February Finishes

This month has been my longest continuous time in Dubai, almost to the limit of my 30-day tourist visa. My residency visa has been delayed due to a mistake in bringing my original marriage license to Dubai. I have to go back to the USA and get it authenticated there before I can even start the process in Dubai for a residency visa. I hate leaving loose ends, but that's a big one. If I find myself here longer than 30 days, I will need to travel to a neighboring country (like Oman) and exit and reenter to get a new 30-day tourist visa.

Most of the other loose ends have been tied up. Did I mention my car accident? It shouldn't have happened, and it wasn't my fault, but it was an embarrassing and very not fun experience, not something I'm anxious to revisit, but the good news is that all the damage has been repaired and our practically brand new car looks brand new again! We bought our car at the largest dealerhip in Dubai, and I must say that the body shop and service centers are truly stunning in their size and pleasantness. The police were very cordial and efficient in issuing the accident report that is required before insurance will cover the repairs. I couldn't read it, because it was in Arabic, but I was just happy to get the green copy which means I was not at fault.

Neal and I went back to the Carpet Oasis on the next to the last day of the DSF (Dubai Shopping Festival) and got better acquainted with the Ghanbarinia family, which has been a leading dealer for five generations. We met both Amir and his father. Armed this time with a specific size and price limit, we felt more comfortable. And we got a very good price on two lovely carpets! There's a lot of trust involved as the prices vary tremendously. You do get a sense of why after seeing many carpets. They wouldn't even let us buy the first one we were considering for the large living room area, insisting that another was more alive and unusual! They were eager to make some sales, as the market is down. We hear that Persian carpets are now out of style, as the younger generation wants something cheaper that they can replace every few years to go with more modern decor, plus they face cheap competition from China etc. making good-looking fakes.

We decided against looking at the pricier silk ones, the ones with the finest detail that look like paintings and are signed by the "artist" (and are not suitable for the hard wear they would get in our house!). Maybe we will brave this market at some point now feeling more comfortable with the dealer. Sheikh Mohammed visited them for the first time in several years and bought several carpets!

Venus Williams had a relatively easy time beating Victoria Azarenka and defending her title in the women's final of the Dubai Tennis Championships, 6-3, 7-5. Novak Djokovic was also able to defend his title in the men's final against the Russian Mikhail Youzhny, but with great difficulty, as the match was suspended for rain last night and had to be resumed today, which may have helped Youzhny come back and win the second set after being down 5-7, 0-3. The final score was 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in favor of Djokovic but it could have gone either way.

The rain and thunder last night was a bit scary so we didn't venture out. Some schools were closed today due to rain, which caused flooding and power outages in various areas, including our garage and other buildings on the Palm. The drainage systems apparently aren't designed to handle sudden large downpours, with the overflow taking any available path (including on the security guard's head at one nearby building). Treacherous ponds build up on the roads and in the tunnels and are hard to see at night, with accidents bound to happen. One is well-advised to stay off the roads in a rainstorm here!

The big rainstorms seem to follow days of haze and sand, as we had three days of limited visibility with heavy winds and blowing sand before the rain came. (I wondered how the tennis players were able to manage with the sand in the air.) Neal and I were scheduled for another training dive for our scuba course yesterday, and we assumed it would be cancelled, but they assured us the conditions underwater were okay so we were able to get our dive done. We found that the dive masks come in handy even out of water to keep sand out of your eyes, but we must have looked ridiculous. One woman burst out laughing as I walked past her in my mask and wetsuit. Nobody looks good in scuba gear, so I didn't take it personally.

You Say Persian, I Say Arabian

There's a huge controversy (pronounced here with the accent on the second syllable) over the name of the body of water that I can see out of my apartment window. All the maps around here call it the Arabian Gulf. However, the United Nations and, of course, the country to the north formerly called Persia and now known as Iran consider "Persian Gulf" to be the only valid name. Some in the media, including the BBC, prefer to fudge and just call the waterway the "Gulf", which satisfies no one.

Iran seems to be trying to bring the issue to a head, calling off the Islamic Solidarity Games which were to be held in Iran in April because organizers could not agree on which term to use on the logo and medals. Iran most recently has threatened to impound airplanes that fail to use the term "Persian Gulf" on their in-flight monitors. (This idea was particularly interesting for me, as I have been wondering why United Airlines refers to the country of Iraq on their in-flight monitors as Mesopotamia. But perhaps it's only so the passengers don't get upset at the thought of flying over a war zone.)

