Tunisia after the revolution: Not always what you Expect

"Competion is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization." Peter Kropotkin "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." Plato "Every time I have been inside a slaughterhouse, I expected to find monsters. But I found something far more terrifying, I found out how easily humans can be conditioned to do monsterious things." Robert Sud. It appears to be festival season now. The open air life concerts are right in front of our door, so we neither need to spend time nor money to listen to them. The road gets blocked at 3 p. m. and the celebrations start at 9.30 p. m., this is planning oriental style, thus no hurry and a sure way to keep the area free of unwanted traffic, parked cars or just the rubbish collection van (usually 7 p. m. but one never knows). The hosts (weddings or other parties) in the past used to invite us or/and bring around a plate of food. Times are changing, some folks are nowadays very shy and didn't dare to address, not even inform us, yet in one case surprised us with a "noise protection wall" right along our house, nice try, but didn't work. Anyhow, they generously left our pavement for us to move freely. Lots of fireworks with loud bangs, even bengali fire, all for free until 3 a. m., a happy neighborhood in good spirit. Don't worry, be happy. In view of possible deaf folks being present, even that is usually allowed for, the loud speakers are quite something, the "Getto Blasters" are nothing in comparison. Most motorbikes haven't got a registeration plate, this could be an additional income for the state, but I guess it's not needed. In addition it could help the police to trace thieves and street robbers, perhaps though not much of an issue. Tunisian folks are law obeying and after all stealing is not allowed. - I have been hoping that our big feral family would be in better health now that the winter is over, no more sneezing and coughing. But no, their immune system appears to be not very strong. The best protection against the various viruses here would be vaccine, but unfortunately I can not afford to pay for so many and the protection only lasts one year. Years ago, when we had only 6 or even 8 cats, we did get them vaccinated, but we don't receive donations and aren't rich. Guess our neighbours would be surprised if they would find out how modest we live, well, our little feral treasures trust and depend on us. A good day is when all are well and relaxed. Lately this wasn't the case though, several cats seemed to be feeling very tired, weak, had fiever and an infection in the mouth. One of those viruses the poor cats catch here. Luckily nowadays more and more medications don't need to be imported any longer, including several designed for kids, in some cases also suitable for cats or dogs (not automatically the case, vets should be consulted first) and in addition local products are of course cheaper than imports. Which is just as well in view of generally low wages. A few days ago I discovered a little black kitten dragging her back legs along the street. It looked as if one or both legs were broken. The poor darling was crossing the road near my house. Fearing for her safety I picked her up and took her to our veterinarian. It turned out that she was actually paralyzed from her spine, an injury caused by either an accident, perhaps a fall or through an attack with a stone or stick. Even worse the little one was not able to empty her bladder. When the veterinarian used some painful pressure at the lower part of her body, quite a bit urin mixed with blood ejected. He explained that this procedure would be necessary once every day. I was under the impression that I can do this, but it turned out to be more complicated. So I took my sweet Precious back the next day, watched and thought okay, I'll manage. I was mistaken, my brave little kitten screamed, bite me, all in vain. Her big tummy got me worried, I felt so helpless. I planned to take her back to the vet the next day, not sure what would be the right decision, in a way Precious seemed to be so brave, eating and drinking, but I did not want her to suffer. Later on in the evening she refused her medication, biting her teeth together. I forced her to take some nevertheless, but had a bad feeling, she may not survive the night. The veterinarian had already warned me that the little darling hasn't got a chance to live long. Later on in the evening when I checked how she is, I dicovered Precious had passed over the rainbow. Her suffering and her short life had ended. May she rest in peace.

"Sound protection wall"