Malta: Post 3--It's possible I'm drifting away from reality?


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March 12th 2011
Published: March 12th 2011
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So, three entries in a month and some days isn't too bad..right? I do apologize to everyone trying to keep track of me via this blog because there's a good chance you think I fell off the face of the earth. So, my first month here has been pretty crazy and so much fun! I'm falling in love with this place and the people here more than I was expecting to. So, I'm trying to think of what's happened since my last update.... I joined a soccer team called Mgarr United. They're all so nice to me and appear to be fine with explaining every single drill to me in English directly after the coach explains it in Maltese. They're teaching me a bit of Maltese, but I don't think I'm picking up on it too well. Also, I'm not sure if they're teaching me the most practical of terms because if by some weird turn of events I'm ever lost in Malta and surrounded by people who only speak Maltese I really only remember how to say "stupid" and "run" maybe I could rack my brain for "line" if I really had to. But the team is going well, I suppose. We had a friendly 2 weeks ago and we won 5-1, except the team we played was in the 2nd league. From what I understand there's 3 leagues in Malta and we are in league 1 which is the most competitive. Last year they won the 2nd league championships so they got moved up to the first league. It's strange because the ages on the team range from like 17-26 or somewhere around there? Anyways, I have my first real game with them on Tuesday, so hopefully we win because it's our last game of the season and it's my dad's birthday, so I think that's the least I can get him! Last weekend basically the entire residency went to Carnival in Gozo and it was FANTASTIC!! About 14 of us rented a farmhouse in Xaghra (that only slept 6, so that got a little weird for all involved parties..) and went for the entire weekend. Carnival was basically a bajillion people dressed up in weird costumes, on weird floats, doing weird dance moves and just loving life. I was an Indian, but I lost my feather hat on Friday, basically before Carnival even started. That was a bit awkward because we all dressed up Friday, but no one else really did. Oh well, I'll never see them again... Anyways, Friday night we went to a night club for this party called "Rio 2011" that these kids on the ferry told us about. Now, I'm no night club connoisseur, but this was probably one of the coolest clubs I've been to. Downstairs there was a bunch of people dancing and then you took a spiral staircase to the upper level where you could watch people dance (creepy..) and then there were also couches, chairs and tables where people could just hang out. I think everyone had an awesome time there, or at least I did! So, Saturday morning we woke up and walked around Victoria, which was a nice little area..not much going on though. Also, again we were in full costume and there were about 3 little kids dressed up as well, but that's it (minus the people from the residency that we ran into..apparently the memo to not dress up until night was in Maltese). Then Saturday night we went to Nadur and that was a strange night for everyone. I was not expecting to ever see that many people in Malta let alone little Gozo! There were a bunch of crazy floats, people dressed up in obscure costumes, food, music and decorations..recipe for success if you ask me! All-in-all I think that our weekend excursion to Gozo has potential to be one of the best weekends of my life, so far. Besides the insane wind factor, I loved Gozo. It's so gorgeous and our view from the farmhouse was unbeatable! I took lots of pictures and will upload them to my Facebook..eventually. Classes are going pretty good, I guess. I borderline can't stand most of my history classes though..not gonna lie. I'm taking 8 classes: 6 history classes that will transfer back to Clarion and 2 philosophy classes that probably won't transfer for anything useful, but that I was just interested in. Out of all of those classes I only consistently enjoy my 2 philosophy classes, Aesthetics and Existentialism, and one of my history courses, History of Political Thought (which all we do is study a bunch of philosophers...) Maybe I'm in the wrong major?! haha Oh well, I'm in too deep now. No, that's a lie, I like history, but here it's just so drab and no one talks in class besides the professor. Sorry, that's another lie, occasionally a Maltese student will ask a question in Maltese, and then the class breaks into Maltese for a hot second while I sit there grinning like a fool and pretending to take notes and hoping they aren't talking about the secret to life over there. An English recap would be nice, but it's never offered. Another thing, Malta is not exactly the vegetarian paradise that I thought it would be. When I asked a woman at the pastizzeria what she had that was vegetarian her response was "this is spinach and chicken, this one is tuna and ricotta, this one is chicken and ricotta, this one is salmon and ricotta.." sooo..define vegetarian, please? Speaking of fish..something traumatic happened to me a few weeks ago. A bunch of us got a taxi to Marsaxlokk to go to this big market there. There was a lady selling fish and she offered a LIVE fish to one of the boys. So, she is weighing this fish and it is literally gasping for air (or gasping for water? you get the point..) while people are cheering for her to beat it over the head with something to kill it. I'm not sure which is worse: the fact that they were wanting her to beat it over the head or the fact that she didn't just put it out of it's misery and instead just bagged it up for him and it was still squirming hours later. Oh, also, something I forgot to mention--I booked a trip to Venice and Milan on March 23 that I'm getting really excited about! I will definitely let you guys know what shenanigans I get myself into up there! Ok, I'm trying to think of more things that I've been doing, but it appears that I've let too much time go between posts and I'm just leaving things out. Also, this is getting a bit lengthy and no one honestly wants to read anything for this long so I'll wrap it up here. Again, I apologize for not writing more frequently. I'd also like to take this time to apologize for never using paragraphs..ever. Okay, for everyone back home reading this: I love and miss you all very much! For everyone in Malta reading this: stop creeping on me!

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13th March 2011

3/13/11
Dear Jordan, I enjoyed your blog so much and I'm really looking forward to hearing you tell me of all your adventures. If there is some way that your dad or Kelsi can get copies of this blog I'll get them made and read it over and over again about some of the funny things you're doing. I love and miss you but I'm so glad you're having all these adventures. See you July! love, Grandma

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