Almost Done

This week has been pretty uneventful save for the fact that I started my last course ever. I am so excited to not have to sit for hours on end in the same white-walled room, interpreting authors’ writing and having someone throw their opinion in my face all day long. Anyway, I’ve come this far so I think I can deal with four more days of class and three exams. At least I can look forward to sitting in the same insulation-exposed room (my basement), interpreting authors’ writing -  All. Summer. Long. I bought a poster to decorate the otherwise drab walls of my basement; it serves two purposes: on the one hand it spruces the place up a bit and on the other it should help me focus and relax a bit since I figure that my stress levels might get out of control. Who knows if it will actually keep me calm? Knowing me, I’ll probably end up ripping it into a million pieces – “who’s calm now?!” Yikes. 

In other news, this weekend was pretty fun. On Thursday we did the usual Paceville thing but on Friday we branched out and went to Gianpula, Malta’s largest open air club. It was absolutely packed with people but I have yet to decide if I liked it so much because it was actually good or because it wasn’t Paceville. Either way, it was a lot of fun and it was well worth getting the bruise on my leg so that I could get up on stage to dance with everyone including the DJ who was pretty gung ho to dance with us “foreigners,”  that is until the bouncer kicked us off. So that’s it for me this week, I best be off to sneak some studying in before the sun tempts me to go outside. 

On stage, pre bouncer kicking us off

Prom

On Friday night I found myself getting ready for prom at the residence almost exactly five years to the date from my grade 12 prom.  Despite the fact that prom shouldn’t have really been a big deal, I was still excited to dress up and have fun with everyone on a much cheaper budget. There was no ticket to buy, no nail or hair appointments, I already had my tan, and there was no drama of organizing the limos although I somehow ended up being the one to organize the transportation to the bars afterwards, some things don’t change I guess. 

Prom throwback, 2006

Malta Prom 2011 

Other than that, the weekend has been relatively quiet. The weather has been a bit crappy which is fine by me since I have had to force myself to get some work done and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on too much sunshine. I can’t believe that on Monday I will start my last course here which means that in three weeks time I will have completed all 15 modules and then be on my way back home. Anyway, that’s it for now I hope that everyone is doing well.

PM, Boat, Rugby

This week, the Prime Minister, Lawrence Gonzi, came to my university for the inauguration of a new wing in the building. The main university is located in Msida but the Valletta campus was originally the main site until 1968; it had been the main learning site since 1592! The Prime Minister and a few others came to address the International Master’s Programmes and after some formalities, there was a little meet and greet session and a few of us from our class got to speak with Mr. Gonzi  and I was fortunate to get a picture with him. 

On Friday night, instead of doing the usual Paceville thing with people from the residence, we went on a night time boat cruise and sailed to St. Paul’s Bay and anchored there for a bit before turning back to the residence. It was a great change from doing the same old thing every week.

 

 Yesterday I went to watch a rugby match in the afternoon, two of the guys from the residence, Hugo and Titi, play on the team so a bunch of us went out to support them for the final which they won. It made for a fun afternoon and after that I just headed back to the residence for a relaxing night.

Congrats Hugo and Titi

Playing on the bus before our driver showed up

Hike #2

It's been nice to be back on the island after the weather in England last week turned sour during the latter half of my trip. It figures that the first six days that I was in Oxford the weather was gorgeous but as soon as I emerged from the homework dungeon, the weather took a turn for the worse. Anyway, the weather here has been pretty consistent and warm in Malta and today I went for a really nice hike from Marsaxlokk to St Thomas Bay. We stopped at St Peter's Pool halfway through the hike and it was absolutely beautiful; it was a great spot to relax, catch some rays and swim. I definitely could not muster up any kind of courage to get in the water- as beautiful as it is, I just can't deal with being cold. 

Other than that, everything has been pretty normal save for the fact that a turtle (tortoise?) barged (as they do) into my room last week and had to be put back into the garden; worse things have happened. 

So that's it for this week, hope everyone is doing well. Also, I would like to take a quick second to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day, thanks for being the best. 

Easter Break Part 2- Grenoble Reunions

I left Oxford on Tuesday and made my way to London to meet up with Kat and Jess. Together we explored around a bit and then met up with a bunch of people from Grenoble to have a nice dinner. 

The next day we went to Camden Market, I’ve never been there but it’s definitely a place I’d go back to again; there were tons of shops selling everything from t-shirts to cool vintage memorabilia. We met up with Mailin in the afternoon had lunch, Lama joined later and we went for high tea and when we met up with Miranda we headed out to a cool Belgium place for dinner (obsessed with food much?). The restaurant had a really cool deal called “Beat the Clock” which meant that between 5 and 6:30, depending on the time you place your order, it would cost you that much in pounds, i.e. we ordered at 5:50, and that’s how much our meals cost. Pretty cool. After dinner, Kat and I headed back to George’s house to watch some movies and hang out. Despite our intention of taking advantaging of being near Hampton Court Palace, we decided that we really weren’t in the mood to go see the gardens and a maze, quite frankly I wasn’t a fan of paying 4 pounds to get lost in a maze... I tend to get lost frequently for free. 

