Crepes, Carnival, and a Pub Crawl

mmccarthy29
Feb 19, 2015
3 min read

Hi guys!! As I’m writing this, it is 61 degrees and sunny. The last week and a half have been amazing here in Malta. I feel so blessed to be on this beautiful little island, and the time is already flying by. Here’s what I’ve been up to recently….

Last Monday the international office planned a pub-crawl for all of the exchange students here. We got in groups of 10 and set out to Paceville (the bar area in Malta.) My team was named Team Chalet, not sure why, but we were competitive from the beginning. We all had red face paint and black and red clothes. The pub crawl had a list of 30 challenges, and it was a race to the finish. Some of the challenges were: build a human pyramid, get someone to honk the Maltese national anthem in their car, pose with a statue, and other *interesting* things. My team literally dominated the pub-crawl, winning first place by a good chunk of time. The night was a blast and my competitive self was satisfied with our victory.

My (second biggest) highlight of the last week was experiencing Carnival. If you don’t know what Carnival in Malta is, Google it. Seriously. It’s a HUGE deal. Carnival was from Thursday – Tuesday. So, on Saturday, my friends and I took a taxi and a ferry to the small island of Gozo. It was raining unfortunately, but we were determined to have an awesome day. We started the day walking to a stunning castle on a huge hill in Gozo (there are pictures under the "pictures" tab). We spent a lot of time soaking in the views of the Mediterranean from the roof of the castle. After we were satisfied with the 1,000 pictures we took, we moved to a small café and waited for the festivities to start. At this point, it was pouring rain. Rumors that the carnival had been cancelled were floating around and we were pretty disappointed, but we were holding on to hope.

Eventually, we left the café to get dinner….AT MCDONALD’S. Those of you who know me well know my love for McDonald’s is truly unreal…so eating some French fries helped ease the pain of the pouring rain. Sadly from here, the night sort of fell apart. The carnival had been cancelled, or so we were told, so we started the long journey home. After the ferry ride, we walked back into the residence lobby where there is a TV. The bright lights on the television caught my attention, and after looking more closely, I realized that a live feed of Carnival was going on. They moved the festivities to another part of the island, but we didn’t know about it. It was a huge disappointment, and we all were really bummed.

Thankfully, the grand finale of the parade was on Tuesday in Valletta. We were able to see the floats and the costumes this time, thank goodness. It was incredible. There was loud music everywhere and unbelievable floats lining the streets. I also had an Oreo crepe…that was even more unbelievable. Even though the trip to Gozo for carnival failed, Tuesday made up for it.

While here, I’m taking part in something called DegreePlus. Sessions are held every Wednesday, and students travel to historical/ unique destinations in Malta. This Wednesday, I went to a museum displaying artifacts found in Malta from the Romans. It was amazing to see the history of Malta in person.

Finally, the highlight of my last week was the news that Shawn gets to visit me in Malta!!! I was almost asleep when he texted me saying that he was going to visit, and I jolted up so fast I hit my head on the bunk bed. I cried the happiest tears I’ve cried in a loooong time. I’m SO excited for him to come visit and see this beautiful little island. It was a huge surprise and one that I am so grateful for. It’s crazy that my mom and dad will be here in a little over a month. I’m extremely excited to show them around Malta and travel to Italy with them. The time has really flown already…I know my remaining time here will go just as quickly!!