If you search Arabian Gulf on Google, the first hit takes you to a website resembling a 404 error message, which tells you "The Gulf You Are Looking For Does Not Exist. Try Persian Gulf." It also states "If you typed Arabian Gulf, make sure you read some history books." This site is a so-called "Google bomb" created by Iranian bloggers several years ago as a protest when the National Geographic decided to use both names for the gulf in their World Atlas.

The media in Dubai has not been very vocal on this point but everyone here seems quietly to use Arabian. The Gulf News weighed in last year with a piece arguing for Arabian (since Persia hasn't existed since 1935) but also suggesting that the Gulf leaders be more vocal and pursue the matter with the UN, and that the two terms could be considered legally interchangeable.

Given the large presence of friendly Iranians in Dubai, I don't see Dubai taking the issue any further. It may be left to Iran to continue to stir up the controversy over "the gulf between us", which is also the name of a book about a gay sheikh which caused a media frenzy last year for supposedly being banned from Dubai's literary festival, which turned out not to be the case.

Suspects Mount in Dubai Murder

The January 19 killing of a military commander for the Palestinian Hamas group in a hotel room in Dubai has been front-page news for weeks here. The Dubai police originally identified 11 suspects carrying forged European passports, and recently added 15 more, to bring the total to 26, showing their photos (often smiling), names and passports on a full page spread looking like a school yearbook page. They used passports from the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, and Australia, with European-sounding names that could not be mistaken for Israeli.

The Dubai police have put together the logistics of the plot using surveillance video, credit card payments and phone records. Both men and women, some traveling as couples, are shown in surveillance videos from the airport and hotels using various disguises (such as wigs, hats and sunglasses and a tennis outfit) and are thought to have played various different roles in the plot. For example, the "tennis player's" job was to discover the victim's hotel room. The Dubai police have stated that they are virtually certain that Israel's secret service Mossad was behind the assassination with the logistical support of the suspects.

I hear more suspects may be named soon, which raises obvious questions. Why were so many operatives needed? Where did they come from? How is the Dubai police getting such detailed information about the suspects and their roles? What could the Dubai police put together about my comings and goings here in the last month? It raises concerns that Dubai's relatively open border for most tourists, like me, who get a 30-day tourist stamp visa upon entry, may not stay that way. (I have yet to get my residency visa due to the need to obtain official certification of my marriage license in the USA.)

The commentators here have been strangely silent. The news broke while the Israeli woman tennis player Shahar Peer was in town (she was denied a visa to come to Dubai last year) making her unlikely run to the semifinals against Venus Williams. The only sign of concern was that she played all her matches, even the semifinal, on a more confined side court with entry through a metal detector, the only court so protected.

Men Take Centre Court in Dubai

The crowds are increasing at the Dubai tennis stadium as the men's tennis gets underway. Men's day 1 was fun as I got to see Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat Gilles Simon (France), Max Mirnyi (Belorus) and Mahesh Bhupathi (India) beat a local Arab team, Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez from Spain, and Scotsman Andy Murray beat a tough qualifier from Russia, Igor Kunitsyn. Except for the doubles match, these were all great battles. It does not look easy to win a match here!

What surprises me most about these early matches is that they seem so close. Even with a score of 6-3 or 6-2 the difference between winning and losing is small, just a couple of points either way. I was surprised that Djokovic and Murray had so much trouble with their much lower ranked opponents. Perhaps it was just because it was their opening match?

Andy Murray looked much more put together than before in his new Adidas outfit, whilc Novak Djokovic got my vote for best dressed, mostly due to his shoes, also Adidas, which looked like they had spats. What's next--a tuxedo tennis outfit?

I am very sorry to hear that Federer had to withdraw at the last minute due to a lung infection. Since he now lives and trains in Dubai, he is expected to make an appearance at some point. So I may be rubbing shoulders with him soon, as I did yesterday walking right past by Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi as they came off the court. The kids who attended Kids' Day were in heaven with the incredible autograph opportunities. The rest of us were glad to see them go at the end of the afternoon, as they were hogging the good seats and spilling their drinks and getting up and down at odd times.

