Day trippers..

It’s Sunday in Malta. I woke up to a foggy, brisk morning air which soon turned into a light drizzle, then downpour and heavy winds. Do you want to know what I thought to myself? “thank GOODNESS.” I am in dire need of a crappy day so I can be a productive human being and get things done, ya know, like homework, laundry, groceries, general lounging. It’s rough here when it’s perpetually 75 and sunny, there’s an actual gravitational pull to the sea that inhibits any brain activity. It’s awful. (I’m sure if you could slap me right now, you would. Ha!) I’ll start back at Friday night:

Sex and the City 2 debuted in the states on Thursday, and surprisingly enough it wasn’t too far behind here in Malta! 6 or so of us girls got tickets online, and proceeded to Eden Cinemas in Paceville for the 6:00 show. There was a red carpet of sorts. Turns out at the 8:00 show they were giving out massages, jewelry, drinks, etc. As we were leaving the spotlights were on and moving around.. very ‘hollywood’ for this tiny island. The previews were comical.. some Maltese film with awful dramatic acting which looked like it was filmed with a handheld camera.

There was also a Cisk (the local beer) commercial that had Kristi and I in stitches laughing. In the middle of the movie the film turned off and for a split second I was ready to shank someone.. until I realized it was just an intermission. Yes, they turn off the movie here like at a play or ballet and have an intermission in the middle. Strange. I just wanted more SATC2 and fast! Movie was great- in case you were wondering..as if there were any doubt it would be. Psh.

After that, we met 5 other girls at the Blue Elephant restaurant in the Hilton hotel for a Thai dinner. BEAUTIFUL place. Definitely the most upscale place I’ve been to yet (and my meal was only 18 euro. I have a good feeling I’m going to be frugal when I return to the states. I’m used to paying 6 euro for a pizza the size of my face!) I had a fantastic beef curry that came in a clay pot propped up on a clay holder with a tea candle in the middle keeping my food warm. As soon as I post this I’m digging into my leftovers. Headed home after the movie, since Saturday was going to be an early and long day.

Saturday we headed to Gozo. Malta is made up of 3 islands. “Malta” is the big, main island with a population of about 250,000. Gozo is it’s sister island, still governed by Malta, but only has a population of 27,000. It’s significantly quieter, mostly rural, and a nice change of pace. We took a coach bus to the ferry terminal and then took the biggest ocean liner I’ve ever been on in my life. The car port fits 80 cars, and the boat has 2 cafés on the middle deck. I saw a flatbed semi with piping roll on, and look average sized, to give you a better idea. After the 30 minute jaunt over to Gozo we disembarked to another coach and into the mainland. First stop was Ggantija Temples. They are the oldest free standing structure in the WORLD. Predate the pyramids by 1,000 years (take that, Egypt). They were used to appease the fertility god and the shape itself is meant to represent the bust and hips of a woman. Up next we went to Fungus Rock and the Azure Window in San Lawrenz. Fungus Rock had some type of herb/fungi on it that had healing ability.. and people were prohibited from boating to it and disturbing it. Azure Window is just an incredible natural structure, an epic arch jutting out of the rock into the sea. Here are some photos from Gozo: (from L-R the Ggantija Temple, Azure Window, and a view from the Citadel)

After spending some time with these natural phenomena, we went to the Citadel in the capital of Rabat- which is now called Victoria. Everything on both the islands were built to defend against invasions, and the architecture of this place says it all. An enclosed city center complete with government center, cathedral, shops, etc. We walked along the upper outer walls and could see sea on every side of the island. Perfect for spotting the enemy. Finally at 1:00 we went to Xlendi (pronounced Sch-lend-ee) for an incredible 3 course meal. This has been our second group type meal, they bring out baskets of bread, followed by Gozo cheese, which is a hard goats cheese that’s been peppered (VERY good), olives, another smoked cheese, Maltese sausage- which is incredibly salty), crackers, bruschetta, and fried sun dried tomatoes. The main course was either fish or chicken. YES I am on a Mediterranean island where there’s no such thing as BAD fish and YES I still will not be eating it. (whatever, dad, I don’t like fish in the U.S. either. I’ll TRY it at least, how’s that?) obviously I had chicken, which was soaked in a white wine cream sauce and delicious (if I didn’t walk 5+ miles a day, I’d pack on 20 lbs here.) We had an hour to kill after that, so we explored the town. Some people went kayaking, but it was choppy and on and off cloudy.. if I learned one thing during my time in Naples it’s kayaking in the slightest waves makes for a rough time. I wasn’t ready to battle the Med. (you should see the waves today. Intense, rolling white caps..) We bussed back to the ferry and headed home.

