qatar!

I made it out of China alive!  The last few days were spent in Shanghai (I have never seen so many bulk candy stores) and an afternoon in Suzhou (famous for their gardens).  I really liked Shanghai for a somewhat inexplicable reason.  I felt less "on-edge" there, probably partially a result of the fact that it's a much more western city than anywhere else I've been in China.

I'm now in Qatar for 36 hours or so.  I was kindly warmed up to the "over-friendliness" of the men by my seat-mate on the plane.  He was from Jordan, probably 45, in China on vacation.  About a third of the way through the trip he started putting his hand on my back when I put my head on the seat tray to fall asleep.  That was weird.  He also suggested that we "see each other gain, which is easier, in Jordan or in the United States?"  I completely ignored that ridiculous question.

At customs in Doha I was grilled about CDs/DVDs, which I initially denied but then admitted having a few that I'd gotten from friends.  But then they just let me go through without asking to see them.  It was intimidating, and strange, at the same time.  I got in a taxi.  And the taxi driver asked me if I was married.  To which I answered, "Yes!  Yes I am married!  I will see my husband tomorrow."  Married for the next 36 hours...