Thanksgiving in Malta!

This particular trip has been very different from the other ones we have taken this semester. I went with two girls from the program, and we had a lovely time. We have continually surprised ourselves with the lack of disasters and trouble on this trip. It’s been absolutely lovely.

Our flight left at 9am Thanksgiving day from Frankfurt so we were forced to take a train from Freiburg the night before. We left Freiburg at 12:05am, and arrived at the airport at 3:30am. Horrible, but I did manage to sleep poorly for a few hours on the train, in the airport AND on the flight. Not entirely desirable, but it could have been MUCH worse. We took a cab to the hotel, which was all right. It certainly was considerably fancier than what IES takes us to… but the guidebook says that it’s the most luxurious hotel in Malta. I seriously question this. It was lovely though, after our arrival, we went out to the pool and lounged for an hour or so. We were exhausted from a night without real sleep so it was so nice to relax. We walked into town around 6 without any idea of how to spend the time until dinner. We were getting a little cranky until Cassie suggests we see a movie. Normally I would have shot that down immediately, I mean come on. Who goes to Malta and goes to a movie theater? Embarrassing. But this was exactly what we needed. We saw Couples Reunion or something. It was actually pretty funny, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was an incredibly long day.

We slept in the next morning and awoke to a beautifully sunny day. We obviously decided to head to the beach. We had to go to the other side of the island for a great beach, so we did. We hopped on a Malta Bus, and headed over. I ADORE THE MALTA BUSES! It’s great. They’re really old buses that are somehow still running? So cool.

At this point I was surprised to realize that people were joking with us again, instead of the straight-faced German approach. Our confusion was laughed at here, as opposed to a mild…

distaste at our general inadequacies in Germany. Anyway! It was about a 45 minute ride which was extremely cheap and bouncy, but my adoration for the buses made it stellar. The beach itself was nice, and I was determined to swim. Only when we got arrived, there were lots of signs explaining what to do if a jellyfish stings you. I was confident that this wouldn’t be a big deal but holy buckets. They were everywhere. I had to pass on the whole swimming with jellyfish thing. I really didn’t want to ‘immediately seek medical attention’ in Malta.

We went to Mdina for dinner, which was really quite lovely. It’s a medieval walled city, which is frequently called the Silent City. When they say silent? They mean silent. Cassie’s clicking heels was the only sound. It echoed. It was a little eerie, as we hardly saw anyone. We found out after the fact that the city only has 300 inhabitants. No wonder it’s silent!

On Saturday we decided to do an organized tour of Gozo, which is the second largest island of Malta. We were relieved that we did the tour as it would have been almost impossible to navigate on our own. While small in size, the roads weren’t great and it’s very rural. We took a ferry over and then got on a coach for the tour. I feel comfortable saying we canvassed most of the island. We started out at Ggantica or Ggantia or something. Apparently they originally thought an extinct race of giants lived there. DUMB. It’s now understood to be two Neolithic temples that were constructed around 3000 BCE. Then we went to the Azure Window, which was

absolutely stunning. We got into this rickety old 6 person boat to see it from the water. I thought we were going to die. It was an incredibly windy day and we were a few feet from the rocks. While it was beautiful, I struggled to enjoy it cause I had zero confidence in the boat. I don’t know what I was thinking. They also took us to the old Citadel in Vittoria, which had a beautiful view of the entire island. We got to taste some island cheeses, wines, and liqueurs which were nice, but nothing to write home about. The ferry ride back to the island of Malta was beautiful as the sun set while we were on board. After dinner on this evening, we split a slice of Apple Pie in honor of Thanksgiving.

We had about half a day to sightsee before we headed to the airport so we made reservations to see the Hypogeum. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and UNESCO is trying to it preserve for future generations. It’s meticulously regulated, and it’s ‘micro climate’ is carefully controlled. For example only 10 visitors are allowed in per hour to protect the paintings from CO₂ damage and sequential lighting only dimly lights up the area you’re looking at to protect the area from any damages incurred by lighting. Actually this made it VERY creepy. The Hypogeum is an underground temple slash burial site, where 5000 people are estimated to be buried. There were some wall painting and they claimed that it was the first place where an underground chamber is sculpted to appear as if it is above ground. That was neat, although there were some weird things they told us about. So, they would initially put bodies on the upper level so that the air would help it decompose a little, and then when other bodies needed the space the remains were put en masse into deeper chambers and covered by dirt, which would become the new floor. Ew.

Malta surprised me. It was not what I was expecting at all. It was very… brown. Sort of how I picture Morocco? The island itself was fairly barren. Silly side note, the Maltese used to grow olives for olive oil, but then the British came and ripped up all the olive trees in order to grow Cotton, which obviously didn’t grow here. So now… they have nothing. Uh… OOPS! Anyway, and I was also surprised to see how poor the island was. Perhaps I was expecting something more like Sardinia, but… no. I mean even the tourist areas aren’t super nice, which makes me wonder what the rural living situation is like. I think Malta is the poorest, most underdeveloped place I have ever been. I guess this doesn’t say much since I have spent most of my time abroad in Western Europe.

