PostScript What you may or may not like

Three oxen, young, middle-aged and old on a meadow, the young one discovers some lovely cows on a hill and suggests: "Let us run uphill." The middle-aged replies: "No, let us wait, perhaps they'll come downhill." Says the old one: "If we hide in the bushes on the left may be they won't notice us!" - There are three cute black kittens with a white "bib" and white "socks" under my Yucca palm tree outside my front door. They are approximately six to eight weeks old. Did folks from the neighbourhood bring them there? Actually no, it turned out that a cat that has been a regular visitor to my cats' table chose that place for her babies. She joins them there to feed them her milk. Clever little darling, other mother cats that I couldn't take indoors, had to often carry food from my house across the street to their little family. Recently three women and one little boy on various occasions knocked at my door hoping I could provide their young cats with a home, unfortunately I had to turn them away. I hate doing this but any more additions are just not possible, neither financially nor concerning the space. More and more also creates stress for my little treasures, I don't want them to fight because of this. Some cats found a friend or several in my house, others would prefer to be "an only child", some are easy going, gentle and quiet, others very lively and demanding, not unlike us characters can differ a lot. Cats' language doesn't consist of just "mew", they make this sound when they need help, a different one when demanding food, or wanting cuddling or massage to be continued, purring when they are happy or in pain, seems to be a kind of pain killer, some "talk" while eating, appears to mean "delicious" in cat language. And of course there are sounds that advise "don't mess with me, leave me alone." A Tunisian lady returned from her holiday in Germany under the impression that while everybody seems to keep a dog (many on the road kept on a lead) there are not a lot of cats around. Well actually you can find more cats than dogs in Germany. As approx. 90 % of them are living indoors, unlike here, one can easily draw the wrong conclusions. A dog as a toy for disturbed kids (between 5 and 16) seem to be in fashion here, at least in this part of the town. Pretending to kick or hit the poor creature is their understanding of playing, not much fun for the dog though. It makes me mad to watch, I guess one must be grateful if the kids are just pretending and not throwing stones, etc. ! Unfortunately these kids are rarely told how far they can go, where the limits are.  The other day I viewed a little boy, approx 5 or 6 years old at the most (kindergarten diploma) driving a motorcycle standing upright. He did a round of a few streets and returned to his waiting father who seemed to be proud of his son's performance. When I asked him whether the law allows this and a possible accident would be acceptable, he replied that his son desired so much to drive the motorcycle and he stuck to the roads in the neighbourhood. I am glad that a gun in the house is pretty rare here (unlike in USA), what if the toddler wants to shoot a bit? Rumour has it that this week's holiday (one of ever so many) is designed to provide students with time to study at home, judging by what I view I think it is actually in order to provide these kids with extra time to play football, so important, isn't it?

What you may or may not like

Errors don't just arise because one doesn't know certain things, but because one ventures to judge even though one doesn't know everything that will be imperative for this. (Immanuel Kant) -

Following the election of a new president, Saied Kais, a man regarded by all who know him as an absolutely honest person, there is hope Tunisia can tackle his problems of high unemployment, in particular among the academic, the young, rising

prises, low income, public debts, spread corruption, lack of animal protection, environmental problems on various levels, etc. Generally speaking folks here lack environmental awareness. Pavements are often kept clean by the house owners, but water and air pollution remain a problem. Many cheap, often plastic short- lived products are on sale. A larger variety of products than before the revolution exists, some are not always available, this also applies to food. Farm workers are badly paid (just like in too many countries all over the world) which led to a lot of folks looking for an alternative in another area, a shortage of staff for the harvest and a requirement of previously unnecessary imports. Folks complain they can't afford to pay for these, yet they travel by taxi not bike. Taxis are cheap but it all adds up, one can easily spend more on these than for a monthly bus ticket in e.g. a German town. The bus and train and non- private healthcare service is rather limited.

