Circumstances Can Change Plans

"It is the hell of the poor that created the paradise of the rich." Victor Hugo

We did a lot of travelling, not so much in Africa as it seemed to make sense to do so after settling in North Africa. Then lovely Amira arrived, not much later presented us four cute little bundles of joy, tomcat Tiger and his sisters Bijoux, Sandy and Soleigh. That was the start. When I discovered pretty three-coloured Honey near the refuse pit, I noticed that for unknown reasons her tail was missing and there was a scab mixed with tiny stones instead, which later on fell off, she started to bleed, a new scab developed, fell off, and so on. I thought it is time to act if she allows me to do so. I picked her up, she accepted this, great, Honey seemed to understand that I wanted to help her. Taking her in a transport box to a veterinarian clinic was so easy. They did a good job there and Honey become our tailless special darling. She likes to be outside on the road but eats and sleeps at home. When I call her she comes running, this is real love on both sides. Also when I don't see her and call her name, she's suddenly there. Honey doesn't seem to like us leaving the house, even when she herself is outside, she follows us for a bit and complains, sounds like "don't leave me...." Seeing homeless cats at the rubbish pit looking for food, I started to take some down there for them, when one woman suggested I feed them in front of my house. Thought it sounds like a good idea and the cats soon discovered my "cats' table. " They arrive punctual for breakfast early every morning (at a time when our local hooligans are still asleep).  This lead to folks asking us whether we would take one or two cats inside. Then kids also brought us kittens, unbelievable beautiful little sweeties and in addition wounded cats, victims of accidents or abuse. We ended up with neither time nor money for visiting other countries..... exploring Africa. Luckily our vet charges much less than those in central Europe (where I had three cats, but only one at a time) and she makes allowance for us offering shelter and helping so many cats. Several years before the revolution they cats we saw here were very skinny certainly not pedigree cats, no cats' food on supermarket shelves, I used to bring croquettes from Europe. Relatives and friends seeing photos of nowadays beauties stated they rarely saw so many gorgeous cats. Wonder where they all come from, being such darlings (most of the time) they must have come straight from heaven.

My Gorgeous Children and Fur Neighbours

"If everybody feels secure we are tolerate" Ken Loach. - When we first moved here, quite a few cats arrived at our doorstep, I felt they were introducing themselves as possible "tenants". One actually already greeted us from inside, looking out from a broken window. The house being in urgent need of renovations it appeared to be a bit early to make a decision on which pet should live  with us, though we had already made up our mind to form a family with two cats. Little did we know! With lovely Amira, tri-coloured, mainly white, it was love at first sight, for her and us. She got at least four times "engaged" and one could see the result when her sweet kittens arrived, all on the same day, amazing. This was in May 2013. Amira was a great loving mum with gentle children: Tiger (black, brown streamed, white bib, socks and tummy (fairly common marking among cats), Sandy yellow and white, Soleigh mainly white with some yellow spots, Bijoux tri-coloured, resembling her mother. All a bit bigger than most cats here and fairly strong while fit. One day in January 2019 Soleigh disappeared without a trace. We must assume that our little darlings is no longer alive, so sad. Last year Bijoux started to get sick, not very worrying at first but finally vets couldn't save her live. In the end she was just bones and fur and needed a lot of attention. We didn't want her to suffer unnecessarily, yet trips to the vet made her panic, a difficult decision, we decided to let her die at home if possible. Our tomcat Mallek stayed with her during the last days of her live right until the end. Who says animals don't know empathy? Amira had to be operated twice on account of a growth, size of a five Dinar coin .  She also is no longer as fit as she used to be, now approx. eight years old, times seven is supposed to give you an idea how this compares to human life expectancy. Thus now a middle-aged not very happy lady. From time to time she shouts a lot, wants us to be with her all the time (forget about toilet....,) wants to sit on my or my husband's lap, lately also on my shoulder, (does that make me a witch? Well, I luckily don't resemble Trump, who according to his own words is the witch presently hunted, going back in history, what was done with witches....?) then quite unexpectedly runs out, decides to jump off the roof onto the awning and into the street. After several days, or just a day or two she returns. Previously she didn't like the street at all, had enough after five minutes at the most. This morning I had to crawl underneath a car and drag my precious one out. She purrs while I give her a massage, poor little darling. A young man with a bulldog on a lead (thank heavens for that) passed by, three of my regular customers (visitors to my cats' table), a brown Persian cat, a black, light and dark brown one and another tri-coloured, brown, orange and white, were ready to fight. I got a shock, this would be too much for me to bear. Thank heavens the young man pulled his dog away and moved on. One day when one of my cats shouted a lot, I advised my little  treasure to stop this, what will the neighbours think.....? My brother suggested I inform them that he wasn't complaining about me but them! Suzy from time to time suffers from mistaken identity, plays the male part chasing Milka, Adele and Natasha and wants to mark her hunting area. In addition she scratches at the window when she wants to come indoors, while Lilly continues to "knock" at the door by banging the key attachment against the door. This she does quite impressively, one could think there is a guy at the other side. Our fur neighbours want to ensure that not too many turn up for free food, newcomers are frequently chased away. One lately came running, picked up a piece of sausage (folks here call it salami), ran away, returned for some more and so on, I made sure the little sweetie also got her share.

