You Shall Not Pass(port)!

I tried to get my Maltese passport today. It didn’t work out. I can’t say that I’m surprised that it didn’t because I think all bureaucracies hate me. There was a bit of a rush before I left Canada for Malta to get my dual citizenship and then get my passport in Canada however, the paperwork did not come through in time and I was informed that it would be fine for me to just get the passport while I was in Malta. Anyway,  the problem was that I was supposed to have a recommender, someone who has known me for at least two years and who is a person of status- priest, police officer, or doctor- and who is also Maltese. First of all, the guidelines did not specify that my recommender had to be Maltese and second of all, how many Maltese people do they think live in Canada who know me well AND who have status? And clearly I don’t know any priests so there go my options. My argument with the lady at the desk didn’t go over well, she asked me if I had any relatives in Malta that could sign my papers and I told her they were all dead! That’s not really true but those who are alive don’t really know me nor do they have status so they unfortunately can’t help me.  I stomped around Valletta feeling sorry for myself but I will figure out this conundrum in a bit.  

Day 1

Today I had my first day of orientation and I met all, wait for it, 9 people from my program. Huge eh? There are 3 Maltese students, 5 Americans and yours truly. I discovered that my university is not where I thought it was; I thought it was in Msida, in fact it is in Valetta. One of the reasons that I wanted to live in the university residence was because there was a shuttle bus to the school everyday which meant that I would not have to navigate a foreign city- you know I suck with directions. Of course this all changed when I found out that my campus is in a completely different city. Thankfully I used Google to find out how to get to school and I got there without a problem- this is a huge deal considering I only know one way to get to most places in Canada. Here’s a map so that you can see the huge difference that this makes: 

 *Sorry that the map jumps off the page a bit but you get the idea

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind living in residence even though it does make for a bigger commute, it also means that I get to meet a lot more than 8 people from other countries and programs and not spend 450 euro a month on a flat.

I think you’ll be proud to know that I spoke Maltese today... well not really, but I’ve figured out how to pretend to be Maltese so that I get the attention that I want. Let me explain. I was on the bus today and I wanted to make sure that the driver was going where I wanted to go. While I was asking him a question he decided to strike up a convo with another bus driver on the road. So when he was done, I said what all Maltese people say when they want to talk to someone (I apologise in advance this will be funnier for people who understand Maltese):

Me: Ow, hei! Does this bus go to Lija? (all said in an intense Maltese accent of course)
Driver: Mela
Me: Perfect

Mission accomplished. And I didn't even need my book!

When I arrived back to residence today I found out that I have a new roommate, her name is Alessia and she is from Italy. She is very sweet and I think we will get along just fine. I promised to help her with her English and she will teach me some Italian. Nice.

So that’s it for today. Back to school tomorrow and hopefully attempt to get my Maltese passport... I’m sure I will have to go back 12 times before anything gets accomplished.

You’re Maltese... but you don’t speak?

I’ve been here for 2 days and it seems that the Maltese people cannot comprehend how I can be Maltese but not speak the language.  Yes it’s true I am technically Maltese since X-Ray was born here many moons ago but I never learned the language at home. My vocabulary is limited to a bunch of food words, as well as words like ‘car,’ ‘boy/girl’ ‘money’ and ‘listen’ tossed with a few swear words here and there. When I hear people speaking Maltese around me I can recognize words but I can’t understand complete sentences. Based on what I said that I know, the only sentence I am likely to understand is “Listen girl, if you eat pizza in my car again, I’m going to make you pay me 50 euro to get it cleaned you little piece of s***...” That really doesn’t seem likely so I need to make it a personal mission to learn a bit of Maltese everyday. It can’t hurt.  With that said, I went out today and bought a book to help me figure out this crazy language. 

 

Remember last post when I said you can’t sacrifice fashion? I’ve changed my mind. I brought 13 pairs of shoes. I thought I owned 5 pairs of shoes max. Guess not. I have never considered myself a shoe lover... that’s my mom. She’s the one who strategically parks at the shoe department of the mall and hopes that I won’t notice her sneaky move (I always do). Anyway, it’s no wonder why my arms and back hurt so much from lugging all my crap around. Whenever I pack I feel like I need to shove everything I own into two suitcases. When I was packing the twelfth and thirteenth pairs of shoes into my bags, I should have been packing a screwdriver instead since I already managed to break my closet door - my bad. Instead of complaining that I had to have 5 pairs of jeans, I should have been investigating that Malta uses English-style plugs, not European like everyone else in the EU which has forced me to use two voltage converters instead of one. Oh well. For those of you who are curious to know, this is what my flat looks like

 So in my room, I am supposed to have another roommate but she hasn't shown up yet. I am secretly hoping that she doesn't show up so I can spread out all of my stuff but I know that is not being realistic. In total there will be 5 people living in the flat, and as you can see we have a common area with 2 fridges and a small kitchenette. That's Caroline, my French flatmate in the bottom pic. We've been exploring today, trying to get our bearings and avoid getting killed by maniac Maltese drivers. Tomorrow is my first day of orientation so hopefully I will start to meet people from my program and find out what will happen for the next 13 months. So that's it for now, Happy Birthday to Mouton! Happy 50th and here's to 50 more, love you xo

I've Already Lon-Done It

I’ve been to London a few times, seen the sites and ate the fish and chips so my 3 day layover was more of a social visit to catch up with people from Grenoble and fellow Canadians staying in London. After my 10 hours of sleep on Wednesday, Kat and I explored London and met up with Alex and Nicole- my fellow Canadian/Western buddies for a 3 hour pizza lunch and then a quick pop over to Oxford Street to check out the shops.  As much as I enjoy London, I do not think I could ever afford to live there, mainly because I could not afford to buy Revlon nail polish. Tell me how I can get it at home at a Walmart for $2.97 and I saw it for £6.29!!! Crazy. 

My last day in London was spent meeting up with loads of Grenoblois: enjoyed a roast dinner on a ciabatta bun courtesy of Jamie Hayes, spotted Agyness Deyn with Mark (even though he has NO idea who she is) followed by a quick chat with Mirandizzle near the tube station and later enjoyed some pints in Putney Green with Lucy, Mark, Kat and Simon. 

Before heading off to the airport, the girlies had one last meal in Starbucks who then helped me bring my stuff to the train station to meet up with Mark.  Thanks to all of you who helped me. Again, I could not have done that by myself and I really think I need to learn how to pack light. When I checked in at Gatwick, the lady told me I had to pay 300 pounds due to extra luggage but thankfully we ( I say we, I mean mom and dad) paid in advance so I covered the 5 extra kilos and pitched out 50 pounds just so that I wouldn’t have to leave anything behind. You can’t sacrifice fashion right?  So all is well so far and thus starts the beginning of my Maltese adventure.