PostScript This is the way it is

White and golden: Mallek, black and white: Claudia

Black and red: Nathalie, white and yellow: Ricardo

" Some wish to understand what they believe and the others to believe what they understand." Stanislas Jerzy Lec
Lovely Claudia and Melanie had to be spayed (always feel a bit sorry for my little fur angels, cats' kittens are so cute and beautiful, but family planning is a must) and when it was time to have the threads of the stitching removed, they had a little surprise for me: they had already performed this themselves, on the exact set date! Mallek (this means Angel, a very suitable name for this great tomcat) was very sick, he had breathing problems, the vet discovered water in his lungs. He had to stay for three days at the vet's, we got very worried. Then we received the good news that he is getting better and can be picked up, not sure who was happier, Mallek or we. He never stopped purring, cuddling with him  was so great, it really made my day! - I had to go to the hospital (out patient) and I was luckily accompanied by my husband. When it was my turn they called me by my second forename, for all my life nobody ever used this name for me. Without my husband I wouldn't have realized that I was addressed. Life is full of surprises! Watching a documentary about a Scottish island I discovered similarities with folks in Tunisia. If you ask there someone for a favour, he/she will definitely do this, but only at a time when it suits him/her and you need much patience. Now, if you require a tradesman here to do some repairs around your house, he will act like that Scottish island inhabitant when asked to do a favour... Further it was mentioned that on that island all are somehow related to each other and one is well adviced not to talk badly about anyone. I noted that in this part of the town most folks are also related to each other, so it is sometimes difficult to get information when a problem occurred. Not working at the weekend (various firms, in offices, shops closed on Sundays) is standard in Europe, connected with the Christian religion you may think, but no, also common here, whereby supermarkets and most other shops would remain open and some tradesmen also work on Sundays, but not on Friday afternoons (time reserved for prayers). Tidying up when the work is finished is standard in Europe, but not so much here. Labour is much cheaper and the quality varies, often a question of what was learned by watching and assisting other more or less qualified tradesmen. Some appear to be working in a way that ensures their "follow up job." Kids have much time to play and too many holidays in my opinion. Those with poor and/or ignorant parents are unlikely to do much studying at their modest home. I am under the impression that their parents prefer to have them outside on the road. Lately these children had an extra weeks holiday to refresh/ deepen their knowledge. Pity monitored studying at school isn't available instead. With so many unemployed teachers staff shouldn't be a problem, but financing probably is. Several countries suffer from catastrophic weather, flooding, storm, etc. We are overall very lucky here. Sweet Mallek is presently sunbathing underneath a plant on our roof terrace. Clever boy!

The Way it is

Somewhere in Africa: President to Governor: " Too many are unemployed we need to create jobs!" Feedback from Governor a few days later: " We now employ additional 500 staff members." President: "Where? Education? Environment? Infrastructure?" Governor: " No admin section. It is so simple, we send our good citizens from one door to another, then to another buildings, it keeps them off the road and everybody is busy......"

In my library I discovered a Tunisia holiday guide book printed 1979, it advices that the average monthly income here amounts to 100 Dinar, the equivalent of 500 DM (approx. 260 Euro). Airmail letters to Germany arrive after 3 or 4 days (nowadays at least 10 days, frequently 4 - 6 weeks). There used to be a train service from Kairouan to Tunis once a day, 4 hrs journey. We now have instead a motorway to Tunis and an expressway from Sousse to Kairouan. Thank heavens for that, it drastically reduced that dangerous overtaking on the road to and from Kairouan. The cement strip in the middle of the 4 lanes shaped and works like a rather long stretched flower pot, some wild flowers have already been provided by mother nature, pretty in spring. Printed on the back of the mini bus ticket: "Aldi" (Supermarket chain in Germany), on the back of a receipt from an animal goods shop: "Wir lieben Lebensmittel" (we love food), interesting recycling, isn't it. By the way, our Tunisian cats do understand German. Scientists say cats are approx. as intelligent as two year old kids. Sounds   right. Now we understand why we often feel that we with our big fur angel community are living in a Kindergarten. Cats love fish. From time to time I buy fresh Sardines, boil them, remove the fishbones, heads and tails and mix this with bred chunks. Our little darlings just know what I am doing behind closed kitchen doors, they have a meeting in front of the door and shout I should hurry up! Folks in a crowd act different from single persons, the same seems to apply to cats. Not always easy first thing in the morning, after they greet me with purring (their way of saying happy to see you) every little treasure wants to be fed first. But of course all remain individuals, which makes them so adorable. Needless to say only when all cats have had their breakfast and all visitors to my "cats' table have been served, will we sit down and enjoy our coffee and breakfast.