Retrospective Make Tunisia Great

Scientists discovered that 2% of Neanderthals' Gene still exist in European, American and Asian population but not in African, even though the cradle of mankind stood in Africa!
Small birds with spotted feathers mainly live on olive trees which often turns out to be fateful for them. With the aid of stretched sheets they are caught and sold for consumption. Why we must eat small birds (in Europe e.g. quails) while they are on the decline and only provide minor amounts of meat, I can not understand. Can't we just enjoy their beauty and thank heavens for their very existence? The other day I viewed a man sitting on a chair, in front of him slightly hidden cages with these olive tree birds, a bucket, and without them making a sound, he swiftly took one after the other and slit their throats. I felt for him it was like cutting potatoes. It made me feel sad, like it always does when I see or hear of animals being killed. - One day hopefully more folks of all ages, starting with the young ones, will open their eyes, view a great nature worthy of protection. We will all profit and we owe this to the coming generations. As the First Nation in America put it: Mother Earth, she is only lend to us.

Make Tunisia Great

"For almost half of every year our ancestors ate no fruit, no green vegetables, and (since it was impossible for them to feed more than a few oxen, cows, swine, and poultry during the winter months) very little butter or fresh meat, and very few eggs." Aldous Huxley (The doors of perception and heaven and hell). The lack of vitamins caused physical and mental problems. - With raising prices several folks can't afford to buy meat, being a vegetarian I don't consider that quite as terrible as they do, but when it comes to not being able to obtain vital medication that is a different matter. Poor people can be entitled to get these e.g. through a hospital, providing they are not sold out, no longer on the market or in short supply. The other day an elderly gentleman was crying because his wife is very sick and he can't get her tablets. As in other countries corruption causes a big problem. If the supply is limited and those whose job it is to distribute this according to the regulations give preference to people who can pay a small bribe, a little extra, maybe a bottle of oil, eggs, etc. this still represents corruption and is harmful to those most needy. Sadly folks often don't understand that we can all contribute to a better Tunisia, each one according to his or her ability. There is a German saying: "Don't do to others what you don't want to be done to you." President Macron once said something to that effect that too many children prevent Africa from prospering, he received a lot of criticism for that. On a smaller scale I would say that if you neglect your children, leave them to roam the streets, then you have too many. Children used to represent the "rent" for the parents, the field workers for the farmer in poor countries and it made sense to have many as not all would survive their childhood. But times are changing. If you give your kids too much freedom, don't teach them how far they can go, this won't make them happy but leave them with a feeling that their parents don't care. Bad habits die hard. For a while the streets looked much cleaner but it appears to be difficult to motivate citizens not to just throw away their wrappings wherever they are. Kids view adults do this and act likewise. In my opinion pupils (nowadays usually called students) have too much spare time on their hand and don't know how to spend it. And of course there are the drop outs from school, who appear to think education is a waste of time, for the ignorant and disillusioned it may seem so. Why study if you can't find a job? Hopefully this will change. Lots of jobs could be created in the social sector, youth and street workers, instead of private lessons (often by teachers in employment), difficult for poor parents to cope with, why not keep students in school for extended hours doing supervised homework? School doesn't have to be boring (my students loved my lessons). There seems to be an underdeveloped awareness of the need to protect the environment. Men of all ages don't see a reason to switch off the engine when they stop in front of a small shop to do a bit of shopping, looks to me like an invitation to steal the motorbike or car, they don't think that far. In GB you have to pay a fine for letting your engine run idle, sounds like a good idea. That way one can reduce double pollution: extreme noise (motorbikes) and the unpleasant and unhealthy smell of Diesel and other petrol. - Classrooms are often not very inviting due to lack of funds. It doesn't always require a lot of money to achieve a small upgrading, why not try self help? Further I would suggest to take the class outside once or twice a month, and collect jointly senseless dumped rubbish. Seeing the amount of litter picked up ought to give the students a sense of what is wrong and needs to be altered. In a great country folks feel that they are all part of a community and if you love your country why not contribute more if you can? One of the Quran requests is to donate for the poor. The poor and misfortune could do with more support, not just a bit of charity. The value of profit should not be rated higher than healthy working conditions (thinking of the south in particular).

What is in it for me

A veterinarian comes to see a medical practitioner. "I shan't tell you what's wrong with me. My patients can't inform me, let's see how you would manage if you were in my shoes." So the doctor examines the veterinarian. Then he writes out a prescription and says: " Take this three times a day after meals, return if you aren't better after a fortnight but I am afraid then I will have to put you down." - Whenever a car parks near my house it is quite likely that a cat will walk underneath it in order to look for temporary shelter or just shadow. The other day I viewed a kitten doing just that. With one boy inside and another little boy outside it looked to me as if the car won't stay much longer and not sure whether the kitten will run in time to safety, I decided to inform the little boy that a kitten is presently underneath their car. The boy's reaction was brilliant, he bend down, had a look and shouted: "wow wow, wow wow. It worked, the kitten got the message and ran to a saver place. Of three lovely black Persian (folks here call them "Turkish" because Turks brought them to Tunisia) tiny cats only one is still alive, one got hit by a car I am told, I found him dead on the pavement. So the mother just arrives with one kitten at my "cats' table" now, very sad. I would have loved to take them indoors, but this wasn't possible, unfortunately I haven't got a farm, not even a garden, just two terraces, a sanctuary farm would be great. Anyhow, my cat community has grown, even though we force "family planning" on our little treasures. At present several require dental treatment, I was shocked to note that this can even be the case at the tender age of four months.
Cancer is spreading and also effects animals. Amira our first Tunisian cat, approx. eight years old, has now been operated for the second time. Should there be another growth then the vet won't be able to save her life, we are told. Amira is like a family member for us, we hope that all will be well. We try to limit the number of cats in the kitchen. Grace developed a special trick to gain access. She jumps on my husband's back, wraps herself around his neck and enters the kitchen together with him. Today our darling Bijoux died. She was 6,5 years old, Amira's daughter, lately in a very poor state of health, only bones and fur, she used to be so gorgeous, in spite of all our attempts to save her life, the vets couldn't help our Bijoux. Sweet Mallek tried to comfort her and stayed with her until her last moments. A real angel (Mallek is the Arabic word for angel, looks like I had picked the right name for him), mainly white soft fur the gentle boy. We miss our Bijoux, every cat is special, has her own character and soul, I remember when she was born together with her sisters Sandy and Soleil and one brother, Tiger. Amira had allowed me to assist her and watch these little treasures seeing the light of the world. There are many things in life that are not really necessary, wouldn't like to live without cats though, they have become essential to me and my husband. There are absolute beauties out on the street, happy if they can find shelter, water and a bit of food. Some folks thought we brought cats from Europe, that would be like taking coals to Newport, owls to Athens.....we found presents from heaven right in front of our door.

