I felt I should buy something. But not knives. Or Quran cases. I would buy a Quran case if it were as nice as the one Issouf has; but they never are. Neither are the knives. Everything on close examination seems to be pretty crappy. Just to be nice, we paid $20 for three trivets upon taking our leave, certainly twice what they would go for at Cost Plus. They had originally asked ?20 for one. The asking price is a curious case of butterfly/flower evolution. I don't suppose everyone in town got up one morning and decided to ask 5 times the highest imaginable tourist price as the opening gambit. But as the years wear on, the tourists expect to be able to get a 50% discount from the asking price, then 75%, then 80%...soon the economics exists in a world referring only to itself. It's an interesting field. There isn't properly speaking any "demand" for trivets and even less for Tuareg knives. The "Tuareg knives" I've seen offered in the window of the car wouldn't cut a meringue. The business is to create this social obligation. I liked "talking" to them. I liked the tea. Life is paying for social contacts. I should have been born anything but American, because only in America do you judge yourself on some nebulous criteria orbiting around the idea of being a Good Person and having lots of friend links on your myspace page; the rest of the world rather more honestly wants you around only if you can forward them to their next meal.