I’m here with a large population of Texans. On our way home from school every day, we pass a Tex Mex restaurant. They were missing chips and salsa, so we went for an adventure to test it out. The Maltese take on Tex Mex is interesting. “Salsa” is sweeter, and borders on marinara.. the guac clearly comes from a can, and they also served some peppered sour cream type sauce, which was tasty. My “chicken fajita nachos” came on one giant corn tortilla, melted cheese, and fajita style chunks of chicken. Not what I expected, but pretty tasty for Maltese Tex Mex!

Sunday: This morning Kristi and I were interested in going to mass at St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. This church has withstood siege upon siege and Napoleon Bonaparte’s 7 day invasion. It puts anything I’ve ever seen in my life to shame. We toured the church with our group the first day here (refer to photos from post #1 in Malta)… but mass was something else entirely. The traditional prayers and incantations were done entirely in Latin, readings and some songs were in Maltese, and a 10 minute pre-written ‘message’ (not really a homily), in English- which he then repeated (and I believed added more, as it seemed longer) in Maltese. The choir actually had me choked up at one point. We were waiting for mass to start and it sounded as though someone put on a sound track of Latin music- it just resounded throughout the entire church and did NOT sound as if people could just be singing acapella. I was wrong. We turned around and a choir flanked in blue robes with black collars was standing by the rear doors singing. (Matt, it even made the Basilica’s choir sound like kindergarteners…). They processed in with 4 bishops or cardinals or some type of clergy in black square hats with red pom poms on top, a cross on a staff, incense, and candles. It was a long mass, and although I could gauge where we were by the program in English which I compared to the program in Maltese (and may even help me learn some Maltese words!) on occasion there would be a long period of chanting/singing in Latin, and it would be a prayer that at home is not sung. There are no kneelers, you just kneel on the marble floors. Only the first row has kneelers. Communion threw us off. At HS, we process out row by row. Here- people just spilled into the aisles whenever they were ready to receive communion. Surprisingly enough it wasn’t as chaotic as you’d think. After mass it started raining more, so we popped into a souvenir shop on the way back to the bus terminal and I got an umbrella. I’ve also been searching for a zip up of some kind.

Believe it or not it gets chilly here at night, and I’m a freeze baby. The thing is- they don’t SELL anything ‘warm’ here really. After 2-3 days of being on the lookout at shops, we found this strange little clothing store that only had one ‘sample’ of each bit of clothing in the 10 ft x. 5 ft closet of a store, and you had to ask for different sizes. He then crawled down into some type of cellar, and retrieved it. Regardless, I found a grey sweatshirt zip up for 9 Euro, and bought it.
Currently snuggled up in my bed with sweatpants and a sweatshirt on listening to Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dying” (such an American, I know). Have a Skype date with mom, dad, and matt a little later. Matt’s heading to the house since the likelihood of my dad purchasing and installing a web cam, downloading skype, and then successfully operating it BEFORE I return to the U.S. is slim to none. (sorry dad, it’s the truth. Lol), so Matt to the rescue with his MacBook :) would you judge me if I said I really want it to work (the internet mainly), so I can see not only the fam, but Squishy too? Kristi said she saw a baby feral kitten by her apartment the other day. I told her to get it for me. (dad, if I can clear customs, Lucky’s getting a baby brother or sister. Seriously.)

On deck for this week (tenatively): boat tour of the Blue Lagoon Tuesday (the most pristine bay in Malta) visit to the court on Wednesday followed by a craft village (Malta has great hand blown glass, and leather shops.. I got a sweet coin purse at a small craft shop on Gozo I’ll have to take a picture of later..) and then a winery tour! Kristi asked our tour guide yesterday if there were any good wineries, next thing I knew we were taking a poll on the buss as to who wanted to go to the winery after the craft shop Wednesday! This weekend I think Kristi and I are going to go to Sicily one of the days. The ferry for that trip leaves at 5:45 a.m. and returns at 11. Speaking of traveling: Kristi, Erwin and I booked a trip to STOCKHOLM for our long weekend June 17th-20th!! $110 round trip :-). Booking a hotel sometime his week. Going to explore Sweden!