One doesn't see many smiling faces, was everything better in the past? Certainly not, but there is a lot of disappointment, more stress and depression, too much noise for my liking and that of expats in general, who learnt to appreciate silence, so relaxing and better for ones health. Even a small group of kids/youngsters can create ear-splitting noise. I then jokingly ask my husband: Are they continuing the revolution? It is sometimes difficult to know whether some people out on the street are just talking or having a quarrel. When it comes to a fight there are always persons from the neighbourhood's quick on the scene to stop it. That is what I like in this community. Whenever I address men who let their car or motorbike engine run idle, ask them why do you do this, pollute the air, every driver seems to do this, I can 't understand such behaviour, you have brains like children! They all apologise, no one got angry ever. A pleasant surprise for me. Actually some even leave their vehicle unattended for a few minutes, engine switched on, not thinking this might be seen as an invitation of a thief passing by. Life is full of surprises, never gets boring. Many in particular young men, feel disillusioned and are thinking of leaving Tunisia, believing they can find a better life in Europe. This means risking their life and even if they can make it, they won't find a paradise, far from it! Life in Europe can be quite hard, depressing and not at all what they are looking for. The open arm welcome vanished following terrorists' attacks and stupid behaviour of some North Africans possibly disappointed with their new surroundings and regulations.  Without a visa and a job waiting for you I would strongly advise not to start such a journey. Tunisia has yet much to offer and you know what? In Europe you can also see folks collecting bottles, only it is not in order to sell plastic but glass bottles returned for cash, refund of a deposit paid by the consumer. Some guys are also homeless there. While in more and more countries people want their often corrupt government to step down, Tunisians can hope to now get a positive change, but it won't happen over night. My advice to young frustrated hopeless feeling young folks: don't risk your life for an uncertain future in Europe, you may yet a chance here to contribute to a better Tunisia. As my husband put it: "I can no longer enjoy eating fish, too many corpses in the Mediterranean Sea."

PostScript Not all are the same

Thank heavens, Amira returned, a bit hungry and fairly tired. We are happy to have our "lost daughter" back. She looks neat and comes to cuddle. Some cats refer human company to that of  other cats. Is it the competition they don't like,  or having to share? Not all are the same, some little darlings cuddle with other cats, make friends and yet there maybe cats that they just want to chase away. Not unlike us, some folks we like at first glance and dislike others straight away, it may be only a feeling.

Frankly I felt depressed and disappointed when Amira walked out and disappeared for several days after living with us for eight years. In spite of having a community of many cats, everyone counts, all are different and have a great personality. Amira now demonstrates that she loves us too, Keen to cuddle and continue living with us, wonderful.

Not All are the Same

We first met Amira 2012, a gorgeous white, brown and black cat and it appeared to be love on first sight on all parties. Several cats came to our house, "introducing themselves" as possible new family members, at the time we just chose Amira. She loved climbing walls and onto roofs, no problem for her, only for me watching and worrying about her safety. She became quicker pregnant than anticipated and got "engaged" at least four times. Cats manage to have kittens of different tomcats born on the same day usually four or sometimes six, normally one resembling the mother. Amira allowed me to assist her, when in May 2013 Tiger, Bijoux, Soleigh and Sandy arrived. They were so cute and Amira turned out to be a great mum, providing her babies with a lot of love and care, watching them carefully and only interfering when necessary. A happy little family we were proud to have. As they grew older, Sandy showed a tendency to panic with bad weather (heavy rain, hail, thunderstorm). We decided to have Amira operated and the others when they are at the right age (family planning). During Amira's operation the vet discovered (unknown to us) that she was pregnant again. When Amira returned home she changed and didn't seem to like her kittens anymore. Did she intend to make them leave and make space for her new generation (unaware of having had her pregnancy terminated)? Or was it the shock of the operation forced on her? She started to fight with Sandy, to a lesser extend with Bijoux and fear her son Tiger. Him chasing her, because he saw her as the attractive female cat and she not wanting to get "engaged" to her son? We had to keep them separate. Whenever Amira went outside on the street she quickly returned and she didn't seem to find the street with all those cars, noisy motorbikes and lots of constantly yelling and stone throwing children very appealing. But life is full of surprises. Lately Amira went outside, disappeared for two days, returned, had some food and went again. Next morning she mixed with the cats that come to my "cats' table", protested when I took her inside and went out again. Now we haven't seen her for three days and this depresses me. What kind of food does she find, what shelter, does she observe the traffic, encounter disturbed kids? Honey goes out after breakfast, returns when she's hungry and always sleeps in our house. Why can't Amira do the same? We continue to hope for her return, those who have to sleep rough don't get old. Hopefully Amira is aware that she's got an alternative. We love her and I learnt a lot from her. While some cat mums always seem to enjoy the company of even their adult children, Amira appeared to prefer to be on her own. Maybe she only loves kittens while they  are small and little bundles of joy.  We often wondered  whether she was aware of which cats are her children. She seemed to "argue" a lot with Sandy, had started hitting her and one day Sandy began to hit her back. Looks like cats' behaviour is not so unlike that of humans. Perhaps Amira's strained relationship with Sandy made her decide to leave. Very sad. I haven't given up hope yet to have her return. - While we had reached a point where any more additions of little fur angels is no longer possible, a lady from Germany arrived with sweet Fritz asking for temporary shelter for him until her brother would pick him up within 4 or 6 weeks. That lady left a bit of food for Fritz, returned once more with additional food and that is the last I heard of her. Did she change her mind or did she trick me in order to find a home for Fritzchen? The other day a Tunisian lady tried in vain to persuade us to accept two baby kittens. We very much regret but we have reached our absolute limit and that is also how our little darlings feel, they don't want an even bigger family. Some have found a friend or several, others are not happy to see one or two of those present and I have to stop them fighting. Life isn't always easy and as nights are getting colder our little treasures will start coughing and sneezing, have their little noses running. I am afraid vaccination is too expensive for us, even though our vet would be prepared to offer this at a reduced rate to us.

