Don't Worry, maybe joking helps

 You can't be funny by yourself. Funny is only what others know about you. Chris Rock

An Israeli arrives in Paradise. He discovers that there are many Palestinians in a huge dinning room, enjoying a big buffet with the most delicious food and fruits, etc, while in another dinning room for Israeli there is only a choice of two dishes served. So he complains. Why aren't we treated equally? The Angel replies: You are so few, a big buffet wouldn't be appropriate, besides, equality? Don't you come from an Apartheid state?

Dictators from various countries in an aeroplane. The aeroplane crashes. Who survives? The world.

A North African asks his Iman: I don't understand why so many Christians have more money than me. Iman: I know you, you are lazy and unreliable. The guy thanks and goes home. There he prays: Allah please make me diligent and reliable, but not straight away.

Teacher: Ali, how much is 2+3? Ali: 7 Teacher: No, how much is it? Ali: 9. Teacher: No, wrong again. Ali: Teacher you are always criticising me. I hate school!

An Iman and a mini bus driver arrive at the same time at Paradise gate. The Iman is asked to wait while the mini bus driver is allowed in. Complains the Iman: What does that mean, don't you know who I am? Reply: Sorry but, when you were preaching many didn't listen, while when he was driving everybody prayed!

An Angel visits a good citizen and says: I am going to show you heaven and hell, you can choose where you want to go after death. In heaven he finds people with excellent manners, singing and praising. In hell there is a big party going on, much laughter. So he decides it must be more fun to be in hell. The Angel advises him to choose carefully and he can still change his mind before he passes away. Well, he doesn't. Arriving in hell he discovers a totally different situation, it is horrible and a real hell. He complains to the head devil: What is going on here, I don't understand and would have never chosen this place had I known! Replies the head devil: Sorry mate, the first time you arrived you were a visitor, now you are an immigrant!

Meeting of an Iman, a Bishop and a Rabbi. Says the Bishop: Wouldn't it be nice if we could all together enjoy a beer and a nice piece of pork. When will this be possible? Replies the Iman: At the wedding of your son, Bishop.

In a train an Algerian, a Moroccan and a Tunisian travelling together, with them they have a sword as a present for someone. A fly molested the Algerian, he tries in vain to chase it away. So he takes out the sword and with one movement cuts it in half. A little while later another fly arrives, this time molests the Moroccan. He takes the sword and quickly cuts the fly in four parts. The next fly decides to molest the Tunisian. He tries very hard to chase it away, it keeps returning. Getting funny looks from the other guys, he finally feels forced to act. He takes the sword, one swift movement and...... the fly flies away. Well, says the Tunisian. that fly will never have any children!

A group of men meeting, all of them what you might call good-for-nothing, some burglars, other thieves of life stock like e.g. sheep, some drug dealers. Says one: Our work used to be much easier when Moslems didn't like dogs, thought they are dirty. Now dogs are kept in houses, on roofs, it is difficult enough with Corona more folks in the house. Yes, says another, even on airports sniffing drugs. And dogs are out on the fields, barking when we arrive and trying to chase us away, interrupted another. So we all agree, remarked another, dogs are bad for our business. A young guy declared that he may have the solution: let us find out whether there is rabies anywhere in the country and then call it a big problem. Luckily some folks in power also don't like dogs and they will be happy to act. Who needs dogs!!!

A Comparison, Cuba and Tunisia

 Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it's about having a lot of options." Chris Rock                                   

Both countries had dictators, a revolution,are not very big in size and have approx. 11 Million citizens. While Cuba is like an open air vintage car museum (vehicles that the mafia left behind when Fidel Castro and Che kicked them out), Tunisian streets are congested with new cars (most of them "belong to the bank" I am told). Those cars in Cuba are well worth seeing. I asked my husband to pretend he is about to enter one, so I can take a nice picture. A man appeared and nicely asked whether he can now have his car back. By the way, getting spare parts being impossible due to sanction measures restricting/stopping imports, the inventive genius Cuban folks helped themselves with spare parts from Russia or created these themselves. In Tunisia bad streets lead to more repairs to vehicles and the owners facing bills they have difficulties to meet. Education and health services are considered a human right in Cuba, free and open to all citizens. People not only from other American countries, including USA, can only dream of this. In Tunisia much requires improvement, insufficient hospitals, in particular in the south, the poor are more or less supported, not everything is for free, medication is often maktur, meaning sold out, no longer available (may be stolen, given to non- untitled persons), in particular imports. In Cuba more is own production, now also  Corona vaccines. They even send medical specialists to help other countries, often poor ones. They are great people. It is amazing how much they can repair with little resources, here you quickly hear that items are beyond repair, so much, too much is thrown away. I love Cuban music, my favourite is Bona Vista Social Club. Tunisia has of course also good music, at festivals/ celebrations often played at an ear splitting sound level, unfortunately. Animal rights generally exist in Tunisia (Penal Code, article 310 and 317 Section IV 3), 4) ). This comes as a surprise to many, as cats and dogs (not all strays), are shoot or poisoned on the streets at night, many of them, through authorities, in various places. Frankly it depresses me and viewing photos or videos is hard, I often cry. The result of this murdering of innocent animals is that kids/youngsters seeing it become insensitive, lose empathy, throw stones at animals, hit them, treat them like vermin, seldom stopped by their ignorant parents, who may even kill cats and dogs themselves. It is sadly not unusual to kick out a cat or dog that becomes inconvenient, perhaps sick, has unwanted puppies (the little family may even get brutally murdered). So not all straits originate from the streets. It shows, lovely gentle  animals with a shocking destiny. When Cuban citizens demanded animal protection laws, these were introduced (sadly still allowing traditional cock fights and religious sacrifice): Animal welfare and raising awareness in our population on the care and respect of animals is a demand of our society objective to achieve a harmonies relationship between human beings and other species in despensinate condition for the existence of all. Animals must be cared for and protected by man.- At presence we  can only dream of generally animal rights in North Africa, why folks here can be so brutal and believe it's okay to abuse, torture or even murder them, only the devil knows. It is against the Moslem religion (HARAM). The Mufti of Tunisia declared those who kill dogs and cats will go straight to hell after death. We need to educate the ignorant and their kids, teach empathy, respect and appreciation for animals and nature. Too many strays on the roads? The solution is simple, learn to take responsibility for your pet. In order to reduce the number of unwanted ones get them spayed  and neutered, authorities could partly finance this instead of their killings. If you want tourists, don't shock them with inhuman senseless and gruesome actions. By the way, Prophet Mohammed (constantly praised here) loved and  kept animals, his advice: Have sympathy with the animals on earth and then Allah will also have sympathy with you.

