Hippo-what-um?

That'd be the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni. Ron, Kristi, Erwin and I headed to the Hypogeum after being given a heads up about Malta's most famous temple before leaving the states. The tickets sell out 2-3 weeks in advance, they only have about 5 tours a day which are conducted on the hour, and only ten people per group are allowed into the temple. We soon found out why. (I am sad to report they confiscated all of our bags and photos were strictly prohibited. I snagged a few poor-quality shots off google-image search, so for the time being you'll have to trust that I was there!)





The Hypogeum is a 5000-6000 year old underground temple. that served as the burial ground for some 7,000 bodies. It was discovered in 1902 during construction of some homes in the area, and was covered up for a few years. The significance of the original discovery was not initially appreciated, and neither were the locals fond of the idea that their homes would be uprooted should they tell anyone about what was underneath the floorboards.




The temple had 3 levels, the topmost was exposed during construction of homes in the area. The lowermost was some 15-20 meters below the earth (if I remember the informational billboard correctly). The photo on the right of the temple is the central chamber, and largest of all of the Hypogeum. To give you an idea of scale (which surprised me) that top of doorway you see in the middle probably reaches my shoulders. The man made paths and stairs were only large enough for one person to pass in one direction at a time (thus, the 10 people-per-tour rule). It was air conditioned and lights were on timers. Neeldess to say when the lights in one chamber went off and we were plunged into total darkness in a 5,000 year old subterannean grave I had conflicting urges to both hop the railing and explore and turn tail towards the sunlight. Seeing as how I had no light source of any kind, I was leaning towards the latter. Combine that with the eerie audio tour they provided complete with chants performed that echoed off the cave walls, and it was enough to give anyone the goosebumps. Overall, definitely worth seeing!




Last night I headed back to the World Cup Village to watch the U.S. play Ghana. Many of you may not know this, but Malta is home to a large population of African refugees. After trekking across the Sahara, they're often captured in Libya and forced into work camps. Those who make it to the sea are often picked up by FRONTEX who runs border patrol, and since the Maltese territorial waters are so expansive, they wind up in Malta while their final desired desintation was often Italy. That being said, there were more people cheering for Ghana last night than the U.S. Knowing the history of these refugees, and knowing that no other African team has advanced in the world cup, watching hundreds of people with Ghana flags and banners singing and dancing on a giant stage after the game last night to "It's time for Africa" (the World Cup theme song) was incredible. You couldn't help but be happy for them. I definitely felt differently about the game than if I'd watched it anywhere within the U.S., and it was a once in a lifetime experience. I have videos, so if I ever figure out how to post that I'll throw them up here.



The past few days I seem to have developed some sort of bug, and visited the local pharmacy here where they have doctors in a back room (which severely resembled a supply closet). He asked me a few questions, took my blood pressure, poked around with a stethoscope, and eventually concluded it was most likely an environmental irritation. (WAIT- you mean dust and diesel exhaust AREN'T good for my respiratory system!? who knew.) So after prescribing some syrup crap and pills to take a few times a day, I was only out 22.50 Euro (there's something to be said for on-the-go healthcare).


It's my last full day in Malta! (To say that I'm not ecstatic to be leaving would be a lie.) Nice to visit, but I'm ready to get home to the cockroach free land of moderate pollution control.

I'm headed to the beach with a garbage girly fiction book to lay out and soak up the last of the sun that I can. From what I hear, sunlight and warmth seem to be sparse back home.



see you all back in MN!
-KB