Along the walkway

Someone - a male, Indian-looking foreigner - approached me to ask for directions. He wanted to buy a SIM card.

After 5 minutes of mildly exasperated explanation, I decided to walk him to Cheers. On the way, I tried to be friendly:

"Oh, where are you from?"

"Saudi Arabia."

"Wow, that's cool. What are you here for?" 

"Oh, I'm here for academic purposes."

"Great, are you studying for your undergraduate or Masters?"

"Erm, actually, I've a Doctorate. I'm here on a research fellowship."

An awkward silence...