Safe & Sound

Hello friends! It’s been a whirlwind of a week. I arrived in Malta on Thursday, January 29th at around 1p.m., (6 a.m. US time). I wasn’t able to sleep at all on the airplane, but there were tons of movies to chose from so the flight from Chicago to Frankfurt went pretty quickly. Landing in Malta was TERRIFYING. Since the island is so small, the plane begins landing while it is still over the water. Since I wasn’t in a window seat, I couldn’t see land at all when we started going down. Thank goodness Malta finally appeared in the sea and we touched ground about one minute later. I was sweating bullets thinking we were about to land in the water. The sun was shining and it was warm outside; it was a great first few minutes in my new home.

The transfer from the airportto the University Residence (dorm for international students) was…interesting. Drivers in Malta are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Imagine the most erratic drivers you’ve ever seen on roads more narrow than a driveway. It was terrifying. Thankfully we made it to the residence without an accident, but I swear we came close more times than I could count. The residence is a great place to meet other international students. There are tons of “flats” that make up the residence. Each flat has 8 rooms, 5 bathrooms, and a kitchen. There is also an enormous pool, a smaller pool, a pool bar, a cafeteria and a lounge area outside. The residence is definitely a social place….my first night there was filled with laughter and loud music until 5 a.m. Since my first room was right by the pool bar, I didn’t get much sleep at all. I was deliriously tired and getting fairly irritable due to the lack of sleep over the previous 48+ hours. Luckily, I was able to switch my room to a quieter location and a flat with some friends that I had made early on.

School is going well. I’m taking psychology classes and one journalism class while I’m here. The classes I’m taking don’t have tests or homework…just one final exam in May that will determine 100% of my grade. That’s stressful, but I’m looking forward to not having any homework for the next few months. On Friday, a bunch of my new friends and I visited Sliema, a town that borders the Mediterranean Sea in Malta. We shopped all day and ate dinner right by the water. It was a great end to my first full week in Malta.

I really love it here so far. I miss everyone, but FaceTime and Viber have helped a lot. Shawn has been waking up early so we can talk since the seven hour time difference is really difficult, and my parents have no problem FaceTiming me for a (really) long time. This has helped me adjust a ton, and I’m really grateful for them. I’m so excited for what the next five months will bring; I can’t wait to continue updating you all on my journey.

Here are a few bizarre things about Malta:

1. You can’t drink the tap water…it’s kinda brown. You buy HUGE bottles of water at the store and stockpile them.

2. The milk here tastes like melted ice cream.

3. You have to PAY to use a cart at the grocery store.

4. Drivers will hit you if you’re in their way on the road. I’m not kidding.

5. People stay out until 5a.m.

6. Chips aren’t chips. They’re french fries. A chip is a crisp. It’s a mess….

7. No Netflix or Pandora. RIP.

8. If you touch their outlet hole thingies, you’ll get shocked. Really hard. Like, so hard you get knocked on your butt.

9. Being “on time” is not a thing. For those of you who know me, you know how much this is KILLING me.

10. There are 360 churches on the island of Malta, and from what I've seen so far, they're all stunning.

That’s all for now…thanks for reading. :)