Mosque Madness

There are over 1,000 mosques in Dubai, practically everywhere you look. Which is why I got a bit annoyed when one new acquaintance gave me directions that said at one point, "turn at the new mosque." They all look the same to me! While I often hear the calls to prayer that ring out five times a day, until recently I had never been inside one, since non-Muslims are not usually permitted entry. I finally convinced my husband to accompany me on a tour of the Jumeira Mosque, which is open to tourists four mornings a week for a guided tour and talk on Islam, followed by a question and answer session. Conservative dress, meaning no shorts or sleeveless tops, a scarf or shawl for covering women's hair (which is provided) and removal of shoes before entering are the only requirements. Cameras and photos are encouraged.

Our guide was a woman with a strong Cockney accent--obviously not a UAE native--who sprinkled her talk with double negatives, but we got the gist. She demonstrated the washing and praying rituals and laid out the fundamental concepts of Islam, including the five pillars. I learned that PBUH stands for Peace Be Upon Him, which always accompanies mention of the name of the Prophet Mohammed. Men and women are always separated in the mosque, with a smaller room for women and children (like the cry room in our church at home, except not just for babies). One of the pillars of Islam is the five-times-daily prayer, but women are not expected to go to the mosque that often due to their household duties.

She used a poster-size photograph of Mecca to explain the Hajj, which is the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars. What most surprised me in the picture was the large strange cube in the middle. This cube, called the Kaaba, is where prayers are directed, and constitutes the most sacred site for Islam, although its origins are believed to predate Islam. A black stone in a silver frame on the eastern corner of the cube is thought to date back to the time of Adam and Eve, and the building is thought to have originally been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael on that very spot.

I have many questions about Islam but none that I would venture to ask in a public session, so I do not know if it is true that all non-Muslims are condemned to eternal damnation, or why non-Muslims are not permitted inside mosques (which reminds me of the Mormons, who have a similar rule about their temples). But I did learn why Emirati women wear black--purely a local custom, not required--and that the Lebanese food most of us mistake for local delicacies is not the real Arabic food of the region. We were all invited to a traditional breakfast featuring native Arabic dishes compliments of the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, which also organizes the mosque tours and offers Arabic language instruction.

Last Saturday, having nothing better to do, Neal and I ventured east to the neighboring emirate of Fujairah, which shares a border with Dubai on the west and the Gulf of Oman on the east. Our route took us through the Hajar Mountains, past the "Grand Canyon" of the UAE. The east coast has some nice beaches, especially good for snorkeling and scubadiving, without the residue from massive construction that makes the waters of the gulf outside Dubai so murky. We also happened to stumble upon the oldest mosque in the UAE, located right off the main road, Bidiyah Mosque. It's a very small, muddy looking structure that is believed to date back to the mid 15th century, and it is still used for prayer.

The Russians are Going, Going, Gone

All three Russian women were defeated in the women's quarter finals, to the dismay of the many Russian fans at the Dubai tennis stadium yesterday. The closest match was qualifier Kulikova's valiant effort to make her first semifinal ever (having just made her first quarterfinal ever), but she seemed to tire in the third set and lost to the more accomplished and even player, Radwanska. The Chinese hopeful Na Li had to withdraw in the second set due to injury after losing a close first set to Shahar Peer. Zvonoreva looked completely outmatched both in size and skill by the much more aggressive Azarenka. Finally, Venus looked as strong as ever in outplaying her 18-year-old challenger Pavlyuchenkova in two sets. Venus really stepped up her game at the end to put her away, with several serves over 200 KPH (the fastest I saw, I think this is over 125 MPH), obviously not wanting it to come down to a third set.

I spent 8 hours at the stadium and was wise to slather myself with suntan lotion as otherwise I would be burned to a crisp. I happened to sit next to a very nice woman from Scotland whose husband works for Burt Hill, the architectural firm from Pittsburgh. We were very simpatico having had many similar experiences in getting used to living in Dubai. She draws the line at scubadiving, though. I could probably learn a lot from her!

Today's semifinals pit Venus Williams (USA) against Shahar Peer (Israel), and Victoria Azarenka (Belorus) against Agnieska Radwanska (Poland). Peer has been the biggest surprise of the tournament, especially since her inability to get a visa to play in Dubai last year was front page news, but I have to give Venus a big edge there. Azarenka looks too strong and powerful for Radwanska, although they have split their last four meetings and look very even on paper.