On Thursday night Kat and I made our way to Highgate to meet up with her friends from Wales who are now living and working in London. I snuck in one last Grenoble reunion to see Rhyanna, I haven’t seen her for nearly two years but it was as though only two weeks had passed.

My last day in London was great, I had my eyes glued to the TV watching the Royal Wedding. I don’t know why I cared so much about it but I definitely got sucked into the moment and bought a commemorative mug, and magnet.I was crying when Kate walked down the aisle. Don’t judge.

I'm pretty bummed that my trip is over but I want to personally thank my cousin Geoff for letting me stay in Oxford, as well as George and Kat’s Wales Crew for letting me crash whilst in London. To all the new people that I met, it was a pleasure, and thanks to the Grenoble crew for making the effort to make our reunion so great. Miss you all already.

I'm back in Malta for the last leg of my course and I only have two and a half more modules left until I’m back home for the summer to work on my thesis. Start the countdown. 

Easter Vacation Part 1

My Easter vacation could not have come soon enough. Even though I had a bit of a break at the end of January, the last two and half months consisted of a lot of work and I was really tired and needed a break. On the last day of class, Carole came to visit me after her trip to India. Despite the jet lag, she was a trooper and manned up to come out with everyone to see firsthand the wonderful world of Paceville. The next day, when we woke up the weather was absolute crap; it had been so sunny and warm in the weeks leading up to break and I had told the girls who were coming to visit that the weather had been great and was supposed to get better. I had a slight panic attack as I checked the forecast which predicted rain for the next four days. By some grace of God things turned around for the better. On Friday night, Jess arrived; it’s a good thing someone was awake to bring her to my room since I accidently fell asleep- sorry Jess! Anyway, the next day, despite the bit of rain, Carole, Jess and I ventured off to Mdina, Mosta and Sliema to check out the sites. 

Mdina Cathedral

Mosta Dome

Blue Grotto

On Saturday night, Jamie arrived and the next day, all four of us went to the Blue Grotto and right after that we went all the way across the island to Comino. We collectively decided that since the weather was good, we didn't want to risk not being able to see Comino at all so it was worth the trek from one of the island to the other. 

Comino

Comino

Comino

We spent all day in Valletta walking and taking in the sites. In the evening we went back to the waterfront and had a great dinner. 

Valletta

Carole left early Tuesday morning so Jamie, Jess and I had a laid back day to go buy some souvenirs and spend the rest of the day at the beach. 

As a side note, I’m proud to say that for the first time ever, I am voting in a federal election. I hope that those of you at home are doing the same because it is an important thing to do. We are so lucky to live in a democratic country where we are able to voice our opinion unlike some countries where people have lost their lives this year fighting for that right. 

Who knew democracy could look this good?

And now, I’m in Oxford visiting my cousin Geoff. I’ve been here once before but it was in the winter time; it was beautiful then but it is even more stunning now that the weather is nice and flowers have been planted in the gardens. It's great being in such an academic environment; I went to the library and got some books to help me with my research for my  thesis. Overall I'm happy to be here to get some work done, to be with family and to relax a little bit as well. 

So I guess I got a little carried away with this entry but it makes up for all the times that I don't write. I hope everyone is doing well. Love to all xoxo

Strawberry Festival

This weekend was generally eaten up by working on a take home exam but I decided that I would check out the Strawberry festival in Mgarr on Sunday. We had heard some rumors that every bus that was going to Mgarr was packed full and was not stopping to pick up passengers. The options were that we could call a taxi or walk. A bunch of us girls decided to walk... for two and a half hours... at 12:30 aka the hottest part of the day. I was okay with it, it made for a good adventure and I think that the walk was better than the actual festival itself. The festival took place in the main square and you could buy various drinks and food made with strawberries but the absolute chaos of buying a ticket to actually buy something was horrific; lines were nonexistent. Either way I got to see something cultural, which I really don’t get to do too often. Not only was there a lot of pandemonium going on at the festival, getting a bus home was another experience altogether. I almost got in the way of a fight between two men who were annoyed about people pushing and they decided that getting aggressive with each other would be the best way to solve the problem. The irony was that they were both near the front of the line and had no problem getting one. Anyway, that’s what has been happening lately, I’m excited that my three visitors arrive this week so we can go on some adventures and relax a bit. Hopefully I’ll get back to writing more frequently again soon. 

After 2.5 hours, we finally arrived