Stay tuned!

-KB

Beach connoisseurs

Some snippits from the past few days:
We’re quickly getting accustomed to the way of life here… which for us has involved sampling various beaches in the area.

Yesterday after class we hopped on a bus back to the apartments, grabbed some lunch, and ventured off to Mellieha Bay again for some afternoon relaxation. We marked ourselves as classy Americans rather quickly as the guys tossed around the pigskin and shotgunned some Cisk, the Maltese beer, before heading back to Sliema for dinner:

It was also Jennifer’s birthday, so we headed to Spinola Bay, which neighbors Balluta Bay where we stay, for a nice meal on the patio. Or so we thought. The manager of Rafael’s wasn’t a pleasant man, and Kristi made the mistake of taking her time with ordering, he quickly lost patience and moved on. Overall the service wasn’t anything to write home about (yet here I am telling you folks..) but wait staff here in general operate very differently. There’s minimum service at all aside from taking orders and bringing food. The feral cats were friendlier than the manager. Yes, that’s right, cats. EVERYWHERE. They even have a Cats of Malta calendar we spotted in a gift shop our first day here. There were 4 wandering around on the patio where we were eating. I named one fluffy.. although he was anything but. Coaxed him over with Sarah’s leftover chicken, and fed him. He seemed to appreciate it. The consensus seemed to be, however, that bringing him back to the apartment wouldn’t be a good idea. (I miss my Squishy..what can I say..)

Next up was Paceville for a few drinks and some dancing to celebrate Jennifer’s birthday. I was tuckered out and Erwin and I headed home at midnight.

Today after class we went straight to Paradise Bay from Valetta. After an hour and 20 minute bus ride in the sauna tube of death through the heartland of Malta, we arrived. Hiked 1 km up a hill, down another hill, and down some stairs. But it was worth it:

A small, semi-private beach with amazing views, warmer water, and some waves. You can see Gozo in the background.

Speaking of which, there's a school sponsored day trip to Gozo on Saturday. We depart at 7:45 and spend all day there. Sunday I think Kristi and I are going to go to St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valetta for mass, and check out the large market they have on Sunday’s. The mass is said entirely in Latin, and songs are sung in Maltese. We won’t have a clue what’s going on, but it should be a good experience!

Stay tuned for updates from the weekend!
-KB

school, huh?

Turns out we're here to study too. Weird. The reality of that set in as we had our first class yesterday. It seems our mornings will be spent at the tiny cafe below our apartment. literally outside our door. The owner hollered "Hey girl!" across the tiny cafe at me. Tony and Tony run it. They're great. It's an adorabe cafe that serves awesome cappucino and fresh croissants in the mornings. I snapped a photo of some classmates on our morning down here: (Lindsay, Ann in the red & black, and Scott)-->

However "great" they may be, semi-broke college students don't make great dinner patrons, so he's restricted our use of the internet past 6 p.m. This means we all hike down to the McDonald's to use the internet. Yes, you read that right. Rest assured it's more like a starbucks--scratch that, NICER than a starbucks. Mahogany booths, steel accents, a 42 inch flat screen that plays Disney channel all day.. I watched in disbelief as the barista squeezed me fresh orange juice. The cappucinos comes adorned with a decorative chocolate swirls, in glass cups and on a saucer. Don't believe me? I took photos (oh and I forgot to mention- the terrace overlooking Spinola Bay..):

It's almost comical how good the McDonald's pastry display looks, huh?

First day of classes went well, minus the light mist that we walked to the bus stop in. My Family Law professor is a bit heavy on the reading.. as in 180 pages out of one chapter that will comprise 50% of our exam. He's never taught the subject matter before OR any kind of international law, and has no idea how to pace the class. This means we didn't get through 45 pages of reading the first day. Hopefully he modifies things as time goes on. My Refugee & Asylum law professor is significantly cooler. She's a hippie of sorts. In terms of grading, we won't really be having a comprehensive final, she said we'll do small assignments that will comprise our grade. Overall it was good.

