What Might Surprise Folks Coming/Returning From Europe

 "You can easily judge the character of a man by the way he treats those, who can do nothing for him."Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.                                                                                           Cows' heads hanging in front of butcher shops, mend to proof all meat is fresh, but for Europeans, especially children, a shocking view and might well convince several that it is time to stop eating meat. In Germany 13,5 million cats and 8 million dogs live in households, seeing such pets here frequently being treated like vermin, kicked and hit with stones or sticks, shot or poisoned by kids, adults and authorities, is horrible. By the way, more than 50% of the Russian folks keep a cat. While Turkey is a Paradise for cats (going back in history Agypt used to be too) it is nowadays hell for cats and dogs in Tunisia, North Africa, Agypt and Afghanistan. Only the devil knows why, it is contrary to the preachings of the constantly praised Prophet Mohammed. For those who lived in East Germany (DDR) it must be like a deja Vue, finding several items, in particular imports, in shops  and pharmacy not always available, some due to the slow working custom people or unpaid bills. The so called salami is sold as for dogs only, anther type for cats and dogs (though their requirements are not identical, (e.g. only cats need Tourine for their eyes and heart), and lately one for cats only. Having ordered the later, the shop handed two boxes with the brand for cats and dogs to my husband, without a mention of the substituted item. You would have thought that my husband would at least be questioned whether he is willing to accept a different product. Such behaviour is not untypical. My hairdresser was asked whether she can put red streaks in my hair, she declared no problem and the result was really beautiful, several women told me so - but there is a problem she never mentioned, the colour is not waterproof. My hair discolours my clothes, my pillow and even my skin. Got caught in the rain, it looked as if my face was bleeding. The price by the way did not reflect the poor quality of the product. Lend a drilling machine to a neighbour, a drill item broke off, not mentioned, lend orthopedic walking sticks to a nother neighbor who had an accident. When he obviously no longer needed these, asked him to hand them back, it turned out he had lend them to a nother person. When kids are acting like hooligans, are extremely loud, you will be advised that they are children! When dogs bark loud and the town authority receive complains, the animals receive capital punishment. When young folks play very loud music from the roof of their houses, you are advised by their family or others that they are young and it won't carry on much after midnight. In most European states people would call the police, in France they would call the bailiff. Rest hours, during which one is supposed to avoid making noise, disturbing the peace, are unknown here. When schools are closed (seems to be most of the year), children sleep until lunch time and then stay up until after midnight, this includes the very young. You can see daddies taking their toddlers for a walk in the middle of the night. A Tunisian who had worked in Italy for ten years remarked that the people there are great, unlike here they help each other and that he misses the solidarity, respect and consideration for other people he experienced. Even though many are unemployed, everybody is in a hurry.  At the doctor's some lie that they were first, or insult, threaten the doctor's receptionist because they have to spend their precious time waiting. Several young and fit girls, women and men are happy to take the taxi you ordered, guess they think the elderly won't be missed anywhere. Don't know what to make of Aljazeera English, after they changed their channel, it can no longer be received without a receiver and some monthly payments, so I am told. By the way, a small fee, five Dinar for TV and radio, is included in the electricity bill. No problem with receiving Aljazeera Arabic on the new channel.  The programs in English and Arabic are not identical, the English one has brilliant journalists and received many international rewards for their documentations. I understand that several countries are interested in stopping their crimes becoming public. I cannot judge the quality of Aljazeera Arabic. On the Tunisian radio programs one doesn't receive much informations, the women who work there seem to be mainly occupied with a lot of giggling. Not looking forward to the winter with cold nights and many cats sneezing and coughing, but the really hot summer can also be trying. Not all is bad here of course, I receive a lot of love from my amazing cats and we have met good charming and helpful men and women, nice kids also. Plenty of sunshine, gorgeous flowers, a lovely beach if kept clean, the sand is of top quality. The high amount of moisture in the air doesn't only make clothes damp, it also makes ironing unnecessary, if you put on a piece of clothes with lots of creases, it will all look like well ironed after a short while. When the sun goes down, it quickly gets dark. Bred is very cheap, so nobody should remain hungry. In spite of Diabetes being wide spread and medication not always available, most processed food including fruit juices are sold with a big extra portion of sugar or honey, chocolate. One can't see the amount of sugar or fruit contained in the juices, etc. at first glance, the information is kind of hidden.