PostScript What is in it for me

"We just require the mere contact to convince the natives that our intentions are pure and honest and that we serve more their materialistic and social well being than our own interest." Henry Morton Stanley (report to the Belgium king 1879).
With high unemployment and raising costs depression is also increasing, yet it is easy to put a smile on the face of even total strangers, give them a smile and it will usually be returned. My husband likes to hand out sweets, just a couple of Bonbons can do the trick. The other day a taxi driver informed us he kept his for his little daughter who told him: "I know the woman you got these from, she often gives me Bonbons too." The kids in the neighbourhood call me "Madam Bonbon". Various products disappear from the shops from time to time ( presently not available) some medications, sugar, milk, butter, potatoes
 not a big problem, imports arrive and after all not everything is constantly necessary. More tourists are arriving, Tunisia is worth visiting, there is more than just a fine sand beach, lots of sunshine, holiday at low costs. Some Russian tourists thought one Dinar pays for a long taxi ride, well I think they misunderstood something, taxis are cheap, but not that cheap. If the meter is switched on you can be fairly sure that you are charged the correct price. While not every taxi driver is honest, the high majority is. Tricksters can anyhow be found in most countries. What have Russian tourists and local folks got in common? Both usually are not very generous with tips I am told. It is of course easier to be generous when you have a reasonable amount of money in the bank. By the way, for unknown reasons Residents and Tunisians who receive foreign currency from abroad don't get the same rate of exchange as tourists do, needless to add a less favourable one. As Wolfgang Borchert put it: " What is a bank robbery compared to opening a bank?"

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Retrospective Thinking Positive

In North Africa the blue colour is very popular, it is used for houses, iron mountings, fences, etc. While cats can't see red they recognise various shades of blue, looks like the little fur angels are well equipped for this part of the world. Kids arrive fully dressed like they are going to play professional football, only problem: their chosen sports field is the crossroads. They advised my husband that this is practised here for 25 years meanwhile. I guess the last two presidents allowed this? Surely there was less traffic, donkey carts..... (we urgently need playgrounds, we usually have 20 to 30 children playing right here). Drivers who know this area frequently slow down ( young motorcyclists to a lesser extend), either because of the cats or the kids, don't know who is thus unwittingly protecting whom. Older cats respect the traffic, check before crossing, look to the right and left while the local children tend more to ignore pedestrians, cars and motorcycles. The street belongs to them but if they are forced they will tolerate the traffic. It appears to be fashionable to keep birds in a cage. Those I have seen differ from those in middle Europe, fairly small, no sand at the bottom, no bath (plastic attachment filled with water), etc. all very basic. Folks often hang these bird cages temporary outside but not always making sure that the chosen place doesn't get too hot. Generally speaking I think we could do with more consideration for animals' well being, if you seek the shadow maybe the animal would also prefer it to bright sunshine. The chickens crowded in cages in front of several shops are not a pretty sight, often "pre-plucked". Because of the stress they suffer they pull out feathers. The situation in Europe is not much better in those chicken "concentration camps", in Tunisia the situation of animals intended for slaughter and sale is more in the open. The heads of cows hanging in front of butcher shops are mend to proof that the meat inside the shop is fresh, I just find it depressing and some Tunisians also expressed they'd wish this practise will stop. - I told a little boy that there is a kitten underneath his family car. I loved his reaction, he bend down saying:" wow-wow, wow-wow." It worked the little treasure ran to a safe place. Clever boy!

