Cats' Life in Tunisia

"Have sympathy with the animals on earth, than Allah will also have sympathy with you" (Prophet Mohamed), I would like to write that on this lovely blue sky here.                                 The revolution also effected the cats, strange, the cats out on the street are more beautiful and better fed than before. As the majority haven't got a house and live off what the garbage container has to offer, or some kind people left there for them, one can only presume the food quality has improved (though many complain about too high prices and no job). I've seen the most expensive cat of the world (with owners) and some absolutely gorgeous cats, for which one would pay a lot of money in Europe. Left behind by folks who during or after the revolution left the country? Some people believe and teach their children that cats are dirty. Looking for food among garbage certainly isn't the cats' first choice (what do starving persons do to survive?). Their fur is always clean, the white bits snow white, unless the cat is sick. Cats do "pest control", they hunt and kill mice, rats and cockroaches. In the Middle Ages, when Christians were so stupid to murder cats (believing they would assist witches), epidemic pest spread in Europe wiping out a lot of the population. - Kittens are born with their eyes closed for the first 10-12 days. If separated from their mother during this period, they stand no chance to survive. Even if fed with cow milk, e.g. from a "bottle" (originally containing eye drops) every 2 hours. On various occasions I found boxes with 4 kittens - the usual number - in front of my entrance door, thus this experience, depressing to see them all die. A little girl told me it sickens her to see "blind" cats - she didn't know it's natural, when they are born. In Souse more cats are killed by stones from disturbed kids, youngsters or even adults than by cars, I believe. Head injuries, internal bleeding, shock, broken jaw, twisted neck, etc., Cats are not even safe underneath parked cars. Their hiding places are known and these hooligans think it's fun to hunt them or lead their dogs to do so. (Hamdullah not all children are like that, but too many.) I heard Angel, one of my cats, yell with pain from underneath a car. She was shivering. I took her inside and saw a wound on her thigh. It was a Saturday evening, past vet's consulting hours. It looked as if it would be okay to take her first thing Monday morning, but she died just before.   Superstitious Tunisians (and some daft Europeans) believe black cats mean bad luck. Thus not surprising one doesn't see many here, I viewed 3, 2 are living with me. Lily, a street cat I've been feeding for a while, I found one day with a large bump on her head, not her usual lively self. It turned out she had a large abscess and a bite mark on her thigh. She's such a lovely gentle little darling. The other black cat is a "Burmese", double thick shining fur  and a "Limbo dancer".  She came to me approx. 6 months old, performing her Limbo dancing underneath my barrier fencing outside. Felicitas loves to play hide and seek, she believes I am her long lost mother. Now she is happy and friendly with everyone, man, woman or cat. When I am out on the road, she quickly climbs onto the roof terrace and calls me: "Don't lounch about, get inside!" Even before I open the front door she stands there to welcome me (marhaba). - Amira had 4 kittens, the usual number here (meanwhile we had the whole family operated to keep the number down). Interesting to see her educating her kittens: watching closely and only interfering when it's necessary. If one shows too little respect and pushes forward, Mum (or other cats) slaps her/his face. Sometimes I feel like doing that - only with adults. Cats, also big ones like lions, for security reasons take their little ones to a new shelter after a while. So Amira had a look around, saw my sleeping husband and decided he would make a good babysitter. When I discovered this she had already taken 2 kittens next to my husband while he was still having his sweet dreams. - Honey I discovered with her tail cut off, the wound bleeding, collecting dirt, formatting scurf, falling off and the procedure starting all over again. She let me take her home and to the vet. Problem solved. Now when I call her; "Honey come home," she comes running and when she wants to come in and I don't hear or see her, she walks around the house and calls me from underneath my window. - Just now kids called me, a cat got run over by a car, bleeding from the  head. The cat was dying, bleeding heavily. They thought I would remove the cat immediately. I tried to explain that there is still some life in her and one should wait a little. Some children thought it's funny to see a dying cat (strange humor), a neighbor got hysteric, declared if she sees another cat here, she will kill it..... where am I living? Later on I discovered five stones underneath a parked car near by where cats often seek protection, I wouldn't be surprised if this cat was hunted there and trying to escape got hit by a car. When I explained the cat is in the process of dying, a couple of boys suggested to speed this up by kicking her, I said how would you like to be kicked when you have an accident. - When I go shopping have two body guards lately, street cats I feed twice a day decided to accompany me for approx. ten minutes - may be they want to advice me what to buy. - Amy, a cat that used to live in the garden of a house across the road, had her kittens there and I enjoyed watching this good mother picking up some food from me to feed her little ones. One day she was killed by a stone or car.

