Testing One Two Three...

For some unknown reason the blog was down or removed earlier today?! I am putting up this post to see if I have fixed the problem. See the post just under this for pretty photos!

Pictures, Finally!

Hi all! This past week and a half or so since I last posted has been quite busy, but really good thus far (minus the giant mosquito bites that I am NOT scratching and the cold that my flatmate passed along!). Now that I am in my flat and have better (read: paid for) internet, feast your eyes on a selection of pictures from the beginning of Ottubru (October in Malti). I will update with another text post soon!

Sahha (a farewell wishing health upon you),
MH

P.S. I have figured out how to allow "anonymous" commenting, but please leave your first name or initials so I know who you are - THANK YOU :)

^ The main fountain in Valletta (the capitol) lit up at night

^Triq Ta' Republikka (Republic St) on the night of Notte Bianca, a festival in Valletta

^ Are we found or just less lost?

^ The beautiful embroidered banners at Notte Bianca

^ The sign describing the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, one of over 25 churches in Valletta (we went into the church but there were people worshipping so it seemed rude to take photos of the interior, though there were other tourists doing so)

^The outer facade of St. John's Co-Cathedral as we waited in the queue [It is a "co-cathedral" because it shares cathedral status with another church, I believe St. Paul's in Mdina]

The next few are all interiors of St. John's - the rather plain exterior gives no hint of the breathtaking gilding and artwork within. I did get to see Carravaggio's "Beheading of St. John," but was not allowed to take photos in that room. You are allowed to take non-flash photos in the rest of the church. If coming to see me isn't enough of an incentive to fly here, seeing this cathedral in person (and all of the other amazing historical sites here) should help to convince you!

End of the St. John's pictures

^Another church (remember, there are over 365 in Malta!) in San Giljan aka St. Julian's

^A view from the bay in St. Julian's

^some traditional luzzu boats and an Arriva bus, which rarely arrives on time unless you are going to the capital [brief explaination regarding the buses: Malta had these older style smaller British buses that were run independently up until July of this year. They then decided to transition to this new bus company Arriva, who brought in bigger, newer busses and theoretically made the routes and timetables more regularized. The buses are nicer (I have not been on an older bus yet, but have heard many a story) but the routes are apparently strange and I can directly attest to the fact that the timetables frequently lie! They are supposed to be reforming the system in early November, so we'll see what happens!]

^ A Band Club in St. Julian's - not only do they have traditional music there, but also political discussions (and even fights at times, apparently)

^the main fountain in Valletta in daylight

^the city of Birgu, aka Vittoriosa, at night

^ Birgu's town flag

^Birgu by candlelight

^some of the famous window boxes

^ The Maltese flag

^ a pretty carved window in Birgu

^ In the 'Canteen' (the cafeteria) where several of the pillars are shaped like giant KitKat bars

^ the "beach" nearest to my apartment - it's really just rocks and then water

^ The main Quad at the University

^ Valletta from the side of the University

^ Chaucer's Stationary Shop in Bay Street, St. Julian's

More pictures to come soon!

A (relatively) Small Update! Longer descriptions and photos coming soon :)

Hello from my last day in Lija! Sorry I have not been updating more frequently, but the internet at the dorms (although free now since I got my password - yay) is not very strong and tends to cut out at inopportune times, so I will not upload any photos today. Also, this past week and a half has been crazy busy trying to look for an apartment (aka flat) and getting my schedules sorted out for my teaching and research!

A brief overview of what's happened between last post and now, in bullet point form for easy reading (and typing!):

~~ the other two ETAs arrived (hi PG and GG, if you're reading this) and we got acquainted - they are both smart and funny ladies, and I am lucky to have them as my fellow teachers! It was really nice to be able to blather on in rapid American English to them, although I am working on speaking slowly and clearly for my work at the University and secondary school instead of my usual excited crazy fast talking.

~~ as soon as we had Orientation at the University, we began to fill out and get the supporting documents together for the many forms we need, for everything ranging from a student saver bus pass to a Univ library card to the (temporary-permanent) Residency Permit! 