Thinking Positive

"Whether coffee or sugar is of decisive importance for Europe's luck, I don't know but what I do know is that these two products founded the misfortune of two great world regions; America got depopulated because one wanted land for cultivation and Africa got depopulated because one wanted humans who do the cultivation." J.H. Barnadin de Saint Pierre, Voyage to Isle de France, Isle de Bourbon (1773)
The sun is supposed to have a positive effect on the psyche and one's well being and since cats love the sunshine of which we have plenty, I had thought cats would be fairly fit here. Discovering that young kittens, only four or five months old, already need a dentist came as a real surprise to me. Little Ricardo had to have three tooth removed, Natasha and Aisha likewise, at least Kitty and Honey are older, approx. five. Their immune system is pretty poor and their gens are often not optimal. It is the price the little darlings have to pay for living on what folks leave for them. Pus in the eye of kittens is not uncommon here, if left untreated, they will loose the eye and die early. Today I noticed pus in the eye of one of those lovely kittens that the mother cat had brought to rest underneath my outside yucca palm tree. It wasn't an easy job to grab the little one whom nature had taught to be cautious. She attacked me as expected in self-defence, therefore I quickly took the screaming baby inside so that the mother won't attack me as well (she was very nervous hearing her little one fearing for her life). I cleaned the eye, used first Physiol drops and then  put a bit of Oxytetracycline Pomade in the eye. Mother and baby cat were happy when the procedure was over and so was I. Time for my usual treatment of myself: Betadine on my slightly bleeding wounds. Luckily I have no intentions to compete in a beauty contest in the near future. As I provide the little family regularly with food we can continue to be friends, can't expect them to understand that my intentions are always good, poor little darlings. What I call my lucky day, may sound a bit strange. Late in the evening I called Honey to come indoors then I heard a familiar call  for me, Amira who went outside a few days ago returned, great to have her back. As we walked inside there is a cat yelling from our roof. It is Bijoux, our very poor sick girl who normally doesn't climb onto the roof. Unfortunately vets can't help her and she hates being taken there. Anyhow, next thing she jumped off the roof onto our awning. With the aid of a ladder I managed to take her down and inside again. Our cats keep me on my toes, but if they are all well I am happy. Now that nights are getting fairly cold and wet, a season that neither cats nor I particular like, we will have a lot of sneezing, coughing, some times even fever, I try to keep them warm with little blankets, but they don't always stay that way. In addition some cats don't choose the ideal places for the night, on the other hand there are groups of cats nestling against each other, a beautiful site. A  man informed my husband he had been told I would sell cats. They are like family for me, who wants to sell family members?

PostScript What you may or may not like

Three oxen, young, middle-aged and old on a meadow, the young one discovers some lovely cows on a hill and suggests: "Let us run uphill." The middle-aged replies: "No, let us wait, perhaps they'll come downhill." Says the old one: "If we hide in the bushes on the left may be they won't notice us!" - There are three cute black kittens with a white "bib" and white "socks" under my Yucca palm tree outside my front door. They are approximately six to eight weeks old. Did folks from the neighbourhood bring them there? Actually no, it turned out that a cat that has been a regular visitor to my cats' table chose that place for her babies. She joins them there to feed them her milk. Clever little darling, other mother cats that I couldn't take indoors, had to often carry food from my house across the street to their little family. Recently three women and one little boy on various occasions knocked at my door hoping I could provide their young cats with a home, unfortunately I had to turn them away. I hate doing this but any more additions are just not possible, neither financially nor concerning the space. More and more also creates stress for my little treasures, I don't want them to fight because of this. Some cats found a friend or several in my house, others would prefer to be "an only child", some are easy going, gentle and quiet, others very lively and demanding, not unlike us characters can differ a lot. Cats' language doesn't consist of just "mew", they make this sound when they need help, a different one when demanding food, or wanting cuddling or massage to be continued, purring when they are happy or in pain, seems to be a kind of pain killer, some "talk" while eating, appears to mean "delicious" in cat language. And of course there are sounds that advise "don't mess with me, leave me alone." A Tunisian lady returned from her holiday in Germany under the impression that while everybody seems to keep a dog (many on the road kept on a lead) there are not a lot of cats around. Well actually you can find more cats than dogs in Germany. As approx. 90 % of them are living indoors, unlike here, one can easily draw the wrong conclusions. A dog as a toy for disturbed kids (between 5 and 16) seem to be in fashion here, at least in this part of the town. Pretending to kick or hit the poor creature is their understanding of playing, not much fun for the dog though. It makes me mad to watch, I guess one must be grateful if the kids are just pretending and not throwing stones, etc. ! Unfortunately these kids are rarely told how far they can go, where the limits are.  The other day I viewed a little boy, approx 5 or 6 years old at the most (kindergarten diploma) driving a motorcycle standing upright. He did a round of a few streets and returned to his waiting father who seemed to be proud of his son's performance. When I asked him whether the law allows this and a possible accident would be acceptable, he replied that his son desired so much to drive the motorcycle and he stuck to the roads in the neighbourhood. I am glad that a gun in the house is pretty rare here (unlike in USA), what if the toddler wants to shoot a bit? Rumour has it that this week's holiday (one of ever so many) is designed to provide students with time to study at home, judging by what I view I think it is actually in order to provide these kids with extra time to play football, so important, isn't it?

What you may or may not like

Errors don't just arise because one doesn't know certain things, but because one ventures to judge even though one doesn't know everything that will be imperative for this. (Immanuel Kant) -

Following the election of a new president, Saied Kais, a man regarded by all who know him as an absolutely honest person, there is hope Tunisia can tackle his problems of high unemployment, in particular among the academic, the young, rising

prises, low income, public debts, spread corruption, lack of animal protection, environmental problems on various levels, etc. Generally speaking folks here lack environmental awareness. Pavements are often kept clean by the house owners, but water and air pollution remain a problem. Many cheap, often plastic short- lived products are on sale. A larger variety of products than before the revolution exists, some are not always available, this also applies to food. Farm workers are badly paid (just like in too many countries all over the world) which led to a lot of folks looking for an alternative in another area, a shortage of staff for the harvest and a requirement of previously unnecessary imports. Folks complain they can't afford to pay for these, yet they travel by taxi not bike. Taxis are cheap but it all adds up, one can easily spend more on these than for a monthly bus ticket in e.g. a German town. The bus and train and non- private healthcare service is rather limited.

