Summer Time

Two men meeting. "I hear you got married, are you happy?" "Yes, we got a contract." "A contract?"  "I make all the big decisions and my wife the minor ones." "Like what?" "Who should be the next president, should Trump be impeached, should we remain a democracy ?" "And your wife?" " Which house shall we buy, what is the right education for our children, which is the right job for me." - It is getting pretty hot. The water is  turned off every night, from 10 p.m. until 5 or 6 a.m. (doesn't effect hotels), then we receive approx. 3 or 4 buckets full of milky coloured water, bad for  the washing machine, coffee machine, toilet flush (adds sand to the system), wonder what poor folks do who can't afford mineral water. Some people were surprised to learn that one should read the values on the mineral water bottles (e.g. Nitrate should not be above 5). Wonder why the water supply is turned off , to make citizens aware of the value of water? Can't be a real saving, as that milky coloured water is only of limited value, unless saved for cleaning - but can and will house wives who love to use lots of water for cleaning, collect this in large drums? As usual it will take time to change the ignorants' mentality, who are accustomed to also ignore new laws and regulations, whenever there is no one there to enforce them (like not dropping wrappings/garbage where ever they like, not phoning while driving, etc.). Children need to be taught at school to respect and value nature/ their country. They learn quickly, if presented the right way enjoy doing so and hopefully pass on their newly gained knowledge to their families. Every brick counts to built a better society. You don't know what you've got until it's gone. Young men feel great riding their motorbike - but must it be tuned to create the utmost noise and air pollution? The black cloud stinks, according to the WHO 7 million people die world wide each year because of the air pollution. Sometimes I wonder, are we living at a petrol station, a racing track, the final station of taxis (9 of 10 stop right in front of our house, engine running - taxi drivers must be thinking we live like sardines there, at least 50 in one room), or may be a market place. At least 3 fishmongers try to sell their product, others fruit, vegetable, plastic items, etc. A new neighbour supplies folks around here with his loud music, luckily everybody has got the same taste (?) I miss The Sound of Silence (the new version presented by Disturbed expresses pretty well how we feel from time to time). - A Tunisian working in France has an extra floor added to his house. Seems to be a new fashion, built a little sky scrapper for the bigger and bigger getting family or to rent. The contractor spoils with the liquid cement the ceiling, walls and tiles of the house and terrace next door.
A woman from the neighbourhood informs him that this doesn't matter. The owner doesn't live there, he's got several houses and doesn't care what state they are in. Sounds interesting, she must know him well! But actually none of this is true, the owner has only one house, was flabbergasted and furious.....and apart from: "Hello, how are you," never exchanged any conversation with that woman. Why would she talk such chicken shit? Envy, wanting to show off? One can meet very strange folks. As Einstein once put it: Most stress derives from the daily contact with idiots. Unfortunately one can find them in every country.

Postscript My Lovely Pussycats

Like us cats don't like bitter medicine. In Europe I used to mix it with liver sausage, which is not on the market here, therefore I use soft cheese instead. By the way cats love it. When you have more than one cat you can apply another trick in addition. I also give this cheese to other cats and pretend they are all getting the same. When a cat changes its behaviour it might be sick. Not eating can be an indication that the cat needs a dentist. Gloria had to have 2 teeth removed and I also had her operated. She's given birth to lovely baby cats at least 3 times, the first lot (4) were okay, almost all others died, and she gave milk to 2 orphan little ones. Lately she seemed to be exhausted. She is such a loving amazing little angel. I dare say if all human mothers have as much love for their children as Gloria, we would have a better world. Unlike my cat Amira, Gloria still cares for her older kittens. Amira's daughter Sandy is difficult/disturbed, I put this down to her previously so well caring mum suddenly beating her. (When Amira fell pregnant again she changed, not being aware of her condition we had her operated). Some folks believe we brought cats here from Europe. Take coal to Newport, bring owls to Athens? As a matter of fact I never saw more beautiful cats than here. I only wish folks would appreciate cats more and teach their children to open their eyes to these gorgeous little fur angels. Children who are taught to love will receive love in return.

My lovely Pussycats etc.

