to come back until next month. By then, she will change her mind completely and not let me buy any carpet. PLEASE give it to me for *blank *. Please?

At that point, reluctantly, he agrees. The purchase is made and he drives us back to our hotel. The entire time I feel like I deserve an Academy Award for my performance. I wanted that carpet sooooo badly I could die. It was hard to show distain and play the opposing force, but if it saved us almost a thousand bucks, totally worth it.

Here are our prizes. The blue one is the coveted Qum. You can't see its glory quite yet. It deserves a blog all on its own. It is our 5th child. The rest are to be pooped and peed on, but the Qum will line my casket. I swear.

'Nepali' Carpets

Axel's wearing his 'Free Tibet' shirt, which automatically cut the price by 5%

This is Axel.

As you can see from this post and this post, we are in love with buying carpets. I never really cared about buying things before, and Terah has never really been a big shopper either. But when it comes to carpets, Dubai infected us with the bug.

The carpets here in Nepal are all from somewhere else. There is no 'Nepali' carpet. But then again it was in Dubai that we fell in love with carpets, and the Emiratis have never made a carpet in their life. Everything we bought there was from Iran or Kashmir.

Here they also have Kashmiri ones, but they also have a lot of Afghani as well. But the most they have are Tibetan.

There is a refugee camp near Axel's work. You can watch these women weave carpets all day. You can also have a carpet custom made by choosing the color, size, and design. However, you must be patient as most of these carpets take months to finish. These are just a couple of random photos we took.

If you want to meet Tibetans, you can either go to northern India or Nepal. There are lots of Tibetan 'refugee' areas here. I use that term loosely because they are pretty much in society to stay. Even our landlord is Tibetan. They stick together and most are rich. They do beautiful furniture and after you get used to them, the carpets are pretty cool too.

They main themes with the Tibetan carpets are the dragon and the phoenix. The dragon is supposed to symbolize the male power that brings good luck, and the phoenix symbolizes the female . So most of the carpets have something to do with them.

We decided to get some and went to the Tibetan carpet street. After going to about five stores and figuring out the price (they are not as good at haggling here, they go right to the price and then go down only a bit).

We decided on getting a pair of these kind. We really liked the black and the dragons have five claws which is supposed to represent the emperor. Pre 1920s no one could have a five clawed dragon in their house except the emperor. Now everyone has them. I like the phoenix on this one.

Then I also fell in love with this red one too. I like it because this one can be hung on the wall. I also like the contrast of the blue and reds. The Phoenix is cool too.

But lately Terah is really falling in love with Afghanis. Our Dubai friends (the Allens) had a lot of these in their house and we really were impressed by how the colors and patterns grew on you the longer you looked at them. Also they really look almost native American.

When we saw the black one we said our secret word (I hate that one!) to each other. Then Terah was looking at some red Kashmiris but when she saw this one:

She just about died. I could see on her face she wanted it in the worst way. Kashmiris are everywhere, so we decided to go with the red Afghani one too.

All in all five carpets. And I can't wait to buy more.

Living Room

One room down, a hundred more to go. At least I have one room in my home that is semi livable...

The Art of the Haggle, by Cecil Farthingwell (my nom de plume)

This is Axel. I am home for a day before I am off to NYC for my GM training. Coming home for two days and then leaving again for two and a half weeks is almost worse than not coming home at all. It is like eating one Doritos chip. Ugh. I have a million things I could write about. My wife, my kids, coming back to clean Dubai after living in chaotic Nepal, but yesterday Terah and I did our new favourite hobby which is buying carpets so I thought I would write about the art of the haggle. I have done this in many countries, but the basics are the same no matter where you go.



Step 1 – You have to know the price. Only in America do price tags mean what they say. Many places don’t even have price tags on anything, and even if they do, it is more of a suggestion on where to start rather than what you should pay for it. After living in Nepal for 5 weeks, as near as I can tell nothing has a price tag on it, except for one book I bought for my dad, and even that I got for a 15% discount after some haggling. So you have to do your research. You have to pick a store you aren’t going to buy from and go in and spend half an hour to find out just how low he will go. If they give you a price start at 40% of that. Get to know the guy. Tell him you aren’t really interested, but what does he have. You would rather be somewhere else. You didn’t drive an hour through terrible traffic and bring your kids to a shop to buy carpets. But now that you are here, let’s just see what you got. If this is a big item, you need to do this with at least two other stores. Get the names of the guy you worked with and drop them in the next store. Whatever the lowest price you got from the last guy, tell the new guy he offered a price of 80% of that and you should probably go back there.