One doesn't see many smiling faces, was everything better in the past? Certainly not, but there is a lot of disappointment, more stress and depression, too much noise for my liking and that of expats in general, who learnt to appreciate silence, so relaxing and better for ones health. Even a small group of kids/youngsters can create ear-splitting noise. I then jokingly ask my husband: Are they continuing the revolution? It is sometimes difficult to know whether some people out on the street are just talking or having a quarrel. When it comes to a fight there are always persons from the neighbourhood's quick on the scene to stop it. That is what I like in this community. Whenever I address men who let their car or motorbike engine run idle, ask them why do you do this, pollute the air, every driver seems to do this, I can 't understand such behaviour, you have brains like children! They all apologise, no one got angry ever. A pleasant surprise for me. Actually some even leave their vehicle unattended for a few minutes, engine switched on, not thinking this might be seen as an invitation of a thief passing by. Life is full of surprises, never gets boring. Many in particular young men, feel disillusioned and are thinking of leaving Tunisia, believing they can find a better life in Europe. This means risking their life and even if they can make it, they won't find a paradise, far from it! Life in Europe can be quite hard, depressing and not at all what they are looking for. The open arm welcome vanished following terrorists' attacks and stupid behaviour of some North Africans possibly disappointed with their new surroundings and regulations.  Without a visa and a job waiting for you I would strongly advise not to start such a journey. Tunisia has yet much to offer and you know what? In Europe you can also see folks collecting bottles, only it is not in order to sell plastic but glass bottles returned for cash, refund of a deposit paid by the consumer. Some guys are also homeless there. While in more and more countries people want their often corrupt government to step down, Tunisians can hope to now get a positive change, but it won't happen over night. My advice to young frustrated hopeless feeling young folks: don't risk your life for an uncertain future in Europe, you may yet a chance here to contribute to a better Tunisia. As my husband put it: "I can no longer enjoy eating fish, too many corpses in the Mediterranean Sea."

PostScript Not all are the same

Thank heavens, Amira returned, a bit hungry and fairly tired. We are happy to have our "lost daughter" back. She looks neat and comes to cuddle. Some cats refer human company to that of  other cats. Is it the competition they don't like,  or having to share? Not all are the same, some little darlings cuddle with other cats, make friends and yet there maybe cats that they just want to chase away. Not unlike us, some folks we like at first glance and dislike others straight away, it may be only a feeling.

Frankly I felt depressed and disappointed when Amira walked out and disappeared for several days after living with us for eight years. In spite of having a community of many cats, everyone counts, all are different and have a great personality. Amira now demonstrates that she loves us too, Keen to cuddle and continue living with us, wonderful.

Not All are the Same

We first met Amira 2012, a gorgeous white, brown and black cat and it appeared to be love on first sight on all parties. Several cats came to our house, "introducing themselves" as possible new family members, at the time we just chose Amira. She loved climbing walls and onto roofs, no problem for her, only for me watching and worrying about her safety. She became quicker pregnant than anticipated and got "engaged" at least four times. Cats manage to have kittens of different tomcats born on the same day usually four or sometimes six, normally one resembling the mother. Amira allowed me to assist her, when in May 2013 Tiger, Bijoux, Soleigh and Sandy arrived. They were so cute and Amira turned out to be a great mum, providing her babies with a lot of love and care, watching them carefully and only interfering when necessary. A happy little family we were proud to have. As they grew older, Sandy showed a tendency to panic with bad weather (heavy rain, hail, thunderstorm). We decided to have Amira operated and the others when they are at the right age (family planning). During Amira's operation the vet discovered (unknown to us) that she was pregnant again. When Amira returned home she changed and didn't seem to like her kittens anymore. Did she intend to make them leave and make space for her new generation (unaware of having had her pregnancy terminated)? Or was it the shock of the operation forced on her? She started to fight with Sandy, to a lesser extend with Bijoux and fear her son Tiger. Him chasing her, because he saw her as the attractive female cat and she not wanting to get "engaged" to her son? We had to keep them separate. Whenever Amira went outside on the street she quickly returned and she didn't seem to find the street with all those cars, noisy motorbikes and lots of constantly yelling and stone throwing children very appealing. But life is full of surprises. Lately Amira went outside, disappeared for two days, returned, had some food and went again. Next morning she mixed with the cats that come to my "cats' table", protested when I took her inside and went out again. Now we haven't seen her for three days and this depresses me. What kind of food does she find, what shelter, does she observe the traffic, encounter disturbed kids? Honey goes out after breakfast, returns when she's hungry and always sleeps in our house. Why can't Amira do the same? We continue to hope for her return, those who have to sleep rough don't get old. Hopefully Amira is aware that she's got an alternative. We love her and I learnt a lot from her. While some cat mums always seem to enjoy the company of even their adult children, Amira appeared to prefer to be on her own. Maybe she only loves kittens while they  are small and little bundles of joy.  We often wondered  whether she was aware of which cats are her children. She seemed to "argue" a lot with Sandy, had started hitting her and one day Sandy began to hit her back. Looks like cats' behaviour is not so unlike that of humans. Perhaps Amira's strained relationship with Sandy made her decide to leave. Very sad. I haven't given up hope yet to have her return. - While we had reached a point where any more additions of little fur angels is no longer possible, a lady from Germany arrived with sweet Fritz asking for temporary shelter for him until her brother would pick him up within 4 or 6 weeks. That lady left a bit of food for Fritz, returned once more with additional food and that is the last I heard of her. Did she change her mind or did she trick me in order to find a home for Fritzchen? The other day a Tunisian lady tried in vain to persuade us to accept two baby kittens. We very much regret but we have reached our absolute limit and that is also how our little darlings feel, they don't want an even bigger family. Some have found a friend or several, others are not happy to see one or two of those present and I have to stop them fighting. Life isn't always easy and as nights are getting colder our little treasures will start coughing and sneezing, have their little noses running. I am afraid vaccination is too expensive for us, even though our vet would be prepared to offer this at a reduced rate to us.

