It was in Douz, Tunisia, an oasis in the deep south of the country at the edge of the Sahara, that I met the shopkeeper Jamel.

"Everything is free today!" he said as my wife Shelly and I approached his carpet and pottery shop.

"Everything?" I said.

"Everything," he said. "You're from England?"

"No, from America."

His eyes turned to saucers and he took a step back. Few Americans go to Tunisia. I didn't see one in two weeks. "Welcome to Tunisia!" he said and put his hand on his heart. "You must come sit and have tea with me." He didn't want to sell us anything. He just wanted to talk. That's how it goes in Tunisia if you're an American...