Continued Never Mind Don't Worry

On the stairway to heaven we meet all animals that we encountered during our life time and they report how we treated them. (A legend of the First Nation, but I also heard this from some religious Muslims) A nice thought. The other day I viewed a very young little boy attempting to kick a cat. He was accompanied by two women dressed religious style. As they didn't react I shouted: "haram haram" (forbidden according to the Quran). You may say "but he is just a child". Sorry, I don't believe that kicking a cat or throwing stones at animals is a normal behaviour for a child of any age. The urge to stroke their soft fur would be though, but I noticed again and again that cats run away from kids and youngsters, they do here, in Europe I never saw this. Animals learn from experience, just like we do. Our cats Diana, Amira, Julino and Lilly once or twice walked out to see if they can find a better service across the road but quickly returned, so we are not bad "vice parents" after all. Good to know. Since they all love to cuddle and test how many fit on our lab, we shouldn't doubt this. In the morning all want to join me in the kitchen, may be we should have bought a house with two kitchens, one for our little fur angels..... I heard cats like to adopt old age pensioners as they have plenty of spare time.   Cats don't care if you are old and have wrinkles. These little darlings are certainly not stupid. At my "cats' table" among my outdoor guests are lately a mummy cat with her four children and another one with only one kitten (probably originally four). They come looking for me if I am late and then we all walk to their shelter and I feed them there. Makes it easier for the little mummies then carrying one piece of "salami" after the other to their little family. - Sandy sitting on her little stool on the window sill (I call it the cats' balcony) suddenly jumps down. Wondering what caused her fright was quickly answered, neighbours informed us that we had a burglar climbing onto our roof. Questioned what he's doing there he declared he was looking for his cat. Lol! Interesting excuse for breaking into other folks' houses. Strange, a couple of nights before I dreamt a burglar was trying to get inside our house and I was running from room to room in order to quickly close all the windows. Then I woke up.  Our security fencing on top hurt the young burglar's private parts. Nothing was stolen, he left in a rush chased away by my big family I would like to think. Not every theft and burglary is reported to the police because people fear revenge from the concerned clan. That is no way to achieve changes. The punishment for a robbery has been increased to five years prison I am told. Anyhow the burglar was on camera, some persons know him and his uncle intends to take him to the police where he has already a file with five previous such cases. As he takes drugs getting arrested will probably save him from committing bigger crimes and at the same time offer a chance to "go through cold turkey" in prison. Hopefully he will learn from experience and gets one day a chance for a new start. - School started but at 10 a.m.  the first student's were allowed to go home again so they won't experience too much stress following a three months holiday. School books looking like new are lying in the rubbish container. Gone are the days when such books were either sold to younger students or handed to younger relatives. Times are changing, if we are lucky for the better.

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.