Lost and with few options, again and again I went into private Tunisian homes to find women who could give me directions. They were thrilled, warm, kind, shy at first but curious and deeply intelligent. Many had never seen a foreign woman before. They wanted to help. But they could not read or write and thus were unable to make sense of the marks on my map. Americans have been all delighted and flattered that Muslim nations are expressing this urge for democracy. There is a lot of vanity going around, and it makes me feel a little ill. I too am proud of democracy, but I am humbled and perhaps a little ashamed of how little we have managed to make it real for all our citizens.