The Williams/Peer match is being played today at 2 p.m. on a side court with room for only a few hundred spectators, a little strange since the center court was packed to see Venus play last night, but it should be interesting! Peer seems to like these courts, where she put away Na Li yesterday.

Prediction: Williams v. Azarenka in the finals tomorrow!

Tennis Anyone?

Today is Ladies Day at the Dubai Tennis Championships, as the women's quarterfinals are underway. Of the 8 quarter finalists, three are Russian, one is Belorussian and one each for Poland, China, Israel and the good old US of A. Venus Williams is the highest seed left at #3, and as the defending champion she has a bit of bad luck in the draw to have to play 18-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia. Interestingly, Anastasia has the better of Venus in their three past meetings, up 2-1, after being plastered by Venus at Wimbledon a few years back. She has the heft to take Venus to the limit if she plays well. The #4 seed Victoria Azarenka (Belorussia) faces #12 Vera Zvonareva (Russia), while the #7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) faces qualifier Regina Kulikova (Russia). Finally, unseeded Shahar Peer (Israel) faces #8 Li Na (China).

Quite a few upsets so far: the #1 seed Caroline Wozniacki lost to Peer, the older Russians, #2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and #5 seed Elena Dementieva, also lost as did #6 Jelena Jankovic and #11 Marion Bartoli.

I will not be vying for a prize as best-dressed, which comes with tickets to the finals, but I will be watching the finalists play today and the first of the two semifinals tomorrow. I have absolutely no idea who will win--it's really up for grabs!

Midnight at the Oasis

I went with my husband to spend two days in Al Ain, a city about 90 minutes from Dubai in the Abu Dhabi emirate on the Oman border. We had spent a day there before visiting one of the highest points in the UAE, Jebel Hafeet, and the Al Ain zoo, both well-known tourist attractions. Since my husband would be busy for most of a day judging a moot court competition, I had more time to explore.

For once my Garmin with a new memory card for Middle East maps proved to be helpful, leading us through many roundabouts to the Intercontinental Hotel. We also found the Al Ain National Museum without a problem. This happens to be the oldest museum in the UAE, with displays covering both the ethnography and archaeology of the region. Al Ain was the home of the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whose family continues to rule the country. One of the most interesting displays was the Nahyan family tree, showing Sheikh Zayed's 19 sons. No wives or daughters are shown, possibly due to the complication of showing the Sheikh's multiple wives for the various sons, most of whom are half-brothers, as pointed out by my husband, who seems fascinated with the topic of polygamy these days. (An Emirati housewife and her Pakistani husband were recently sent to jail in Dubai for polygamy, which hardly seems fair since it's legal for Emirati men.)

Another surprise in the museum's exhibits was a video about the various archaeological excavations off the coast of Abu Dhabi, which have uncovered evidence of ancient animal life such as elephants and hippos, which eons ago traversed the Arabian peninsula from Africa to Asia when the region must have been more lush and green. Neal and I also enjoyed the display of gifts given by various national leaders to the Nahyan family over the years, most of them consisting of ornate guns, swords, coins or plaques, but the most notable being the simplest--a single bullet wrapped in what appeared to be a paper clip, from an unnamed source in Palestine. Black and white photographs throughout the museum and nearby fort documenting life in 60's were fascinating to see, a glimpse of what life was like before everything started to change.

Neal was the first to notice that there wasn't any mention of the discovery of oil in the 1940's and 50's, despite the huge impact on the region. Perhaps oil is not mentioned because Dubai no longer relies on revenues from oil as the primary driver of its economy? But this is Al Ain, part of Abu Dhabi. It makes no sense.

Sheikh Zayed's residence in Al Ain, built in 1937, is now the Palace Museum, which we reached by driving through the Al Ain Oasis, a large area filled to the brim with impenetrable date palms and narrow pathways just large enough for our car. The palace looks like a fort with an appealing assemblage of low buildings often holding only one or two rooms, downstairs for the public spaces for coffee and visitors, upstairs for the private spaces for bedrooms, all very modest in size and decoration. The largest room, with floor cushions for meetings, would barely have been large enough to accommodate the Sheikh and all 19 sons. Off to the side was a small room called "office," with a single desk and chair. Hard to imagine the modernity of the UAE today emerging from such humble beginnings just 70 years ago. I think of the luxurious lifestyle of the richest families at that time in the United States, such as the Rockefellers and DuPonts, and there is no comparison.