Something strange about Malta:

-There are cats everywhere. They lurk, and will surprise you when you least expect it. I don’t think they’re strays, because they appear glossy and well taken care of.

Something glorious about Malta

-Malta is an ex-British Colony, and since no one really speaks Maltese elsewhere in the world, practically everyone speaks English. Almost every sign was in English. Lovely. This also meant that there was British TV! I spend some time watching Two and a Half Men as well as some World Cup ski races. It was nice, and it made me think of Dad.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I decided that a quick list of things I am thankful for is necessary. After all, I didn’t have to do it at dinner!!

- A spectacular fall in Europe. I can’t believe how lucky I have been to travel to all of these places. Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Malta, and soon Austria and Switzerland. Wow. It’s pretty darn incredible.

- An amazing family. This stands on it’s own for me, but truly. The continual love and support is phenomenal.

-Fantastic friends whom have stepped up when I’ve needed them most, many times without me even having to ask.

It sure seems funny to say, but I have been incredibly blessed. Even though I miss dad every day, and can’t really believe he’s gone, he was the best dad anyone could ask for. And now I have the BEST guardian angel ever.

I hope that everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, and had an extra few bites of turkey and cranberries for me. I’m hoping to subtly con mom into making a pseudo thanksgiving dinner once we’re back stateside. You know… next time she asks what I want for dinner, I’ll ask for turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and just… whip out some cranberries, whip cream, and graham crackers.

OH! And now that it’s officially past thanksgiving… HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A little get together with Ernest Callenbach

Hello All!

Clearly I'm procrastinating because I'm blogging in the middle of the week. In my defense I have about 5 pages of outline written that needs to grow into a 10 page paper draft by 8pm tomorrow. I feel like that's a solid start... right? (Insert mildly panicked, desperate expression) Never the less, I am still procrastinating, so I must not be too worried. This mildly alarms me.

Anyway. This past monday, I was lucky enough to meet and interact Ernest Callenbach. What an amazing guy. He wrote the book Ecotopia in 1975 which was huge for environmental thought. He introduced ideas that have become commonplace today. It's pretty cool. Biodegradable plastics? Yeah, his idea. His book was pretty interesting too. It's fairly short, so it's definitely worth a read. he's from CA, and was a film critic. He himself said that the book isn't good writing, it's about the ideas within. Pretty Neat.

We planted a tree in the IES yard that is one of the EU's environmental initiatives with him, which was cool. I honestly think that it was actually a big deal. Who knows though. The tree was pretty measly, which sparked a lot of jokes. He quotes a spanish saying that I really liked after planting it: The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. What a great saying.

After the "ceremonial tree planting-"and seriously, it was official. There's a plaque now. He sat down with my class and answered questions and we bounced ideas off of each other. He's very bright, and it was very interesting.

Seriously though, check the book out. It's called Ecotopia. It's a little farfetched with parts of the plot but it suggests some pretty fascinating and thought provoking ideas.

Back to work now!

Anna

Rome, Madrid & Barcelona: The Full Report

We’re heading back to Freiberg right now by bus, and it’s making me think about how I feel about the city. It’s very pretty, and I truly enjoy it… but it’s not home. I don’t even think of Freiberg as home the way I refer to hotels on vacation. Pretty weird. I really miss home a great deal. It’s going to be great to be home in a month and a half.

Anyway, the past 9 days have been a pretty great adventure. There was a lot of chaos in the beginning as a girl of the trip was diagnosed with the Swine (I was pleased to use my newly acquired invincibility!!), and then everyone, including myself, was sick for a few days with a nasty cold. Thus far, no one else has any of the symptoms, which is a small miracle. It was a great trip!

Rome:

We took a night train to Rome, which was something. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but it was quite an experience. The first train we took broke down, which was confusing. Somehow there was another regional train going to the exact same place at the same time, so we really REALLY lucked out! The first day in Rome was pretty rough since no one really slept but after that night it was so much fun. One night we bought a few bottles of wine and shared them around the Trevi Fountain. We just sort of explored around and saw tons of really cool fountains and Piazzas. We took a long tour of the Roman Forums, which was basically a repeat of the tour I took with RIG, only with educated questions. OH! And we saw what is supposedly the ancient ruin of the hut of Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome). I was thrilled to get to visit the Pantheon this time around, and it was every bit as cool as I expected it to be. It was raining pretty hard while we were inside, and it was truly beautiful watching the rain fall through the hole in the dome. We also went outside the city limits to the Catacombs, which were actually really cool. I guess I didn’t know very much about them at all. I think the guide said that the word catacombs actually comes from the location of the burial site we visited. It was gigantic though. Like… maybe 8 graves deep? Most of the tombs were broken into, and all the bones were gone. So, naturally, I wanted to know where the bones went. DUMB QUESTION!!!!!! The catacombs were used 1,500 years ago, so the bones have disintegrated. I felt so sschtooopid. We ate lots and lots of pasta and pizza, and of course gelato. Oooh, and we had a really cool meeting where we discussed the ecomafia in Southern Italy. It was fascinating!