Continued Never Mind Don't Worry

On the stairway to heaven we meet all animals that we encountered during our life time and they report how we treated them. (A legend of the First Nation, but I also heard this from some religious Muslims) A nice thought. The other day I viewed a very young little boy attempting to kick a cat. He was accompanied by two women dressed religious style. As they didn't react I shouted: "haram haram" (forbidden according to the Quran). You may say "but he is just a child". Sorry, I don't believe that kicking a cat or throwing stones at animals is a normal behaviour for a child of any age. The urge to stroke their soft fur would be though, but I noticed again and again that cats run away from kids and youngsters, they do here, in Europe I never saw this. Animals learn from experience, just like we do. Our cats Diana, Amira, Julino and Lilly once or twice walked out to see if they can find a better service across the road but quickly returned, so we are not bad "vice parents" after all. Good to know. Since they all love to cuddle and test how many fit on our lab, we shouldn't doubt this. In the morning all want to join me in the kitchen, may be we should have bought a house with two kitchens, one for our little fur angels..... I heard cats like to adopt old age pensioners as they have plenty of spare time.   Cats don't care if you are old and have wrinkles. These little darlings are certainly not stupid. At my "cats' table" among my outdoor guests are lately a mummy cat with her four children and another one with only one kitten (probably originally four). They come looking for me if I am late and then we all walk to their shelter and I feed them there. Makes it easier for the little mummies then carrying one piece of "salami" after the other to their little family. - Sandy sitting on her little stool on the window sill (I call it the cats' balcony) suddenly jumps down. Wondering what caused her fright was quickly answered, neighbours informed us that we had a burglar climbing onto our roof. Questioned what he's doing there he declared he was looking for his cat. Lol! Interesting excuse for breaking into other folks' houses. Strange, a couple of nights before I dreamt a burglar was trying to get inside our house and I was running from room to room in order to quickly close all the windows. Then I woke up.  Our security fencing on top hurt the young burglar's private parts. Nothing was stolen, he left in a rush chased away by my big family I would like to think. Not every theft and burglary is reported to the police because people fear revenge from the concerned clan. That is no way to achieve changes. The punishment for a robbery has been increased to five years prison I am told. Anyhow the burglar was on camera, some persons know him and his uncle intends to take him to the police where he has already a file with five previous such cases. As he takes drugs getting arrested will probably save him from committing bigger crimes and at the same time offer a chance to "go through cold turkey" in prison. Hopefully he will learn from experience and gets one day a chance for a new start. - School started but at 10 a.m.  the first student's were allowed to go home again so they won't experience too much stress following a three months holiday. School books looking like new are lying in the rubbish container. Gone are the days when such books were either sold to younger students or handed to younger relatives. Times are changing, if we are lucky for the better.

Never mind don't worry

A Christian family in a car getting stopped in a Taliban controlled area. Being asked whether they are Muslims or Christians, the father replies: "Muslims"  "Okay can you quote from the Quran?" The father quotes a passage from the Bible and gets permission to carry on with his journey. The mother is angry: " How can you do this, you risked our life." " Not at all," her husband replies, "if they would know the Quran, they wouldn't commit those atrocities, after all they are all Haram (forbidden).
When we came here we were surprised to find so many beautiful cats, some in Europe really expensive ones, e.g. the Burmese Colour Point one, out on the street, later on in front of our house, apparently without any owner (I prefer not to call myself an owner but a friend, these cats are like family for us). The other day we discovered a gorgeous looking tomcat, blue eyes, light beige fur with brown paws, same marking on ears and nose, perfect Burmese breeding (used to be the most expensive cat in the world). The little treasure was out on the street and not paying much attention to the traffic. A young boy informed us that the woman to whom this cat belonged put him out because he would urinate in corners of the house ("marking" his area, typical for non sterilised tomcats) and scratch furniture.  Some folks don't know how this can be stopped without such radical action or don't want to spend 50 Dinar at the vets. Concerning scratching  furniture, this serves as claw care, as an alternative one can offer a tree trunk (or something smaller) with a rope or a cord wrapped around it. Anyhow, I think we now know why there are so many little treasures homeless. In the past we suspected that maybe French or other foreigners left them behind when they left Tunisia. Frankly we are shocked that these great darlings are treated by local folks like throwaway articles. So sad. How can one put a cat that gives us her/ his love and trust out on the street, risk that the cat gets run over by a car (so many do), has to starve, fall sick... No feeling of any responsibility? In view of such an attitude I am no longer surprised how ignorant parents handle their disturbed kids, they leave them to scream out on the street, so they can themselves relax undisturbed. Imagine parents reading fairytales at the bedside of their little ones. Experts say it has a positive effect on their brain. So does sleeping at night, when it's dark. Should the young ones really decide themselves when it's time to go to bed? Parents may think it's safe if their child is together with other kids of more or less the same age, but such groups tend to particular act like "hooligans". The street is a bad teacher. Why are holidays so long and so many teachers unemployment? Seems to be such a waste. If more children would at least read books and experience the joy books can give.