Just finished day 2. the AC was on today. When it's on, it's an ice box. When it's off, it's a sauna. peculiar given that it wasn't even unbearably hot today, but the stone architecture perhaps has something to do with that. Studying has been a struggle. I find myself staring off into space often. By "space" I mean:

this is from my balcony.
do you see what I mean?
Overall, I could get used to this.

On tap for this weekend is a day excursion to the Island of Gozo, it's part of the Maltese Islands, the middle sized island along with Comino and Malta. Take the bus to the ferry and then scoot on over for a day of wandering. It'll be good to get a lay of the land, since Matthew's Malta Surprise will be taking place on Gozo (I know you're reading this. I'm going to blow it before long, haha, it's only a matter of time.)

Stay tuned!
KB

kelly the canadian

Hello all!

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend yet it feels like I've been here for ages already.

Friday we met downstairs for a guided tour of the city. We bussed from our apartment in St. Julians through Sliema to Valetta- which is where school is. Valetta was built in 7 years and is one of the most fortified cities on the planet, fearing another invasion. If we learned one thing at our Imax-like movie called "the malta experience" it was that the tiny country took a beating over the years. Only entire country to ever receive the silver cross (I think that's what it was) for valor. here are some pics from Valetta, overlooking the harbor: for valor. here are some pics from Valetta, overlooking the harbor:

It's really not like any place I've ever seen and pictures don't do it justice. After this we went to the National Archaeological Museum (which was 3-4 rooms), and saw some pottery and most famously the "fat lady" and "fat sleeping lady".. apparently centuries ago the artists liked their ladies big and curvy! After that we ate lunch, and visited St. John's Co-Cathedral. The outside was desigend to look like a prison/nondescript building should the city ever be invaded, to deter interest. Napolean pillaged a lot of it, but the clever Maltese painted these solid silver gates black to hide them. It's all that remains from that era in terms of the wealth the church once held. The paintings on the ceiling are second to only the sistene chapel. The walls are all SO elaborate and carved. It's actually difficult to wrap your mind around it. They also have the ONLY signed Carvaggio painting of the beheading of John the Baptist. No pics allowed in that room, and sadly I wasn't feel tempted to disobey the rules and wind up in a Maltese prison. We'll save that one for later ;-) (just kidding, dad.) Here are some of the church:

After that, Kristi, Paul and I asked to be dropped off in Sliema on the way back to the apartment. we wandered the city and did some shopping for stamps, transformers (which failed to work and essentially blew up my blowdryer. what's a girl to do!?), etc. and befriended some locals. After that we bumped into Ron and went to El Dolphin for dinner. This is where the title of the post originates from. We met Semmi, the owner, and since we were the only patrons in there at the time he chatted us up heavily. He cracked jokes with us, and gave us tips on what to see. Earlier in the day we'd joked about placing bets on when the first person asks if we're from Canada, since we sound like Canucks with our Minnesotan accents. I said "by the end of the weekend, mark my words." Semmi, as if on cue says, 'where are you from? Canada?' I died laughing, and then had to explain myself to him. As we left he told us to bring a group of friends back and he'd make us a Moroccan feast (where he was born), and we introduced ourselves by name. As we wave goodbye he says "goodbye, Kelly the Canadian!"... it seems I have a nickname!

yesterday we tested out the public transportation system and headed to the beach. If you think New Yorker's drive like maniacs, you haven't seen anything. It was like one of those awful simulated rides in Disney World where they tilt your chair all over and plunge you into pits: except it's real life, there are no seatbelts, and you actually fear for your life. We wound up at Melliaha Bay, and it was nice to get out of the "city" for a while. It's SO built up in Sliema and Valetta, it left me wondering if they had patches of grass. Turns out they don't, just tangleweed and thistle. The views make up for it though. Here's Melliaha Bay: (from left to right, Sarah, Paul, Kristi, Michael and me!)

That's all from Malta today! My computer is about to die. No outlets at restaurants makes this all a little tricky to plan.
Stay tuned!
-KB

“Do you mind sterling?”