Post Script Living with Cats

"Everybody is self-responsible for that what he/she does and doesn't do." Voltaire

Many important things in life one can learn from cats, they are not all alike and capable to learn from each other and from us. Some really enjoy living in a big community, cuddling together is great for keeping warm. Occasionally I also found a cat that doesn't seem to like other cats, perhaps isn't even aware of being a cat and not a human being (e.g. my Persian Aisha). Aisha gets along well with Amelie, my other Persian beauty, as well as with sweet Lilly, Daddy's girl. All other cats she doesn't want to  see. Aisha likes to sleep on top of our kitchen cupboard (similar behaviour to a lion on top of a hill, wanting to keep everything under control). As it gets cold in the evening I try to keep my little treasures warm with small blankets, some love it and crawl completely underneath, while others uncover themselves. Not all choose the warmest sleeping place, they have several alternatives, two wooden houses, cardboard boxes, benches, baskets, chairs, their tree with a "cave" and a bowl shaped sitting place as well as a platform. Tomcat Tiger and his sister Sandy usually sleep in our bedroom, sometimes in my arms or even underneath my bedding. Should I oversleep then I have them as my gorgeous alarm clock. Great to be waken up with purring! Kitty, little black with red and a bit of white coloured beauty, who several months ago added herself (sneaked indoors) to our community, one evening walked out. Being worried she might get hit by a car (the fate of too many animals) I tried to fetch her inside again. She decided to play hide and seek with me, mainly underneath cars, then finally disappeared in an unoccupied run down house, from where I couldn't reach her. I called her several times, she came out once, decided I am okay and disappeared inside again to cold dirty floors, rooms with broken windows and no food. You may think with so many cats in my house not a big loss, but this was not at all how I felt. I love each one of my little treasures, each one counts! I felt sad and my husband tried to comfort me saying she will return. Well, finally Kitty decided that "hotel vice mama" is better after all and waited in front of our door for me to come out looking for her once more. So happy to have her back! Several of my fur angels who once arrived as young kittens, have grown up and become big beautiful tomcats or lady cats, while others remained dainty and small like maybe six month old ones. It must be their genes and perhaps the food they received when they were very young. Scientists discovered that following several years of food shortage in North Korea the population grew up shorter in size. It is not necessarily better food that leads to taller folks though, fast food can have that effect. I noted while for many years people from southern countries, including Arabs, used to be shorter than Europeans, this is changing among the new generation, though some are quite tall yet very skinny. I presume too much fast food and too little home cooking. Time to rethink and promote home cooking, my cats like some of it too, they are not stupid!

Living with Cats

"If an elephant steps on a mouse and you leave them to solve this out between themselves, you take the side of the elephant." Desmond Tuttu. -
January is ending with lots of sunshine, 20 degrees Celsius or more, even warmer on the roof, my big cat community loves it and now spend more time on my roof terrace. Nights are still quite cold but a bit less damp. The temperature drops as soon as the sun goes down, faster than in Europe. Another effect of the sunshine is that cats get hot at a much younger age, wanting to "get engaged" while still fairly small, if they fall then pregnant it means a lot of stress for their young body. The vent advised me that 7 or 8 months is a good age to get them spayed and neutered. (for the male approx. 50 Dinar and twice as much for the female). This operation is the price my little darlings have to pay for living with us, over the years I had at least 35 cats undergoing this procedure. They were all fine afterwards, more interested in cuddling and no longer suffering from that "feeling hot". Still I'd wish I could explain this to my little treasures and regard it as a pity not to see their doubtlessly gorgeous babies growing up. Tunisians who keep a cat and can't afford to pay the vet or don't want to often separate the mother from her babies at a much too early age (less than 6 weeks, in my experience they never survive) and if they can't find a family for them just leave them in a cardboard box or even worse, put them in the garbage bin. I hate to find these boxes in front of my door (or elsewhere) as I have reached my absolute limit, meaning space and expenditure as my fur family should be entitled to medical care as needed, including dental treatment (more and at a younger age than in central Europe). Ricardo e.g. only 7 months old, had already 3 tooth removed, Fritz approx 8 months old 4 tooth. He was brought by a German lady who requested that I look after him for about 6 weeks until her brother will arrive and take Fritz to Germany. That was in July last year. He has been vaccinated, I was told. (Exact age unknown) My temporary guest meanwhile looks like a permanent one and has not been operated until recently. I had to have him undergo this procedure as he started to get interested in the cat ladies and this would also include marking his hunting area and possibly fighting with my other tomcats. Besides, my cat "teenagers" Natasha and Nathalie have yet to be operated and as my little beauties are still small I want to delay this visit to the vet a bit longer. By the way, Fritz is well integrated and a pleasant easy going fellow, but it would be nice if that lady from Regensburg would turn up and apart from saying hello (also to Fritz) contribute to some of my expenditures (180 Dinar for the vet, including dental treatment and another injection for his gum). Sharks are much luckier than cats, nature provides them with 10-15 rows of spare tooth, up to 30,000 spares during a lifetime. I guess this just as well as not many dentists would wish to have Sharks as patients. Anyhow, sweet Claudia and Fritz are the best of friends now. My husband and I love our fur family, great having them, their love is so pure and honest.