changes for the better

People often have a bad memory when they think of the past.It seems to be so much easier to remember what was good than what was bad. Not all changes can happen over night, don't demand too much straight away. Changes I noticed already: there is so much more freedom. People are no longer afraid to speak openly and they use this freedom to critise a lot. They feel Tunisia should do so much more for them, yet there are things they can do themselves! Quite a few people (like me) sweep the pavement and road in front of their house. They want their street to be clean and proper. There is quite a lot less plastic on the road from Souse to Kairouan than before the Revolution. Generally speaking, Kairouan altogether seems to be much cleaner. In Europe you have to pay a fine, if you just drop your litter anywhere. It helped a lot to achieve clean roads! In the shops you find a larger choice, products I missed when Tunisia was ruled by Ben Ali, his greedy wife and in-laws. Products from Europe are of course more expensive and not all can afford them. Bread, fruit and vegetables are so cheap no one should go  without, but when you haven't got a job it' not easy. Don't expect to find a job sitting all day in a cafe. A lot can be done with good ideas, may be ask expats who come here with good intentions. As for me, I had thought of teaching mothers how to make toys without spending money (not for me either).               The customs no longer ask: did you bring Parabol? Most people have TV, smart phones & internet. If you think all the old cars from Europe are now in North Africa  may be in Africa, but certainly not in Tunisia! Pity though, the bikes more or less  disppeared, they are so much better for your health, the environment - don't pollute the air with noise and exhaust gas unlike those now ever so popular motor-cycles. More toys on offer, much plastic from China, as one would expect. Good books would be so much better, in spite of the internet.     In the flee market I've seen some expensive trade products, imported in bulk from Europe. No longer the third quality products like before the revolution, sounds good, but not for all. Just imagine you are a tailor, bad  for business.  If you have the money to pay a private doctor, you can find good doctors who have more time for their patients and discover causes for illnesses that their colleagues in Europe never did find (there time is money, if a doctor wants to make money, he/she needs a lot of patients as the health insurance doesn't pay much per head; even though the contributions are fairly high).      What else has                                              changed? Not so much police on the streets. Ben Ali's picture posters everywhere - they have all disappeared, thus the shops look more inviting now. Women have more rights and are more demanding now - so I am told. School lesses are extended until round about 17.00 hrs.,  5 weeks school and then 1 week off, a vast improvement. There is so much these kids need to learn and I hope they enjoy it, I as an adult, am still happy to learn something new every day.

Expats in Tunisia /Tunisians returning from Europe

A decent man was visited by an angel who said I will show you heaven and hell and you can decide, where you want to be when you leave this world. In heaven everybody was singing Halleluja, halleluja...seemed to him a bit boring. In hell was a big party going on , With all present in a real good mood. So he declared Hell would be his choice. The angel informed him that he would have a bit longer to live and could yet change his mind, if he wants to. Well, he did not. When he arrived in hell, it really was hell! This came as an absolute shock to him and he went to see the Devil in Charge. The devil  explained. When you first came you were a visitor, now you are an immigrant. A joke I heard 30 years ago and there still is much truth in in.
New developments/changes within the former home countries lead to strangeness, so much is no longer familiar to the Expats /Tunisians, returning to their country. For many years they transferred large sums of money, supported their families, the building industry, the economy in general, and last but not least, enabled Tunisia to balance the external trade deficit , Do their country men and women know this? Is their contribution in the past and now that they are returning, appreciated? They are lucky, if they are not welcomed with stones and are not confronted with lots of envy or juggler, thieves on motorbikes.... . What is considered normal here is not for Expats, who got used to different standards, clean roads, noise and fumes reduced, seat belts worn for longer than the 2 minutes when police is on site, respect from children,, set rules and regulations, police working, road safety mainly observed, as well as safety regulations to avoid unnecessary accidents. In Tunisia on the other hand everything seems to be allowed. Children turning a crossroad into a playground/football field, ignoring the traffic, polluting the air with their constant screaming, they can beat a Bosch hammer  for noise. Parts of a street blocked off to make space for a wedding or circumcision celebration, loudspeakers suitable for a football stadium. Along your house? Hard luck