An Alien in Tunsia

A Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan meeting.  A fly molesting the Moroccan so he draws a sword off the wall and with one blow cuts the fly in half. Another fly this time molesting the Algerian so he also takes the sword and with two blows divides the fly into quarters. A further fly arrives and chooses to molest the Tunisian guy. He tries to chase it away, all in vain. Finally he feels forced to try his luck with the sword, one blow - the fly flies away. "This fly will never have any children" declares the Tunisian.
Having spend many years in Europe, returning to Tunisia may well turn out a bigger step than anticipated. Feeling like an Alien, Tunisia has changed, kids and young folks have differed  values, manners, some are due to disillusions, lack of opportunities.  Kids without respect for anyone, is this a result of the revolution? Anyhow, for unknown reasons they like to meet near our house, coming from all directions of the surrounding area. Several folks pointed out that they are particularly bad here and they would never allow their children to mix with them. A request to be less noisy late at night these children regard as an insult and they immediately take revenge by throwing stones at our house. Wanting to beautify the house walls facing the street is restricted as we have to take into account the kids' reaction, when you are bored I guess destruction can be fun and they are not accustomed to being held accountable. A small water canister that I use (with a cut out window) to provide street cats with water, I have to secure with a chain and lock. Today I discovered inside an approx. 4 weeks old kitten, thank heaven just in time, before it drowned. The poor little darling was shivering. Having dried her with a towel I put her in my special hammock, actually a cat's invention, the loop of my entrance door curtain. Highly unlikely that the kitten got inside the water container all by itself. - While it makes sense to offer animals water in view of the heat, others feel the urge to remove these little plastic bowls (often created out of the bottom part of a bottle). I heard adults explaining to their kids that cats are dirty and must be treated accordingly. The only dirty cats I ever came across were sick ones, happy to be washed with a cloth. Cats are  never dirty by choice. Those that " hang around" in the rubbish damp area prevent the arrival of rats, mice and cockroaches (the later they successfully hunt but don't eat). We miss the sound of silence, silent rest, noice restricting middle European law and stricter environmental protections legislation. I see young folks proudly riding motorbikes, leaving a black stinking cloud behind and making a hell lot of noice. Understandable that youngsters don't dream of riding a bike nowadays, that wouldn't provide them with the same feeling of freedom (remember the film "Easy Rider"). - An unusually high bill for water consumption arrived, why all of the sudden? We try not to waste water, usually drink mineral water (on medical advice as the tapped water contains too much chalk unfortunately). Maybe we got a swimming pool in the cellar? But no, there  is no cellar, cellars are not exactly common here. It turned out to be a misreading of the water clock. That guy needs glasses. - One can't always find what one intends to buy. At first I put it down to bad planning or maybe unpaid debts of the wholesalers. But it is not always as simple as that. For example some pharmacy products disappeared, the same happens in France. The reason behind this is that that the concerned manufacturing industry decided they don't make enough profit. Not that they are poor, just greedy. -Some imports may have become too expensive, but for unknown reasons a few in Tunisia produced items are at present also not available, pity. - Transport is very cheap, even kids travel to school by taxi, at least in Sousse many do. Streets are congested with cars. A better bus and train service would be ideal, also for the environment. We feel there is too little awareness of the damage air pollution does to people's health. In view of so many well educated unemployed there seems to be lots of scope to tackle many a problem but I guess funding is a great obstacle. Much needs to be done but it is worth it. Tunisia has much to offer.

My Noble Princes and my Beauty Queens

Summer being obviously here with tropical nights, bright sunshine already around 4 a.m. leads to all my fur angels spending less time on the roof terrace and looking for a cool resting place on the ground floor terrace. Luckily they are happy to share, though like us they have their special friends, family/community members with which they get on better than with others. Playing hide and seek or a bit of fighting is all part of the game. Newcomers are sometimes very quiet and shy or a bit aggressive in order to make clear they don't want to be messed around, this may exclude or include me. Fancy being put in a box and brought to a strange place with strangers living there. Wouldn't we also feel insecure? Some cats obviously would love to be the "only child" while others are happy to have playmates and all love and seek our human company. We never feel alone. Great having these amazing little treasures wanting to cuddle, even telling us to continue to massage their beautiful fur. They have their own language and know how to communicate. I learnt to understand their limited "vocabulary" (isn't Trump's also rather limited?). The famous "meau/miau" cats only use as a call for help.  Alfonso a black and white street tomcat likes to have his breakfast sitting underneath the yucca palm tree in front of the entrance door and demands to be hand fed, asking for more after each bite. Some cats make a sound while eating, seems to be a comment like "delicious". Lovely Honey appears to be able to read my thoughts. 

She likes to spend part of the day outside. Lately when I open the door to call her I find her right in front of my entrance door, I may add it is not always at the same time. Bijoux (born in May 2013) recently lost a lot of weight. She had a lot of teeth, gum and kidney problems, following a special kidney diet, the later improved but she may have liver problems now, the vet informed us. Bijoux appears to feel depressed, hardly moves about. Cuddling and massaging she enjoys all the more, she can't get enough of it and it encourages her to eat and regain her will to live. After our precious, very special darling Felicitas passed away, her close friend Lilly, our other black lady, started to loose weight and take less interest in cuddling. Whenever a cat  changes her habit there is usually more behind it than one may at first suspect, it can be a sign of health problems. Unfortunately I can't save all. It is very difficult to cut my expenditures with those beauty queens and gorgeous princes looking at me with their blue, green, yellow or amber coloured eyes. Those without shelter coming to my door tell me they are also hungry, two approx. 3 months old decided to live underneath my yucca palm trees, considering this the second best to living indoors. And yes I try to provide for all of them as best as possible, more important than having a car or holidays. We are no longer planning to do a lot of travelling on the African continent and I am grateful my husband accepts this and thank heaven he too loves fur angles, our precious treasures.

