These Complicated Times

 "Not all old men you should take advice from, fools get old to." "The road of I-don't-care often leads  to the house of Had-I-known." Ubuntu African Proverbs  "I am born this way. God (Allah) makes no mistake." Lady Gaga        In ancient /Pharaoh Egypt cats and dogs were highly valued. One of their gods was illustrated with the head of a dog and Egyptians believed dogs will accompany the souls of the deceased. What made in "modern times" many Moslems believe that dogs are dirty, dangerous, the Quran allowing the killing of them? As a matter of fact dogs save human life following  many different kinds of accidents: fire, drowning, avarlanche, earthquake, crashed buildings, they guide blind people, help to discover drugs, trace corpses, protect folks and property, chase criminals. They are very loyal, often the only friend for elderly, sick and/ or lonely folks, help to teach children empathy, but the don't give us milk or eggs and they bark - a reason to hate them? I was shocked to see a woman who goes to the Mosque every day, throwing a stone at a barking dog in the neighborhood. I shouted at her: "There is no need for this. The dog is gentle unlike the kids around here. It is this stone throwing that makes (some, not even all) dogs aggressive." The dog was sitting in front of a house of a family that several weeks ago kicked out 2 gentle dogs, a black and a sand coloured one, in spite of the risk that these may get shoot as so-called strays. Did Allah give that family a chance to correct their cruel deed? Not sure whether one of their previous pets was barking there. The dog disappeared again, which can mean anything. Whenever I hear a barking, maybe homeless dog here, I worry for his life. So depressing. Nowadays folks quickly reach their low level of tolerance, in particular when it comes to animals. I don't understand, though, how citizens that are daily subjected to kids yelling as if bitten by a tarantula, cannot bear a bit of barking. Anyhow, in Argentina opened a restaurant advising guests that stray cats and dogs are also welcomed and meals are cooked for them too. Thus guests are expected to tolerate their presence, I would like to stress that Argentina is a poor country. ( Poverty is no reason not to feed hungry animals. The old argument, support the poor, not animals.) In Nigeria a woman has a sanatury for strays, 3oo of them are living there. - Pavements appear to be mainly regarded as welcomed parking space. Pedestrians are frequently forced to leave the pavement and therefore walk on the road instead. Various house owners who don't want their pavement blocked by vehicles installed different kinds of barrier constructions made of cement or brick. How long this lasts depends on the respective neighborhood. Little chance here with all those footballs plus careless and/or unexperienced drivers. - In Rades, a big port near Tunis, 137 camaras badly needed to help fight corruption, bribes, theft were recently installed. A privat firm holds the monpol for the works of Rades port. In a documentary on France 24 it was stated that Rades is the slowest port in the world. As a result of this various much needed imports, including medications, also for animals, are not available for some time. Hopefully this will eventually change. - One of those bright street lights here stopped functioning. We enjoyed much better sleep without it shining into our bedroom (inspite of curtains), there remained still enough light outside, but it became less inviting for kids roaming the streets. In view of the risen electricity bills folks are wondering whether so many street lamps are really necessary, after all it is not for free and a lower electricity consumption is better for the environment. To our regret STEG now got the light working again.

Postcript If Life hands You a Lemon, Looking Back

 "Envy is the most honest kind of admiration." Wilhelm Busch  "If you do harm to a child or animal, one can surely say that you are an idiot and a bastard" Sean Connery.               Tunisians living abroad in 2022 transferred 8,5 Billion Dinar to Tunisia. This is 2 times as high as the income from tourists, thus a vital source of foreign exchange revenue. For several poor countries the situation is more or less simular. Anyhow, returning after several years in Europe (or from other continents) and not just for a holiday, is not very easy. Tunisia has changed, even the mentality of many citizens seems to have changed, or is it mainly viewed like that because expats compare their experiences so much and the past possibly wasn't as bright as appears to be in memories? Living under a dictatorship does effect a society. The freedom enjoyed after the revolution several less educated families misunderstood as a chance to let their children run wild, no respect for anyone. "They are children", thus not responsible for any of their actions, (nor of course are their parents) protected by big families, besides, victims usually can't effort to employ a lawyer. Some expat families came and left again, feeling like a stranger here, sadly even the children didn't want to settle in Tunisia. Stone throwing, abuse of cats and dogs, their poisoning or shooting, environmental negligence, etc. such behaviour they don't understand. I heard of expats' kids that refused to speak Arabic as a kind of protest. It makes a lot of difference whether you grow up with books and good-night stories read by your parent or are just handed a ball and being allowed to spend most of the day out on the street, perhaps even with more or less neglected other kids. In Kairouan children took a big hammer and started to knock down the bricked protection circle around the tree I planted a few years ago. "Just for fun." Parent's comment: "They are kids." Is it considered to be normal for children to damage/destroy what doesn't belong to them? Must they not be taught how far they can go? It is normal for children to test where the line is that they must not overstep and it is their parent's duty to explain this. - Following the threat to boycott joghurt as there is no milk on sale, it now re-appeared on the shelvings. Rumour has it that only supermarkets will be allowed to sell it in future, not those numerous little shops. To avoid blackmarket sales? Originally milk was only mend to feed calves, humans didn't need it, babies had their mother's milk. In our so-called civilization animals get brutally exploited, cows are forced to have calves  and not allowed to care for their babies (which all too often are quickly slaughtered) so that we can steal the calves' milk. I must admit I like dairy product and for many years wasn't aware of the above. What you grow up with you often don't question, it seems to be so normal. In Kairouan various bakers started to sell the popular baguette for 350 Milliem, previously 250 Milliem. A big increase for the poor, Instead of being able to buy 4 baguettes for 1 Dinar, they now have to pay 1, 050 Dinar for only 3 (1 Euro is approx. 3,240 Dinar). In some shops butter is available again, but 250g for more than 7 Dinar. Coffee is still rar, but plenty of Nescafé at a high price. Sugar one can sometimes find on the blackmarket at a corresponding price. Bakeries still receive sugar, plenty of it judging from their (for my taste) extreme usage in cakes. - I informed my husband that several neighbors arrived at our front door indicating that they are hungry. So he asked: "Which neighbors?" I replied: "They are gentle, beautiful and modest. Oh and they have 4 legs." What is the difference between the kids here and the cats? The children ask for chocolate or "Bonbon" while the cats are happy with a bit of croquettes or so-called