Over the years I learned a lot about cats' behaviour. The way their mother treats them influences the kittens, they of cause also have their father's gens but he normally isn't around to educate the little ones. A gentle quite cat usually has kittens just like her, as a rule all looking different (not the same father), but 1 much like mummy. The standard number in Tunisia is 4, I've also seen 6, but 3 already dead at birth. The mother eats the afterbirth, it provides her with the necessary nutrition. Some cats (and dogs) eat their dead little ones, others don't. May be a protection by nature in order not to attract other animals, or because of the same reason as they eat the afterbirth. I must admit it took me a while to get used to the idea. The cats in my house are operated (birth control), this also means no stress while on heat. I had 3 cats about to give birth in front of my entrance door and thus was forced to give them shelter and food (which they already received before) etc. One Persian cat and her 2 babies died the next day. I knew the owners, who shocked me by just not caring, stating: She was old and had many kittens. The vet advised me 7 years is regarded as old here. Many little ones die before they are 2 weeks old, in addition several get run over by cars, which remains a horrible sight for me. When this happens in the neighborhood kids usually inform me, according to their language I live in the cats' house. I can pick up some of the street cats without getting scratched, stroke them, clean their nose and ears but Amira and her daughters (Bijou, Sandy, Soleigh) are different.

They are difficult patients. When I tried to put Soleigh into the transport box she got frightened and attacked me. Her brother, Tiger, wanted to protect me and attacked her to my surprise. By the way, Amira was a great caring mum until she fell pregnant again (she was my first female cat, we didn't know at the time and had her operated), then she started to beat her kittens. (Did she want them to make space for the new generation?) Sandy panics a lot and is not exactly friendly with other cats. In addition she doesn't feel comfortable with my husband, she only trusts and likes me. - Some times folks asked me for a cat. Could they come inside, inspect my cats and choose  one? I haven't got an exhibition of cats. Besides their ideal is a kitten too young to be separated from their mum and it should be checked by the vet and be absolutely flawless. I have 2 cats (Tareqqa and Myriam) with only one eye (Myriam was badly injured after an accident when I took her and got her broken jaw etc. operated), one without a tail, Honey, several had injuries e.g. Lilly a big bump on her head, a wound on her thigh, now healed. Why should an animal be flawless when we are not?  Needless to say some folks are different, they just want a gentle cat. By the way, a 🐈 can help you to relax and while purring reduces her human friend's too high blood pressure if necessary.

Postcript Not all are the same

The Colombian national football team leader is very sad, so a fairy offered him one free wish. "I wish we could be exchanged against the Tunisian team." The fairy asked: "But why, you played better in the world cup." Reply: " Some guys want to kill us because we can't win the cup. In Tunisia it is different, they celebrate you for every goal!" - In a documentary (My Tunisia, Aljazeera English) the father of a young talented football player says: 'We breath football, it is our escape from stress." Yes, all the male kids, teens, etc. are football crazy. They play every spare minute until midnight, at least where I live. There should be a lot of talented players, but unfortunately they lack discipline, team spirit, respect, have their very own rules, ignore the traffic and don't care if they damage the walls of surrounding houses, or cause other damages, they are the kings of the road. Pity there aren't more football fields available for them, school yards etc. could also be used. I've been told these children cause too much damage and leave the place dirty. That could be overcome by having an adult trainer on site who could at the same time teach them what their parents don't, the right behaviour, self-control, fair play and not to leave their markings (rubbish) behind. An easy way to get these kids off the streets where they would otherwise only learn bad language, not to respect anyone, yell, climb and run, how to become a hooligan. For those families  with little income it would mean an alternative to existing football clubs whose fee poor families can't meet. It is not so easy to judge how much income some families have. There are all these expensive new cars, lots of motorbikes, (bicycles are rare unlike Holland, Germany, etc. where citizens in my opinion are more health-orientated), expensive mobile phones, some kids all dressed up like professional players and there are the other cases, the obviously less fortunate. - Though it is already rather hot, I noticed less young men riding their motorbike topless. I guess they are "real men" as such their skin is enough protection in case of an accident, easily caused by a flying football, the interesting driving style of several male and female drivers, multi-tasking driving (phoning, car drivers having exiting conversations, hands up in the air, etc.). - It was discovered that 60,000 university graduates have left the country, in view of 62% unemployment among them quite understandable (other countries call it a brain-drain and get worried) nevertheless, this high rate of unemployment is rather strange (an indication that knowing the right persons and being able and willing to pay for being selected as "the best candidate" counts more than qualification?) and must be a real discouragement for those still attending school. Why bother if education gets you nowhere? I keep hearing  we must change our mentality. I would put it differently, we must educate the ignorant, make them see the beauty of this country and their responsibility towards their children (if you neglect them, they owe you nothing when you are old and needy), the importance of protecting nature, empathy with animals that are also Allah's creation. If you want to be respected you must act in a civilised way, an elbow society is not attractive for anyone. It is nice to have money, but it isn't everything. Friendly words, a smile can go a long way. Do you really need to get paid for every thing you do?