Revolution Memorial Day 14.01.2020

The only way to protect oneself against making mistakes is staying ignorant. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. -

 Tunisia's new cabinet has just been rejected by parliament. People's expectations of the new elected president are high and as in other countries there are always those who don't want changes. Some say everything was better before the revolution, less unemployment, lower prices, more safety and more tourists. The later does of course lead to more jobs and tourist don't worry much about human rights. If you keep out of politics, don't look to your left and right, you may believe a dictatorship is okay. Nonetheless Ben Ali's big poster in every shop and corner was at least strange, but is fairly common in non-democratic counties. More safety is also what was said about the Nazi period, it did of course not apply to Jews, Sinti and Roma, as well as various other suppressed groups and persons. Prices may have been lower in the past, but a lot of products were not for sale (e.g. pet food, good chocolate, a variety of fruit teas, electronic items, etc. okay some are not essential. In addition less folks possessed a fridge, a TV set and other items. On the flea market unlike today  third class products to dress the very poor, but that was better for the Tailor's business. More half or less finished buildings waiting for the owner to save with his or her work money in a foreign country to continue the construction works. Very few new and expensive cars on the road, those who had a bike considered themselves lucky. By the way, the money Tunisians sent back home from various European, Arabic and other countries in order to support their families became an important element of the Tunisian economy. Contrary to common believe the money was not made in a kind of paradise, it mend hard work and often forgoing things one loved. This hasn't improved. After the revolution it came to light that the secret police used Telecoms cars and some taxi drivers spied on their customers. The Truth and Dignity Commissions findings were shocking and many cried while watching their documentation on TV, one should not forget that when talking about the past. All in all I would call the Tunisian revolution successful, many problems need yet to be solved. At present a lot of human resources including potential of academic intelligence is wasted. Some get so depressed that they commit suicide, very sad. We need urgent solutions. I could think of many jobs that would work wonders, also in view of the high percentage of very young citizens, but that requires money. As for another matter close to my heart, before the revolution I viewed many skinny starving cats, none pedigree. Now there are numerous gorgeous ones around, many still hungry, often looking among the garbage for food (nonetheless as a rule fur clean and we'll kept). In my neighbourhood cats are contend and well behaved, I am told. They know their feeding times and arrive punctual when the "cats' table" is opened.

You Never Get What You Want

No need to panic, you better want what you get. Life is easier if you from time to time ask yourself whether certain items or events are really all that

important, is there really a need to get excited/angry? Prices keep raising, if your income doesn't it can be pretty tough. It is expected that the rate of exchange will again become more favourable for tourists and those with foreign currency, thus prices for imports, e.g. some medicine will go up (still cheaper than in Europe). After an acquaintance of mine was taken to the university hospital here, I discovered that no evening meals are provided there. The family, friends, etc. are supposed to bring that food, but visiting hours are limited to 13.00 - 15.00 hrs and no exceptions are made. The alternative is the clinic, modern, efficient but not exactly cheap, 500 Dinar a day not including medical treatment, so I am told. I guess prices vary. Quote (forgot who said this): "It is difficult to make someone understand something that his income forces him not to understand." In the