"salami" (sausage for cats). The usual food that Tunisians feed to stray cats is either couscous/left overs from their meals or noodles with a bit of sardines. By the way, cats shouldn't eat onins, garlic, beans, pepers, cake, chocolate, avoid spices in particular salt, etc. I wish I were rich and could help all animals that need help. Living in an Arabic style house (yard/terrace in the middle) is great in summer, spring, autumn, but not much fun in winter (pretty cold, wet and windy). 

If Life hands you a Lemon, looking back

Just 2 of my little treasures

 How I imagine my funeral one day

Not a burst pipe, just water wasting in Sousse. 

A gentle beauty discovered, hopefully with a loving home. 

 "Before you destroy a bridge be sure you can swim." "Money can't talk, yet it can make lies look like truth." Ubuntu African Proverbs. "The more I get to know humans, the more I love dogs." Erich Kaestner                                                                                                             Not knowing what's ahead is not such a bad thing. The last year, 2022 in total was a year that many wished never happened. Christine from Duesseldorf, my best friend for 40 years, suddenly passed away, I miss her very much. In addition several very dear feral friends passed over the rainbow, adults and kittens, most less than 4 months old. Sandy, 9 years old, was very special. She used to sleep in my arms, under my blanket, purring me to sleep. In the morning she and her brother Tiger would wake me up. Now this task remains solely to Tiger, a great gentle tomcat. On rare occasions when I oversleep, there are many in the house and outside urgently waiting for their breakfast, chanting something like: "we are hungry, hungry." If you love cats, well the most beautiful you can find in Tunisia. Unfortunately though, their beauty and good character doesn't protect them. For unknown reasons some folks hate cats and dogs. Occasionally one or two of my feral family members run outside, just for a brief check what's there. I know they will return in no time, so I have to just worry about the traffic and possibly stone throwing hooligans. Anyhow, lately when I tried to fetch my lovely, long haired black and white Melanie, a middle aged woman from the neighborhood came outside and mumbled something about Belladia (town authorities), sounded like she would like them to come and kill my gentle little treasure for no reason at all. One day her outside door curtains got slised with a knife (possibly revenge for shouting at the street kids), but she would insist that cats did this. I have been advised that this woman is mentally disturbed, so maybe she is excused for having strange thoughts. Still, such folks worry me. Poor cats, poor dogs. So much beauty wasted among those who have eyes yet cannot see. In Mexico a man was sentenced to 25 years of prison for beating his dog. I firmly believe we could create a better society with strict animal protection laws. - STEG who have a monopol on gas and electricity supply to household and state buildings, haven't issued bills for 14 months in Sousse. In spite of so many unemployed, they managed to find employees for meter reading with more or less zero motivation, this could be due to bad payment or mangement, e. g. employees feeling their performance is not being valued. Anyhow, the persons sent to read the meter, knock at the door once, waite 3 or 4 seconds, then walk away, even when told the occupants are at home and may need a couple of minutes to come to the door, besides, most houses have long corridors. "No time," the reply. Are customers expected to wait by the door, even though they know neither the date nor time of the arrival of the STEG employee whose time is so precious? By the way, if I am informed correctly, senior STEG technicians are paid 14.400 Dinar a month and the average wage (combined high and low wages) amounts to 3032 Dinar in 2020. This is pretty high for a country like Tunisia. Unpaid bills are a problem, not only among folks who have problems making ends meet, but also in the state sector. "STEG wedges a war of no mercy over unpaid bills." For many the present bill will come as a real shock. Pay the demanded amount or buy food? How to cope with rising prises, even for basic food?  With practically no service, customers expected to do their own reading and possibly take a taxi (now also more expensive, buses and minibuses likewise) to present the data and ask for the bill, was there a genuine need for STEG to rise their charges? Besides, is it really necessary to have so many and bright street lights? Scientists nowadays regard excessive light as one kind of air pollution. It also irritates birds and insects that orientate itself by the light of the moon. Are those street lights mend to prevent street robbery? Well, broad daylight robberies take place, we know of several cases and also from own experience. A 100 megawatt solar power plant is planned for Kairouan. Of what was planned before the revolution only 5% has been achieved so far, in Marocco it is 37%. The year ended without me finding out what happened to my gorgeous puppy, Djego, who disappeared less than 1 year old. With lots of luck he found a new family, but I fear he may have been shoot "as a stray", horrible thought. When I think of him I can't help crying. He was by the way vaccinated. An American famous  actress said, if life hands her a lemon, she will ask for salt and Tequila.