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)."

Summer Time

Everybody makes occasionally mistakes, but only real men admit these. (Words of a Czech song).  The same applies to women of course. Here, though, it seems to be common believe that strong folks never make a mistake or at least should always deny this. Put the blame on someone else.... Further, it is normal for a tradesman not to arrive at the time he himself picked, usually it is several hours later or even on another day. If he phones to inform you accordingly, consider yourself lucky. Labour is much cheaper here than in Europe, but you only get what you pay for, better not to compare (with a few exceptions). People quickly feel insulted even by only well mend suggestions.
Now that nights are rather warm and days pretty hot, there is less football playing during the day, but at what is considered "sleeping time for kids" in most parts of Europe, is when lots of children suddenly appear, very active, "full of beans". On account of what I would call extreme long holidays, they can sleep until lunch time and anyhow apart from playing football they don't seem to know much how to spend all that time on their hands. Pity books are out of fashion. Scientists discovered that it's better for the brain development to write by hand rather than mobile phone or notebook, as it would require more brain activity. - The beaches in Tunisia are by nature of a high quality, very fine sand and where tourists are likely to turn up they are usually kept clean. Even though the administration tries to put a stop to this stupid rubbish dumping (one can be fined), more is required. Start with the kids, once they understand that the environment needs to be protected (their future) they could even tell ignorant adults to do so. The plastic bottle collectors (many) do a good job. For one kilo they are paid approx. 600 Miliem, not much but for some the only income. I was shocked to learn that the beaches are endangered by raising sea water level and pollution. Urgent action is required before it's too late, after all these beautiful beaches are not just a tourists' attraction, Tunisians love them too and who would like to see Carthage or Hammamet disappear into the sea? Let us protect the World Heritage, amazing sites in Tunisia and the future of this mainly beautiful country. Not to forget the poor, the government promised special support for those in need in particular in the south, an area neglected by various governments. Tunisia has much more to offer than most tourists are aware of.

Postscript More about my Little Darlings

Two men walking home late at night after several drinks. First man: "I wish I were a mouse, I wish I were a mouse...." Second man: "What are you on about?" First man: "My wife is afraid of mice." -
Now is the time I fear so much, tiny lovely baby kittens appear, many get run over by cars, several are put out on the street often separated from their mother (who may or may not be killed by accident or wilfully). Well meaning folks all too frequently leave the tiny ones at my door step. Unfortunately I haven't got a sanctuary, a garden, only two terraces and cats that feel already that my "family" is getting too big. Besides, I still need to be able to cope, physically and financially. As I don't let my little treasures out on the street to leave their excrement somewhere there, I have my daily toilet cleaning work and to buy quite a bit of sand for the toilets. Anyhow, it remains depressing for me being unable to help all cats in need. Having decided that no more additions are possible, my new arrivals are: lovely white (with a bit of black, looking quite cheeky like the cat from a well known cartoon here) Leilah, sweet black and brown Natasha, pretty black and white Natalie, precious brown and black streamed Rachida (one eye missing that is why I at first thought she's one of mine already and just ran out). The very latest, not very well orphan Daniel, lovely white cat with blue eyes, the only survival of his family, as a charming well educated lady from the neighborhood told me. She feared that should he die as well it would depress her young boy who would love to save all cats, just like me. Schlawiner sometimes sleeps on top of my letterbox I discovered or my awnings, cheeky lad, as long as he doesn't climb on top of my roof and create a lot of unrest there. Because of him I had almost all my lady cats neutered. Some are too young and as Diana is suffering from a chronic cold I have a problem. Giving her the anaesthesia could turn out to be fatal. It is now really hot here I was hoping there would be no more sneezing, running noses... Since cats have no handkerchief they clean their faces and noses with their tongue, not at all ideal and I am not always there to use tissue instead (they hate this). In some cases the cold has become chronic unfortunately. I can't afford vaccine for my big family, so sad. My vet afford a good price in view of their number but it is still too much.