south in particular the provision of hospital facilities leaves much to be desired. Three presidents purposely neglected the south of Tunisia for political reasons (Tunisian history documentation on Aljazeera English). With the new government the situation will hopefully very much improve. Those of us without a private health insurance but are more or less insured via CNAM (which may also be the case on account of a Tunisian agreement with an European state), are under certain conditions entitled to a small refund (lately reduced again), but this requires a lot of patience and time. The minor refund is usually paid via the post office, if you think it takes too long (2 - 3 months) and complain to CNAM, you will be required to obtain from the post office a paper confirming that you haven't received money from them ( for this the person there needs to make a phone call and charges 1 Dinar.)  Should the money still not arrive, the same procedure may be repeated, (again and again?) Some give up, so I am told. As for me I would consider that wrong from an educational point of view. Perhaps your grandchildren will one day receive the money! Hopefully a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy will eventually be reduced by the new president. He is confronted with a lot of expectations and hopes for more jobs and less corruption.

Now that nights are getting pretty cold (still quite a bit of sunshine during the day usually) my four legged family members are starting to sneeze and I to cough. Our veterinary recommended a new product: Bronchi-stop (only 5 Dinar, doesn't taste nice, cats don't like it, I apply it mixed with water and a bit of sugar in an injection then sprayed into their mouth) and for me  I got a cough mixture. Early in the morning I took a sip of this, at least that is what I thought, tasted a bit strange and it turned out that I grabbed the wrong bottle, anti-worm was actually mend to be medicine for my cats not me. Anyhow, I won't recommend it for humans, it made me vomit, but I was okay not long after, and by the way, I haven't got worms for all I know and after all why

 

should it kill me if my little fur angels can take it, are they stronger than me? 

This is by the bye a photo taken after a flea and vegetable market finished near Sousse, sheep are allowed to eat the vegetable and fruit remains, sounds like a good idea, in particular as there are not plenty of green areas for sheep and other animals to graze.

Habibty Honey - Obituary

"Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thoughts and joy untroubled. Don't trouble it, don't harass them, don't reprieve them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent. Dostoyevsky The brothers Karamazov"

Yesterday I lost a great treasure that can't be
bought with all the gold and diamonds in the world. A very very sad start into the new year! Gorgeous and very intelligent Honey proofed that beauty, intelligence and a good gentle character can be found in one, previously so-called stray cat. When I first saw her I admired her lovely well kept fur, only her tail was missing for unknown reasons, leaving her with a slightly bleeding wound. After a while I noticed there scab and tiny stones that temporarily closed the wound, then Honey started to bleed again. So I decided to take her to the veterinarian clinic, if she lets me. I picked her up. No protest. All went well. Honey was born approx. in January 2015, already grown up when I took her in doors, some months later. In 2017 we had her operated (family planning, as we do with all our fury family members). Honey made us understand that while she is happy to live with us, she still wants to spend some hours every day out on the street. She used to observe the traffic, waited for cars to pass before crossing the road. Nevertheless I was always relieved whenever she returned unharmed. On some days she appeared to be quite tired.  Like other cats Honey liked to sit underneath parked cars, about which I wasn't happy as disturbed kids from the neighbourhood think it's funny to throw stones at cats or lead their dogs to chase them there. I explained many a times that whatever they do to the cats here (or the dogs) for me it is as they do it to me! The children around here know now that my husband and I won't tolerate animal abuse. Whenever I called my little darling, she would come, sometimes it seemed to be out of nowhere. This didn't mean my treasure would walk straight indoors, usually she first played a bit hide and seek with me, but always giving me a chance to catch her. She was unbelievable, my number one and so was I for her, would only take instructions from me, not my husband. Had to take her twice to the dentist, two tooth removed, no problem, cats recover from this quicker than we do. Her favourite food, like for many other cats: fish. Several fish mongers have given her fish for free when she asked for such a donation. (From time to time I buy fresh Sardines for my big fury family.) Whenever Honey was outside seeing me leaving the house she would accompany me for part of the way or just shout behind me, sounded like complaining "Don't leave me". On some days sweet Honey would sit in front of our entrance door waiting for us to return. Or if I was indoors and she wanted to join me, my little darling would walk around the house and call me from underneath my window. This will never again happen. My gorgeous one got hit by a car at just a few meters distance from our house, while we were out. Had I been there I could have only prevented her deadly accident if I had seen the car coming, this doesn't comfort me. Many, far too many cats get run over by a car, some of those that survived are now living with us, unfortunately my amazing little treasure was less lucky. I want to call her she can't answer me anymore. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to enjoy her company for a while, still never more is hard to accept.