Madrid:

Madrid was alright. I was feeling kinda sick while we were there, so I may not have given it a fair chance. Tapas were so yummy! The first night we had these potatoes and aioli. Mmmm. And the Sangria was pretty delicious as well. Also, they have these things called tortillas, which are really omelets with potatoes in them. It was silly though, in Madrid and Barcelona they sort of use the ‘th’ sound instead of ‘s’ so it sounded like everyone was wildly lisping. We had a lot of fun with that. I was extremely frustrated though, as almost all of my Spanish is gone. I would recognize words and have absolutely no idea what they meant. I wanted to remember so badly, but couldn’t. And then on our last night, we all went to a Real Madrid game. We all wetn early to pick up our tickets and buy jerseys and then we headed over to a bar. I was feeling sick still so I wasn’t going to get a drink. And then at the last second, I decided I was going to share one. So we went inside to order and were being jostled around as we pushed towards the bar. All of a sudden Lindsay turns to me and says ‘someone just tried to pickpocket me!!’ so I automatically check all my pockets and my phone is gone. She saw the guy, who was leaving the bar, so we ran outside to where the group was standing to get a Spanish speaker, couldn’t find one so four of us girls run after this guy. He was wearing denim on denim. Who does that!? Anyway, that made him easy to spot. So we confront him and he kept telling us to f off. Well… he didn’t say f. And he walks away and I’m starting to panic. We could see him speed walking away, and he keeps looking back so we know it was him. And then, all of a sudden we see four policemen! Unfortunately by the time we were able to pantomime and simply explain what happened and describe the guy, he was long gone. So I was pickpockted- but it could have been SO SO SO much worse. Since there was nothing else to do, we all found the group and went back into the game. We had seats that were SO close to the field, but none of us had seats together. This wasn’t so bad except the people next to me chain smoked the entire game. The Argentina national soccer team was there to watch, and I guess the coach is one of the 5 best players ever. They were sitting a few rows behind us, so the entire section freaked out. I was pretty confused. So Real Madrid one the game, but had to win by 4 to stay in the Copa something-or-other. So they fake-won! The Real Madrid fans weren’t pleased. And like I said, the good looking superstar didn’t play. I did enjoy myself, though I was annoyed about my phone. It was only pay as you go, so it wasn’t the end of the world. It really could have been much much worse.

Barcelona / Barthelona:

I actually enjoyed Barcelona a lot. We stayed in a hostel, which I didn’t entirely enjoy. I’ll be honest- I could have done without the experience. There was a pretty cool rooftop bar though… but seriously. I’m not into the whole hostel thing. The city was great though. As a group we had SO much fun, especially at the IceBarcelona. They left us in there for 30 minutes alone without a bartender so we really played around. It was a blast. AND they had polar express playing in the background. Mmm. Christmas. It was pretty cold in there, only 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Nothin we can’t deal with in Minnesota, but it was a drastic change from the outside air temperature! Other than that the Gaudi buildings were pretty neat! The Melting church looked very melty! But seriously, I liked the Gaudi. Last night we went to see the Magic Fountain that was used for the 92 olympics. IT WAS SO MAGICAL. Hands down the coolest thing I saw in Barcelona.

I picked a few pictures in addition to the ones I already posted. In no particular order, they are the Parthenon, me behind the Icebar bar, the palace where Columbus was received by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand after 'discovering' the new world, and lots of pictures of the magic fountain. I'm obsessed.

The trip was great but now I've got to focus. The coming weeks are going to be crazy. I have over 30 pages of papers to write, and to be honest; I’m a little intimidated. Wish me luck?!?!

Spain: another photo Preview!

So here is the Preview for Madrid and Barcelona. It's been a pretty crazy week and I'll write the big one tomorrow on the flight back to Freiburg, and maybe include some other pictures. Haha... Best birthday ever? Maybe not. Anyway. So, per usual, the pictures are out of order. I'm in Barcelona now, and that's where the first three pictures are from. The magic fountain, which was definitely magical. Especially the lord of the rings music the lights and water was coordinated to. Awesome, then last night we were at an Icebar, which was hysterically fun. More to come on that, and then finally, Starbucks here JUST put out the christmas cups so we had to get some. Oh so festive. We're all excited for Christmas already, so we were thrilled. Then the last two pictures are from Madrid! We went to a Real Madrid game where my phone was pickpocketed before the game (more to come on that too). It was so much fun though, we had amazing seats. Only Ronaldo didn't play. Heartbreaking. This has been a great fieldtrip, but I'm definitely looking forward to being back in Freiburg with my own bed- although I'm dreading the whole classes thing. On the bright side, there are only 33 days left of my program. Woah, has the semester gone fast!!

ROME! Photo Preview!

Some random fountain, but I obviously enjoyed this picture. Next is the Trevi Fountain, awesome. I made two wishes. Turns out this means I will return to Rome and meet an italian, but I don't worry Mom (slash Miah) I'm not supposed to marry him. Then we're at the Spanish Steps, which are MUCH cooler in the comercials... and then we're in St. Peter's Basilica, I really wanted to light a candle for Dad, but I guess they don't do that there. Um, RUDE! Rome has been nice, but it's wierd coming back here with a totally different crowd. And a totally different trip. Don't worry, there is MUCH more to come. Love, Anna