Step 2 – Never buy the first time you go. After you selected the store you trust, If you have time, make sure you come back twice before you buy. The first time make them work. Our best time for buying carpets in Dubai was in the middle of the summer. We would go in killer heat and make the Afghanis pull carpet after carpet. They would be dying and we would ask for more to be pulled. Believe me, after that the true prices started to emerge.



Step 3 – Now you know the price, the dealer and what you want – it is time to buy. Come with the exact change in cash you need. Small bills are needed. There is no such thing as getting change during the sale. So be prepared. Make them work again, and when you see what you want DON’T let them know. You have to find fault in the ‘quality’ and compare it again to the shops that are just down the road. It will tick them off. Have some word or sentence that tells your spouse that is what you want with out giving it away. Ie, ‘Oh my gosh, look at that piece of crap!’ works pretty well.



Step 4 – Select twice more than what you want. This way you can get rid of some during the haggling process and they get scared you aren’t going to chose any like last time you were there. When you are down to what you really came to buy, then get them as low as you can go by starting with 80% of the price you got last time. If you speak their language, now is the time to use it as it will further disarm them. Tell them you live there and have lived there for many years. Also tell them if they give you a good price, you have lots of other stupid American friends who you will send back and that is where they will make their money. Then low ball them even more than your price and show the cash. They will refuse it.



Step 5 – the walk away. If you didn’t walk away you got screwed. If they didn’t refuse to take your cash you showed first, you are too high. When you walk away do so with conviction, but keep the cash where they can see it. It kills any haggler to see cash walking away. If they are good, they won’t call after you until you get to your car. If they call back sooner, you just got some small trinkets for free. As you enter the store after ‘the call back’, get them to give you the stuff first, but before you give them the cash, grab something small from their store you also want an insist you get that too because you are getting so screwed on price. These are the ‘bonus gifts’ of the haggle. This is Terah’s job. To be on the look out for what she wants small and grab it as we leave.



Step 6 – Give them a bit more than you haggled for. I learned this one in Croatia. We used to have to buy our veggies at the market (which will happen again in Nepal). So even when you bought tomatoes you would have to haggle. One day I was going to TOWN on a 90 year old lady (who was probably only 42) who didn’t look like she could walk, see or use her left arm very well. You know,’ how can you sell these crappy tomatoes for that price; I will probably get worms from them, if I buy from you; I will have to remember your huge mole with hair on it while I eat them.’ You know, the usually stuff. I got her down from 10 Kuna to 6 Kuna and I was trying to get it down to 5. Then Terah came up and said, Axel, could we go? I told her I almost had her to 5 and all I needed was a few more minutes to figure out how I could use the memory of her dead children to bring the price down any more. Then Terah pointed out “Axel, it is .15 cents. Maybe she needs it more than you”... I gave her the 10 Kuna and called it good.



Step 7 – Buyers remorse. Don’t worry, it will come no matter how good a job you did. In the end, if the transaction happened, the amount of money you paid was more than how much they valued the goods. But don’t worry about that. I remember a story I heard in my econ class in Thunderbird. It was about Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. One had a frog and the other a cat skull. They went back and forth for an hour and finally they made the trade. And both went away richer. Whenever buyers remorse sets in that is the story I think of.



Plus, where else can you legally give a 90/42 year old woman so much trouble for so little and feel good about it when it is over?

Nain

When Axel and I first came to Dubai we were so enamoured by the Iranian Carpets. Without knowing it, we both coveted the same carpet-the Nain. I am not sure why this particular carpet draws my attention each time, but it does. Axel and I decided that before we leave Dubai we will buy this handmade beauty. After many trips to the blue souk, home visits from the Yemini dealers, and discussions with carpet salesmen in the mall we finally found a price we were willing to pay and a quality that we were willing to accept. Axel came home for 10 days this month and we did it! We were so proud of ourselves. We haggled and got the exact carpet we wanted for the exact right price.
Ever since, Axel and I have been obsessing over carpets. While he was here, we bought 7 other large machine made carpets in Hatta. I don't know what is more fun, seeing how low the afghanis will go, or opening up our new addition and seeing how it fits in our home. Now we just need to buy another handmade Kashmiri carpet and the collection will be complete! (Not really, there is always room for more beautiful carpets...).