Festas, Food, and Friends – Part 2 (Only a few months later!)

Karnival – coming from the Italian carne vale, “meat is allowed,” is a festival period in many countries in the days before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

In Malta, this five-day stretch of brightly colored everything has many elements, ranging from parades in the capitol to all-night parties in small towns. My friend LW was still here, and I was so happy to have her with me to see all of the raucous celebrations.

The fun kicked off on Friday the 17^th in Valletta/Floriana with a large parade of floats and people in costumes. There didn’t really seem to be an overall theme, although we did see lots of floats with Disney/Pixar characters, and others with a set of Smurfs!

On Saturday, we stocked up with edible provisions and took ourselves over to the sister island of Gozo to spend the night in a rented farmhouse and attend the extra-crazy festivities in Nadur. Of course, on the ferry on the way there, the friend who had booked the house called the owner to confirm and found that she had double-booked! Luckily, albeit frustratingly, the owner had a friend with a large apartment available, but it was in another city. Not wanting to try to drag ourselves back home to Malta at some evil hour of the morning, we assented to take the apartment.

Suffice to say that many a shenanigan occurred that night, but to save the pieces of reputations that still remain, I shall name no names and only tell you some shortened versions of some stories:

-          On the bus from the apt to Nadur, some of the Americans (myself and LW not amongst them) decided in their inebriated state that it would be a great idea to start belting out “America the Beautiful” at the back of a jam-packed bus

-          Took pictures with people in all sorts of costumes, from an entire Addams Family to ketchup bottles to an overabundance of young men dressed in some form of drag

-          Nearly got run over by a police car

-          Took a bus to another bus to a taxi and then walked back to the apt freezing

-          Apparently made the best scrambled eggs, with and without cheese, and was thereafter offered a trip to the Emerald Isle to travel and cook (I accepted, but it has yet to come to fruition!)

After one of the most roundabout bus journeys (and that’s saying something here), we made it back to the vapur (ship) and finally made it home late Sunday afternoon.

Sadly, LW had to head out the next morning, but at least I had the day off from school to recover from her leaving!

That Wednesday, of course, brought Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. PG and I got up early and attended Mass at the small church just a few blocks away from us that gives services in English. On the way out, we spotted our landlady coming in for the next Mass – it is a small neighborhood!

Sunday the 26^th, PG and GG completed the half-marathon and we celebrated at one of our favorite local restaurants, Mint, for lunch afterwards. It’s funny how much comfort can come from simple food when it is prepared correctly and with fresh ingredients. I don’t remember exactly what we ate that day, but every time we go there, we enjoy the selection.

The end of February brought my other visitor (note: no one else has come to see me since, hem hem!!), the lovely Miss LD. Having washed the guest bed sheets, I was thrilled to see another good friend here and share with her a bit of Maltese life in the 3 short days she was able to stay.

Although I had to work two out of the three days, I sent LD out to Birgu, where she enjoyed the views, winding streets, and even managed to get a nun to show her around! We also went to Valletta, Mdina, Rabat, and walked along the seafront here in Sliema.

That pretty much wraps up February, finally! Now, let’s see if blogspot will let me get a decent number of pictures up to go with this!