Not All are the Same

"You can't inject new ideas into a man's head by chopping it off, neither will you infuse a new spirit into his heart by piercing it with a dagger" (Martin Luther King). In Tunisia there is a lot of energy, shops are open 7 days a week, folks are very helpful if you e.g. are looking  for a certain building, street, etc.; you are often friendly greeted and asked how are you. But there is also a lot of sorrow and pain. Mainly elderly persons feeling depressed. It is so obvious, the way they walk, bend, head down. Disappointed, their dreams crushed. The everybody for themselves attitude, me first (Donald Trump style on a very much smaller scale). I may be mistaken, but this seems to have spread after the revolution. I know an old-age pensioner from Europe who settled in Sousse (outskirts). She learnt to love Tunisia during her holidays. The climate does her bones good. But the poor woman has the misfortune to find one Mafia landlord after the other, absolutely shameless and brazen. One worse than the other. While one declared when she dies he will keep everything she possesses and through psychological terror tried to speed up the progress, the next one tried to rob her straight away. When she discovered that he can't be trusted and moved out after 8 days, he prevented her from taking her furniture, plants, etc. with her, barefaced lie she gave it all to him (to a person she doesn't know,

whom she doesn't trust, why should she wish to start from scratch again, at her age?). They are shamelessly taking advantage of her being just an elderly defenceless foreign woman. You can view more expensive new cars on the  street than in Europe (as far as I can judge), yet this is a poor country and there are a lot of people also, in particular in the neglected south, that have problems making ends meet. They badly need jobs that don't ruin their health. Environment protection is a field where nothing much has been done so far. There every invested Dinar would pay off in many ways. Not only would jobs here allow many to earn a living, but also provide citizens with clean air, water, beeches and soil. In addition make Tunisia more attractive to tourists again and lead to further income and a flourishing tourist trade. May be even that famous beautiful North African smile would return again. For the presence, though, I feel it is high time to teach some parents how to raise their children, that is is a crime to neglect them, that a civilised society can not tolerate the abuse of animals. Children cruel to animals don't grow up and become respectable adults, caring parents, but often end up in prison. I repeatedly viewed children and teens throwing stones at cats hiding beneath cars (when a longer parked car finally drives off, you can see lots of such stones), even right in front of my entrance door, kicking, beating or toddlers attempting to spit at them. This not normal child's behaviour and it is hardly surprising cats watch the children here like enemies, which they are often after all. Disturbed neglected kids taking out their frustration on defenceless animals. In Germany folks called the police because a kitten climbed from underneath inside a car's engine space. The police saved the kitten as they do on other occasions when an animal needs help. If I would call them here for such a reason they would think I am not right in my head and refuse to listen to me! - Many kittens die very young in Tunisia, Alice gave birth to 6 (3 alive, 3 already dead) on 28.5.18, by end of  June only 1 is still alive, the adopted one also died. On 01.07 she tried for the 3rd time to steal one of Gloria's baby cats. I caught her just in time. Gloria (great mum and so beautiful) had 5 kittens on 21.06.18 of which now on the 01.07.18 only 2 are still alive, but she also looks after 2 kittens from a previous pregnancy and 2 adopted ones. Bella, a 3-coloured lovely gentle street cat (had her operated for "family planning") accompanied me the other day when I went shopping for cats' food. We walked together along a few roads. When we reached a busy street, she waited at the other side while I crossed the road -smart Bella - and when I left the shop returned with me to my house. Pity I can't offer her shelter inside my house, my cats won't accept another fur inhabitant. I'd wish I had a farm to provide for more homeless cats. I've given names to many cats, including several street cats. They all know their name and respect me, like I respect them. This is what Tunisia needs, respect, education, some parents made to understand their responsibility for their children, that it is a crime to neglect them as well as abuse animals. It is a fact that kids abusing animals seldom become good citizens one day, or caring sensitive parents. Instead of this what-is-in-for-me attitude, grab what you can, envy, all those bad feelings, we need more folks with developed interpersonal skills, people who understand they belong to a community and that it is also up to them to strengthen this democracy. Just imagine, women and children of one area meeting from time to time in order to clean the streets (not everywhere necessary) and various corners of rubbish, it would also give them a feeling for the requirement not to drop their wrappings, etc. anywhere. It is already forbidden, but all too often ignored. Further, men meeting in order to do what repair and decoration work they can to needy schools. Utopian idea? It has been practised in Germany. Kids can study in pleasant surroundings, instead of loitering on the streets, not knowing how to spend their countless spare time. What they learn on the street I encounter every day, school could teach them values, art technics, provide them with chances in life, and last not least to respect nature and love their country.