This is what the barista at Heathrow’s “Caffe Nero” asked me this afternoon morning regarding my change.. still in a daze after an 8 hour flight through time the night, after I emerged from the dungeon that is UK Border Agency and Customs. I needed my mocha, which so far has done nothing to perk me up, so I simply blinked at her and said “no.” I like silver? Being 3,000 miles from home and a complete rookie to this international travel thing I figured I wasn’t in the position to “mind” anything.
I grabbed my mug and heaved the suitcases that weigh more than I do over to a booth and collapsed. Only then did I look into my wallet to see what she’d given me, noticing at the time there was no paper returned to me from the €10 I handed her, but too apathetic to question anything. One more “what planet are you from” stare in response to what I FEEL are innocent questions and I’ll burst into tears. After I collected my thoughts I inspected the coins. One pound coins, equivalent to our Sacajawea gold dollars. It’s all very strange to me. I look outside and feel like I could hop in a car and drive to Minneapolis. It all looks so unassuming. I know that’s not the case. The abundance of accents and foreign languages in the airport I think is when it hit me.
(Ooh ooH! Just spotted a super-nanny-esque cab drive by the arrivals gate. I can already tell I’m going to be an uber-tourist. I also marvel every time a car drives by that the mechanisms are all backwards. I then try to envision myself driving a backwards car, shudder at how much anxiety it’d undoubtedly give me, and wonder how many people I’d send to the ER.)
I’m writing this at 2:00 p.m. my time. When I’ll be able to post it is another matter entirely. “Boingo” wireless may have just ripped me off €10 while denying me access to the internet. ‘Wireless hotspot’… my ass. My game plan was to check in for my AirMalta flight as soon as I could, and pass out in a corner at my gate for several hours. (sleeping cock-eyed on your own shoulder with a pillow made for munchkins on the flight over is no real sleep at all). Turns out there’s no staff at the AirMalta desk at 2:00 p.m. because my flight is the ONLY flight to Malta today. The Gulf Air man told me to check back at 5. Glorious.
I’m meeting a girl from my program named Sarah Hope at the airport in Malta to share a car to our apartment. She gets in even later than I do (12:45 a.m. for me, 1:25 a.m. for her). Hopefully this will allow me enough time to collect my bags, act like I know what I’m doing, and find the driver who is allegedly going to have her name on a sign..all before she lands. I firmly intend on rolling my bags into my room, and passing out fully clothed. The 8:00 a.m. meeting time for orientation tomorrow morning is going to come quick, but I’m sure 6 hours of sleep will seem like a lifetime after the day/s that seems to never end.
Stay tuned for a well-rested post with pretty pictures. :)

(update: alive and well in Malta. off to the beach!! Will post more later!)

a very complicated game of tetris

that's what packing is.

(mashing odd shaped belongings into a box, hoping it fits, and hoping the airline doesn't rape you with the weight restrictions.) like this! -->

that's also something I haven't started. (leaving tomorrow. woops.) I have a tendency to get overly excited, as in "walking-around-clenching-fists-grinning-like-an-idiot-can't-get-anything-done" excited. This is why I live in denial up until the last possible moment that I'm about to take off on a plane alone to a teeny tiny island for 6 weeks..because if I *actually* thought about it, I'd be worthless.

I've already had the onslaught of "pre-flight" nightmares: there's the standard 'I miss my flight' bit, but since in real life I live in the realm of 'what is the worst possible thing that could happen and in the strangest way possible' so I can brace for it, my subconscious has decided to operate accordingly. Thus, I had a dream I set down my carry on to get a soda (super-cute new Target tote) and TSA mistakes it for a bomb, brought in the dogs, wouldn't let me take it, and delayed all flights.

note to self: do NOT set down tote.

In other news, I've gotten my roommate assignments. I was under the impression it was three rooms of two beds per room in an apartment. Then I open my email where I am introduced to April AND Heather. and then before I can process that information I get another email 9 minutes later and am introduced to my Session 2 roommates Keri and Cathryn. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have roommates other than my mom and dad, but 3 girls in one presumably tiny room is ANOTHER very complicated game of tetris. I emailed all four to warn then Matt will be coming for a week, since his visit will overlap both sessions. I am batting .250 for responses. gulp. I will be interpreting their silence as tacit compliance.

Anywhoo- I should probably get to packing, and bathing, and eating, and whatnot. Next time I write, it'll be from a terrace in Malta!!

Stay tuned,

KB