Amazing Amira her Life and Death

Rest in peace, my lovely one, thank you for the love you gave us. We will never forget you.

 "We must learn to live together or perish together as fools." Martin Luther King

When we arrived in Kairouan 2013, many lovely cats came to our house to welcome us, among them the gorgeous Amira, white with orange and dark brown patches. She chose us and we chose her, love at first sight! A very sportive little darling who liked climbing on roofs, in the beginning not easy for me to watch, always happy to have her return safely to spend the night with us and during the day checking that we are okay, a real treasure! When the young lady decided to get engaged, she did so at least four times, as far as I could see. We provided the food for the short- lived engagement and as Amira was our first Tunisian cat, there was no need for "family planning" at that time. So in May 2013 Amira gave birth to Tiger, Sandy, Bijoux and Soleigh. All looking differently, only Bijoux resembling mummy (this is usual here). Amira allowed me to be present a great experience. Her babies were so cute. Tiger and Sandy, meanwhile eight years old, are still living with us. Bijoux suddenly fell ill and died in November 2019. Soleigh, a beautiful white feline with yellow patches went outside in Sept. 2019 and never returned, most probably stolen, as we tried in vain to find her and she had no reason to stay away. One day, my husband was sleeping, Amira decided he might as well be her babysitter and brought her babies, one after the other, to him in bed. (My hubby just continued snoring) Great girl pity I didn't make a video. I studied her education method: watch your kittens, interfere only when it's necessary. Don't scream at your babies, show them that you care for them and that they are very special to you. Gentle mothers have gentle well behaved kids/kittens. We moved to Sousse, Amira and her family got a new home and had to adjust to a different life style. The street with all those cars, motorbikes, racing from time to time around our house, we considered too dangerous for our little treasures, as a substitute we offered two terraces, the big one on the roof. One day Amira ran out on the street and returned after a little while. When her children were old enough we had the whole family operated. Amira stopped liking her gentle son, even though a bit of a gentleman with other cats, I guess she feared he may see her as the female rather than just mummy. So we separated them. The vet discovered that Amira had just started to fall pregnant again when she operated her. We hadn't expected this and felt very sorry for our little darling. She had lately changed her way with her kittens, maybe so they perhaps leave and make space for a new family? Anyhow, it turned out that she wasn't very happy with us accepting more and more cats in our house - nothing we originally planned. We didn't buy them but we were and still are confronted with street cats needing help or simply folks dumping their unwanted felines at our door step. So depressing and irresponsible. Anyhow, beautiful Amira decided to leave us. She walked out, only returned once for a bit of food and another time to day hello from the roof of a house opposite. I tried in vain to persuade her to come down and live with us a again. It hurt so much. For some time we tried to find her in the neighborhood. Not very long before she left we discovered a lump on her tummy. The vet diagnosed that the growth may be cancer. We had her operated, actually twice. Our sweetheart unfortunately did not think that she would need to be looked after much. We felt so helpless. Time passed, after 18 months we had to fear the worst, leaflets with her photo brought no result. Nobody seemed to have seen her anywhere. A few days ago an adult cat, looking tired, sick and dirty, came to my house, calling me. I did not recognize Amira at first, her voice had also changed. I felt so happy to have my wonderful love back. While combing her fur, I was shocked to see a new big growth on her tummy, shaped like a thick cone, looking bloody. Amira refused to eat, just drank water. She had pain. We contacted an animal surgeon. The blood test showed that her kidneys were not working as well as one would wish, age and living rough took its toll. While the operation would be recommendable, it's not without risk. We decided to take the risk. All went well, but Amira again refused to eat, just wanted to drink a lot. I cooked chicken with rice and carrots for her. She just took the broth. The veterinary gave her an infusion, also the following day. It started to look promising, but then Amira had a lot of pain. On account of her kidney problems we were advised not to give her any drugs. I cuddled with her, stroked her fur, gave her a massage, fell asleep holding her. She enjoyed it, but her pains remained. She collapsed on the toilet, I gently lifted her on her bed again. During the three hours I slept my lovely precious darling passed away. I can't describe the loss I feel, she didn't deserve all those pains. I am grateful for the love she gave and all she taught me.