no need to inform or ask you if it is okay! Everywhere building works going on, rubble heaps more or less on every street. Children who can not walk past without picking some stones up and just have to throw them at animals, people or buildings. Great feeling. A result of the revolution, when the population stood on the roofs with a collection of stones, ready to be thrown for their defense?
When you return to Tunisia, be prepared for a life on a different planet. The charming big North African smile has disappeared, instead many, mainly elderly, depressed men with their head down, looking for something they lost, perhaps this brilliant catching smile? Children traveling to school by taxi, women who buy a baguette on credit, approx. 10 Ct is one. Some times I wonder do the Tunisians want their countrymen from abroad to leave again? There is such a lot of envy, Expats are suspected to be rich and that for no reason.
I try to get rid of my frustrations with the people here by creating jokes about their mentality, like this one.
A man comes to seek the advise of the Imman. I don not understand why are the Europeans are  rich and I am not. The Imam replies, I know you, you are lazy and unreliable. The man thanks him and a little later prays,
Allah please make me diligent and reliable, but not straight away....
Let me add, I also met wonderful decent people here, hamdllah

Environment Protection in Tunisia

At least 90 % of the cars are new and expensive. Sounds good for the environment? Well, the traffic is heavy, bikes are rare, instead motorbikes, frequently without registration plates and a few other parts. Children and adults alike love noise in Tunisia. Motorbikes (old and new ones) are tuned to create extreme (and I mean extreme!!!) noise and black stinking clouds (live hard and die young of cancer?). As everybody seems to be screaming (or is it just the Beguines now living in towns and not yet accustomed to having the neighbour right next to him or her) so deafness, one day, shouldn't be a problem.  Letting the engine run while the driver just buys some water or bread, or  when there is only a half hour break for the bus driver, that is standard here.  In Germany they let the engine on to get some heat when it is cold outside, so may be 40 degrees Centigrade is not enough. Wastepaper bins are quite rare. No need for them as you can just drop your wrappings of whatever you eat, or empty bottles, where ever you are. Adults do it, children copy them. You like your pavement and street clean?  That is your problem, what the  heck!  By the way, pavements are designed for parking cars. If you think it's your right to walk on the pavements, you have to climb over quite a few cars!  I won't say the authorities don't do anything for the environment, in Souse, for example, when we didn't get enough rain, we had the water cut off for about three month, every night from 21.00 hours until 6 or 7 a.m. and from time to time the electricity is cut off for a few hours.

Children in Sousse

The first 4 years in the life of a child are of great importance as these influence its later development.  Now there are children in Sousse (prob. also elsewhere in Tunisia), growing up real wild. They spent all day and half the night out on the street, screaming constantly as if watching a horror movie and running around like lunitics. Their toys are footballs or stones, which they throw at cats, dogs, other children, adults and houses. These kids know no respect, don't care if they cause any damages or injuries and ignore the traffic. The street belongs to them, no matter what. I am told until the age of 13 they are allowed to do whatever they want, no limit. Empathy one learns at a very tender age. I have seen very young kids injuring or even killing cats. Once these children turn 13, will they understand why they are no longer getting away with murder? Screaming seems to be the kind of communication practised in their families. Climbing like monkeys, running like hell, facing up to nothing, the lesson the street taught them, no respect   for anyone! - I have given away maybe 100 toys, lots of sweets for these poor kids.   One day I had no more sweets for a little boy, perhaps 4 years old, so he got angry  with me and told me to get lost! And by the way, some children thanked me nicely, others throw stones at me and my house (Hadia the Souse style, I take it). - Family planning? Not for the poor and uneducated,  there are families here with 10 children or more, out on the street screaming and acting like hooligans. Their parents are not interested, either too young, too lazy or too stupid to understand what they are doing to their children.

Opferfest

There are sheep crying from everywhere. If I understand them correctly, they are saying leave me alone I am not a sheep, vegetables are much healthier for you!

El aid el kbir/ special holiday to celebrate Abraham getting permission to slaughter a sheep and save his son 

  THIS TAKES PLACE ON 11 SEPTEMBER AGAIN AND i AM GLAD i AM NOT A SHEEP