The nicest thing about the city of Al Ain is that it doesn't (yet) have the built-up artificial feel of Dubai. There are a few new stunning parts, such as a new sports stadium, and the roads are in the process of being modernized with new intersections and interchanges replacing roundabouts (but hopefully not the one with the huge coffeepot in the middle, a local landmark referred to as the "coffeepot roundabout"). It still has the feel of a place where history and mystery can be found if one goes looking. The landscape itself is stunning with jagged walls of rock, hardly mountains and not looking very climbable, which jut up at various points along the road, alongside the occasional oasis filled with palm trees.

I decided to venture out the next morning in search of the local camel market. Of course, there were no obvious signs or directions and the simple map the hotel gave me was useless. Using my Garmin I was able to triangulate from the local concrete factory and the nearby military college, which led me to the Al Ain Market, which I really should not have been able to miss since it was the largest set of buildings off the main road (named after Sheikh Zayed, naturally). (No surprise, I guess, that the predominant building material in the city, as elsewhere, is concrete.) Driving towards the back I found a huge open, drive-around and through area with concrete stalls housing all kinds of livestock, including goats and sheep and, yes, hundreds of camels, all shapes and sizes. This appeared to be an active market with men leading camels out for showing before a crowd in a big square area. I parked, got out and started to wander around, when several men came up to greet me and shake my hand. It was immediately apparent that we had no words in common. They motioned for me to come over to their location, but being uncertain and alone and perhaps less foolish than I might have been in my younger days, I decided I would be better off not joining them. I seemed to be the only woman as well as the only tourist in the vicinity. Nor did I try to take pictures--it was one of those times where it seems wrong, with nothing to contribute on my end.

I had a similar experience later in the day when I passed an impressive but mysterious looking facility called the "Falcon Research Center." Despite my curiosity causing me to drive up to the entrance for a closer look, seeing a gated entryway made me think that might not be such a good idea.

For my next stop I returned to the Al Ain zoo, where at least I knew I would be safe from the animals. Plus I wanted to see the new white lions that have joined the zoo, a gift from South Africa. This was a very relaxing visit and I got to see everything I missed the first time around, including the new lions, the bird house and some very entertaining singing monkeys. The daily bird show, evenings only, is surely worth a visit with the promise of falcons, eagles and more, but I couldn't stay that long.

I then met up with Neal and the moot court team back at the hotel for late afternoon tea. A law professor with law students from University of Pittsburgh law school coached the various moot court teams, consisting of college students from UAE University in Al Ain and universities in Bahrain and Oman. As you might guess, UAE University is the oldest university in the UAE, dating from the country's founding in 1971. It accepts both men and women, but all aspects of the educational process are completely separate, with separate dormitories and classes. While the teams from Bahrain and Oman were single gender, the UAE fielded a co-ed moot court team, which only made it harder for them, as the men and women had no way to get together to prepare.

Given the recent emergence of colleges and universities in the region, it should not be too surprising to discover that many of the students who attend are among the first in their families to go to college. What seems so normal for Americans is actually a huge sea change in Arabic culture. In fact, given where things stood not that long ago, I'm even more amazed at how quickly things are changing.

I'm reminded of one of my favorite songs from the 70's, my college days, sung by Maria Muldaur:

Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Shadows paintin' our faces
Traces of romance in our heads
Heaven's holdin' a half-moon
Shinin' just for us
Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon
And kick up a little dust
Come on, Cactus is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, till the evenin' ends
Till the evenin' ends
You don't have to answer
There's no need to speak
I'll be your belly dancer, prancer
And you can be my sheik

I know your Daddy's a sultan
A nomad known to all
With fifty girls to attend him, they all send him
Jump at his beck and call
But you won't need no harem, honey
When I'm by your side
And you won't need no camel, no no
When I take you for a ride
Come on, Cactus is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, till the evenin' ends
Till the evenin' ends
Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Got shadows paintin' our faces
And traces of romance in our heads