[Side story: they had large, regular size buses come to the dorms to get us all for Orientation, as opposed to several rides in the van that they have for the shuttle to the Univ from the dorms, and I, being the delightfully Bella Swan-esque clumsy girl that i am, managed to literally fall off the bus as we were exiting at the Univ. Yes, you read that right: I face-planted off the last step off the bus and landed half into a group of lanky Italian students and half into the sidewalk. Well, who says I don't know how to make an entrance?! I was fine, just ego wounded and knees and forehead bruised - what a lovely first impression I made, hmm?]

~~ drooled over all of the fun-sounding "study units" aka classes while they explained registration to the regular international students (as ETAs, we didn't have a separate orientation because a lot of what they were telling the study abroad students applied to us as well) and then remembered that I am no longer an undergrad and therefore cannot take any of the classes - darn!

~~ went to my first festival in the capital city of Valletta - it was called Notte Bianca (White Night) and it was insanely crowded since all of the museums, churches, and other popular sites were open and free to the public. There were of course long queues at each place, but among other places we did go into St. John's Co-Cathedral (one of the most ornate churches I have seen, it was breathtaking) and got to see Caravaggio's famous painting of The Beheading of St. John.

~~ had lunch and my first pizza in Malta with the girls (the other ETAs) at one of our main Embassy contacts' home (he lives in an amazing apartment overlooking one of the bays in St. Julian's - obviously his salary is a bit better than our stipend!) and got to finally meet him in person after having been in touch via email and also met his wife and adorable one-year-old daughter.

~~ went to some of the "Freshers Week" booths at Univ (a whole week of events, concerts, clubs fair, etc) and met up with the DESA (Dept. of English Student Association) and helped out at the Embassy table.

~~ felt like we were on House Hunters International as PG and I met with our real estate agent, saw several properties, debated about them over tea from a little shop called Chat & Chew (run by a lovely little British lady), and finally chose one in Sliema only about three or four blocks uphill from the bayfront road, so we can take our passagiatas by the waterfront in the evening when we feel like it :)

~~finally got my mobile aka cell phone (I'm on Vodafone and have free evening minutes to other Vodafones, any European-based friends!)

~~went to another festival, in a city called Birgu (also called Vittoriosa) aptly called BirguFest (not to be confused with BeerFest, though there were lots of carts selling Cisk (the local lager). It was a weekend festival, Fri Sat and Sun, but we went Sat evening which is when the whole city is illuminated by candlelight. It was so amazing to see what must have been thousands of candles shimmering against the dark sky. We were also treated to a concert by a Brit band called RUG, who played a a lot of Coldplay, Kings of Leon, and Snow Patrol, much to our surprise and happiness (we know this song! We can sing along to it!) and tried some traditional Maltese pastries called quabbajet (my spelling is off, but w/e) (small pockets of fried dough with a date paste filling - strange but yummy),

~~ had lunch with Ministry of Education officials and coordinators from the Univ who we will be working with and finally got our secondary school assignments

~~ I am assigned to a Boys' Secondary School (boys ages 11 to 15) so any male readers I need your help! How do I make learning English interesting for tween/teen guys?!?

~~Which basically [I have skipped a lot, but told you about the big events] leads us to today, where I went to visit my secondary school, got slightly lost with the vague directions they had given me, asked a policeman, 3 locals, and one man from Germany how to get into the school, and finally was rescued by the Head of the school's secretary, who brought me in sweaty and ever-so-delightful looking after having been lost for 20 minutes via the front gate, which, of course, is actually on the side of the school.

After I post this, I'm off to finish packing a few last things so I can check out of the dorms tomorrow morning and move into my flat with PG!

Thanks for reading this far; I hope you had a few laughs at my continuing misadventures, and please excuse any typos, etc. as I'm composing this on Blogger since my Microsoft Word is acting up!

Lots of Love from Lija,
MHT

P.S. I still love comments! I know a couple of people tried to comment before and they did not go through, so here are some tips ( I am still trying to figure out how to turn on anon comments, if they are off!):

Commenting works best if you have a Google/Blogger account - this doesn't mean you have to start a blog, but Blogger is run through Google and so uses Google accounts. A Google account is free - just sign up through Gmail. once you've made a Goggle account, you sign in from the top right corner of the blog, and then you should be able to comment! Yay! Sorry for the hassle - I am unsure why it has to be done this way.

Also, if you are unsure if I have your address and would like a postcard, please Facebook message me or email me at mhtinmalta@gmail.com  :)