From Day to Day

What do monkeys in the zoo say about their visitors? Thank heavens they are all behind bars!

Times are changing. Mail from and to Tunisia and Germany took one to two weeks - that was before the revolution. Now it's 2 weeks if you are very lucky, more likely 6 to 8 weeks, maybe 6 months or not at all, happened several times. So frustrating. If you need to go to an embassy you may discover that there a lot has changed as well. Without a prior appointment by phone (busy line, in addition e.g. that of the German embassy is only available for a couple of hours daily) you will be turned away. Expect less service and help than in the past. Getting a visa for Europe has become highly difficult, even with an invitation from a
resident there who meets all the stipulations (enough income, health insurance for the visitor, etc). I guess young men in particular are suspected of not wanting to return, thus misusing their visa. Even visiting relatives in Europe is now more difficult for Africans. Ever heard of the "door of no return" ? You can find it Africa, slaves who were forced to pass through never got a chance to return. Our society has become very fearful and mistrusting, having more sources for information available has added to it. News of a crime spreads faster, fake news also. While e.g. homicide was reduced by 63 % in Germany more folks are afraid of that nowadays. Many refugees trying to get to Europe by boat pay with their life. One in seven die in the sea. Zarzis (south of Tunisia) is one of the places where a large number of corpses are recovered/ washed ashore and buried on the cemetery of the unknown, really tough volunteer work (decomposed bodies of women, men and children) by amazing fishermen.  Chamesdine Marzoug started in 2005 to build the cemetery together with colleagues, 8 km from Zarzis on a 600 square metre plot of land, on their own expense, meanwhile supported by the town council, civil protection service, national guard and red crescent. A new cemetery of 2500 square meters is planned, named "The Garden of Africa", various donations made it possible to buy this plot of land. (They can do with additional donations)
It will have concrete grave stones, trees and flowers from the African continent and in addition it is planned to obtain DNA testing kids to help identification of the deceased.
The artist and fisherman L. Mohson, another amazing person in the South, created a museum with items found at the coast, washed ashore, including shoes of those drowned, thanks to Mr.  Mohsons some will not disappear without leaving a trace. Families of those trying to make it by a more, or all too often less sea-worthy boat to Europe are frequently not aware that they lost a family member for good, that he or she drowned in the sea. Terrible thought. Those who can just buy a ticket and fly to wherever they want, don't know how lucky they are. - There are now some solar street lights e.g. in Sousse and Kairouan, hopefully more of the old ones will be replaced by solar soon. Citizens of two towns, Sourh and Gasserine, are asked to spend a day together with the support of "Belladia" (town administration) in order to tidy up their town. This is meant to be only a start. Good to hear, a positive side effect will be that those participating (if not already) realize how much unnecessary pollution is done by carelessness, on the other hand see the beauty of a protected environment.

PostScript Summer Time

Two men talking. First man: What are seat belts good for? Second man: To keep the police happy. That is why we put them on when we approach a police control point (for a minute or two). First man: But why do drivers and passengers wear the seat belt for the whole trip in central Europe? Second man: It appears they have too many policemen, checking this gives them something to do! - Like most items the ticket for a journey from e.g. Sousse to Tunis by minibus has increased (10%), now it's 10,920 Dinar, but this is nothing compared to the taxi fare from Moncef Bay (minibus station in Tunis) to Les Berges du Lac, Rue du Lac Windermere,  an area with several Embassies. The driver demanded 15 Dinar, he must do this journey fairly often as he got there in no time via motorway. When we complained that is far too much, usually 5 - 6 Dinar, he replied: "You went to the toilet" (before we started, he waited, it took me only three minutes, the most expensive visit to a toilet). We realised too late he had the meter switched off, this hasn't happen to us for a long time so we didn't expect it. Bearing in mind that success encourages to continue, I believe in not keeping quite and letting him get away with it for didactic reasons. By the way all other taxi drivers we encountered were perfectly honest. Four years ago a man approached us with a 1 Euro coin in his hand: " How much is this? Please exchange it for me." Being on guard for tricks to steal money, we declined the request. It didn't remain the only time that we were addressed in such a manner. The other day in Sousse a poor tourist wanting to be helpful had his purse stolen when he took it out. One can only hope he didn't use his purse like a wallet. When two young men on a motorbike snatched my handbag off my shoulder three years ago, I lost my mobile phone, my passport, keys and a small sum of money. In Germany thieves often have at least the decency to throw items that don't interest them in a letterbox. Unfortunately there is no such custom here. (This is not just because not many letterboxes are available.) As I love animals and cats in particular it struck me as funny that before returning from Tunis I discovered a lovely white cat sitting in front of the ladies toilets and after I locked the toilet door behind me, this cat followed me through the gap at the bottom of the door. We went to Carthage (world heritage) and discovered in the archaeological area a cat mother with 6 kittens and we're happy to see that the people working there gave them water and a bit of food. One should never take this for granted. Tunisa is a good country and as someone famous once put it, "Democracy means equal rights for thinking folks and twits (Denker und Deppen)."