An Oasis of Carpets But No Customers

The Dubai Shopping Festival is in full swing here for the month of February with various events throughout the city, including more festive colorful night-light displays and flags. The highlights this past weekend were a Gulf bike festival and monster truck show. These being the types of events I would have more expected to see but never attend in Pittsburgh, we passed. Performers from Edinburgh's famed Fringe Festival were also said to be in town at the mall called Festival City, but if they were there, it was just a small contingent banging on drums for the many kids being chased around the mall by their parents. We found the movie Avatar showing there and stopped for that. The movie snacks were mostly the same as in U.S. theatres, without the liquid "butter" on the popcorn and with the addition of French crepes.

The main event that caught our attention for the weekend was the 15th annual Carpet & Art Oasis, held at the Expo Center near the airport. We are interested in buying carpets while we are here and thought this would be a good way to get started. It was not hard to find the Expo Center, but when we got there we saw very few cars, not a good sign. We asked a workman sitting outside if the carpet show was open and he indicated that it wasn't but pointed to a building we had passed, so we backtracked and parked with the few other cars. Walking up we saw a big sign for the show and an open door, so we entered. It turned out that it was open, even though the brochure we found at the door suggested it was only open on weekdays, but it soon became clear that we were the only visitors! We had expected some exhibits and informational displays, but before we could even look around we were overwhelmed by a thundering herd of salesmen descending upon us from every direction urging us to come look at their carpets. We felt like raw meat in a den of starving lions. All we wanted to do was walk around the enormous room to see what was there, but we never even made it around once! The room was filled to the brim with beautiful carpets from Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere but it was hard to get a sense of it, since we seemed to be the main attraction. To make matters worse, we could hardly make sense of what the salesmen were so eagerly trying to tell us. They seemed to want us to tell them what we were looking for, which of course we didn't know. We finally were "saved" by a savvy young Iranian carpet dealer who spoke excellent English and maneuvered us into his "lair", a huge cordoned off display area in the middle of the big building, obviously a choice location. He was a very talkative and likable fellow and knowing right away we were Americans began by telling us about his studies at Texas A. & M. He proceeded to accost us for the next hour with stories of all his dealings in Iran, Russia, China, the US and the Middle East. I wanted desperately to get away as he seemed to mistake us for extremely wealthy potential clients who had nothing better to spend their money on than expensive carpets, but his stories offered the allure of gossip as he claimed to be friends with Sheikh Mohammed. He told us that he agreed to anchor the Carpet Oasis as a personal favor to the Sheikh, otherwise it wouldn't have taken place this year, and in return the Sheikh is to make an appearance this week. He wasn't too complimentary about Dubai's prospects, though, as evidenced by the obvious lack of business being done in the room. He may have used the word "doomed." He had even worse things to say about doing business in Abu Dhabi, where he set up a huge exhibition under contract in Emirates Palace only to be told to leave midway through on an hour's notice when some bureaucrat decided he shouldn't be there. Apparently the contract meant nothing! He raved, however, about doing business in Russia and China. He bought a house in Russia and almost immediately was doing millions in business with just the people in his neighborhood. And China was a whole different story--wealthy businessmen who would never show their face but contracted for massive services sight unseen for huge new developments, such as the Mission Hills golf course and resort in Shenzhen near Hong Kong.

Despite his friendship with the Sheikh, he did not seem to enjoy his dealings with Arab clients. He was hired to find a small carpet for one wealthy bureaucrat's office, and offered it for free as a personal favor since it was such a small item, only to be told that such a gift could not be accepted and he must provide an invoice. So he sent an invoice, listing just his cost with no markup. Later he was accused of cheating this client after another dealer quoted him a much lower price for the same carpet. The second dealer, it turned out, had purchased the carpet from the first dealer at a much higher price and was simply undercutting the first dealer to make him look bad! The story made me feel even more uncomfortable and disinclined to buy any carpets so I kept nudging my husband to make a quick getaway, which we finally were able to do, only to be chased some more as we tried to look around. We were glad to get out of there unscathed!

Our carpet buying will have to wait for another day. We got the Iranian dealer's card, and he offered a private showing in our apartment, but we are not ready to open up our shabby abode or make that kind of investment. An hour's time seemed too much already! And we still know sadly little about these beautiful carpets!