You don't have to spend a lot to look hot

Usually, when I’m back home and decide to go out with my friends I’d put in a lot of effort in picking a cute outfit and a nice pair of heels, but in Malta I spend more time figuring out what I want to wear by deciding which clothes I don’t care if they come back smelling like an ashtray. Here it doesn’t  matter what you wear since there’s a lot of jersey shore couture in the clubs that I refuse to compete with, and some people (not mentioning any names) have gotten away with going in their pyjamas so I usually opt for somewhere in between and put on jeans and a top. This weekend was a bit different because to celebrate Denise’s birthday we ventured over to the 25 cent store to find our outfits. That’s right I said, 25 cent store; I thought we had it good with Dollarama at home. Actually Dollarama is much better than this place since some of the things are questionable, in that they have random dirt spots on them, and parts of the store are flooded but I mean, it’s 25 cents, I’m not going to complain. I decided that I’d wear a classy Spice Girls t-shirt but I also bought a shirt that I legitimately plan on wearing that may slightly resemble a tea towel but in the words of Tim Gunn, I’ll make it work.  

Chanel, Spring 2011 

Getting Cultural

This week I was invited to a ‘cultural event,’ a guided tour of Valletta. I’ll admit I was reluctant to go because I thought that since I’ve lived in Malta for the last five months, I’ve probably seen what needed to be seen. However, I decided to go and in the end was glad that I did; it seems that often times when you live somewhere, you fall into such a daily routine that you fail to realise what your city has to offer and the beautiful sites that surround you. Despite the fact that the weather was terrible (crazy winds and rain), the tour was great. We went to one of the gardens that I had no idea existed which was followed by a tour of the St. John’s Co-Cathedral and later to a 16^th century palace of a Maltese noble family and then out for lunch with the group. I particularly liked the palace because from the outside, you wouldn’t know that the house (read mansion) existed, especially since we entered from what appeared to be just a regular souvenir shop. The house has over 50 rooms and it is just exquisite. So in the end, it was a good idea for me to become a tourist where I live and I look forward to the next tour. 

Inside St. John's Co Cathedral 

Dining room inside 16th Century Palace

I cannot believe that my course is halfway done. I only have seven more modules to complete before I head home to write my thesis- which I still don’t know what it will be on yet, suggestions would be appreciated. This week has not been overly eventful except for the fact that Thursday was a holiday to mark St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Malta. I thought it would be cool to check out what goes on during a ‘festa’ so a bunch of us headed to Valletta to see what was going on. I think it would have been better to go at night because all we saw was a band marching through the city. Yay for cultural experiences. I’m sure there is more to it than that but I couldn’t find an itinerary of events or anything so that was slightly disappointing. There will be plenty more events to come, I’m sure so hopefully those ones are better. 

There have been a lot of changes going on at the residence, specifically with the new residents having arrived for the second semester.  The overall mood at the residence is pretty mixed right now with a lot of people sad to see friends heading back home and a lot of people who are happy to start their time abroad. Obviously it sucks to see people leave but, speaking from experience, having met people on exchanges in the past it makes for the best excuse to travel and you never have to worry about paying for accommodation! So good luck to everyone who has gone back home and welcome to all the newbies. 

Vacay Therapy

So I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but I went away for a bit of an adventure after exams. I hopped around to 5 different cities in France and the UK and got to see a lot of people that I haven’t seen for a while and who I care about a lot.

I met up with Mark in London and the following day we debarked on our trip to Bordeaux to meet up with Dan, a fellow Canadian and friend from Grenoble who is currently doing his PhD there. Despite the fact that I haven’t seen Dan for about two years, we were able to pick up right where we left off and spent hours catching up, drinking wine and eating cheese and chocolate. Later that night Jamie arrived and the following day all four of us went on a wine tasting tour which was really fun and of course delicious.

  

Back in the UK again I went to Leicester and met up with Sweta, my friend that I met on my flight back to Toronto in December and we became instant friends so it was awesome that I got to meet up with her again and she took me to law school for the day, how very Elle Woods of me.  

Next up was Wales to see the beautiful Kat and Lama. What an amazing place, maybe I’m biased because I like lambs, but it was absolutely stunning. I would go back there in a heartbeat and I would love to see it on a clear day. My only complaint was the windy roads which make me sick but I’m just used to straight roads so I clearly need to man up.

The last leg of the trip was spent in London with Miranda (the legend), as well as a bunch of people from France and my cousins from Australia and Canada. Even though the whole purpose of my trip wasn’t touristy, I was pretty excited to make the effort to go to platform 9 ¾ (since I’m so cool) but I think the next time I am back in London, which will be soon, I’ll actually do the 27 page self-guided HP tour. Why not?

So thanks to everyone who I met up with especially those who donated a bed to me, it was amazing to see you all and I look forward to seeing you again.