March 2015

I know I haven't posted in a while, but 2 months?!  I guess I felt like since I hadn't been anywhere, nothing much was going on, but in reality my life is very full.  To pick up where I left off last time:

 

I did my first outreach program on the story 'Call of the Wild' by Jack London.  It was a success; not only were the kids very interested, but the teachers in the back were equally attentive. I think Alaska in general is such a wondrous place and certainly very foreign to a Mediterranean island like Malta.  At the end of the talk on the book, I had some pictures of the various animals that live in Alaska and the kids just loved it!  They knew almost every one of them.  I also showed pictures of life there, like the northern lights, ice fishing, and snow deeper than the rooftops.  I swear I could have done a whole presentation with just pictures. 

I'm still active with Shark Lab and this week we attended a science fair with schools from all over the island participating.  We had an entire classroom just for our exhibits which include the egg casings I talked about before. There were about 30 real shark, ray, and skate jaws with teeth.  We also had preserved specimens in jars.  After a very entertaining and informative talk by two of the founding Shark Lab members, (Greg and Pam) the kids got to touch everything, which of course they really enjoyed.  I must say I learned a lot too.  Greg and Pam both host marine biology interns from all over Europe who come to study with them.  I'm so impressed with these young people who are so passionate and who know exactly what they want to do with their lives.  I'm 53 and still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up!  Shark Lab also goes to the fish markets several times a week.  They arrive at 3 am to meet the fishing vessels.  They ID, weigh and measure what ever sharks have been killed.  They have to be really quick before they are cut up to be sold.  They also try and retrieve any viable eggs from the females.  I've learned that even though the female is dead, the eggs can be retrieved and 6 months or so later, will hatch.  They let these pups grow for another 6 months and then release them back into the wild.  They partner with the National Aquarium who provides space for the egg hatchery.   Another thing they do at the fish market is retrieve the heads of specimens they don't already have.  They take them to Greg's house and store them in a freezer.  Eventually, a group of volunteers gather and remove all the skin from the jaw for later inclusion in the display.  It's a very time consuming process, all done by hand.  I have been invited many time to go to the fish market, but I think I would find that too disturbing, but oddly enough, I'd be all over the dissection.  He's going to let me know when they do the next ones.   

I haven't done much hiking because my recurring foot problems are back with a vengeance.  The terrain is just too rough.  What I have been doing are heritage walks around different parts of the island.  Malta has such a rich history and each town has heritage sites.  The visitor center has detailed walking maps where you can go at your own pace.  They usually take all day even though they are only 5-8 miles.  The streets on the maps are sometimes not the same as the street signs, so I usually spend a lot of time lost.  But it's really interesting to see what each town has to offer.  There are many great things to take pictures of. 

 

 

It seems like spring may indeed be coming our way.  We've had one of the worst winters on record (of course) but it seems to have warmed up a bit.  Now if we could just get rid of the wind and rain, all would be well.  It's really a giant tease, one day it's warm and sunny followed by a week of cold and rain.  One guaranteed way for me to to make it rain is to do laundry.  The last time, my clothes were almost dry when a torrential downpour got them more wet than when I took them out of the washer.   No one here uses dryers and I must admit it's not as bad as I thought.  I have a small courtyard where I can hang my clothes, but its very sheltered.  Even on a nice sunny day with a breeze, it can take 2-3 days for jeans to dry. I'm told other people can dry an entire load in 3-4 hours if they have a breeze and direct sunlight.  Oh well...  I have a small radiator that I can use if I'm in a hurry.  I just drape the item over it and it's dry in no time. 

I feel like I haven't done anything to write about, but I seem to stay very busy. I have a few friends that I go out with every Friday night.  There are so many expat (people living here from different countries) groups, but many people are in all of them.  So if you go to almost any event, you are likely to see someone you know.  One of the groups does drinks on Friday night and I have my little main circle of friends.  Several people live near me and I almost always have someone to walk at least part of the way home with.  Malta is very safe, there is very little real crime, so I feel  perfectly fine walking home late at night.  Imagine my surprise then, when on the way home last week a 20 year old kid walked right up to me and said excuse me, I'm horny. I live right around the corner, would you come home and let me boink (not his exact word) you?  I said get the flock (not my exact word) away from me!  He just kept saying that he wanted to boink me, he had a big one, on and on about what he wanted me to do to him. This went on for about 2 blocks till I said if you don't get the flock away from me I'm going to beat the sheep out of you. Lucky for me he did leave. (And lucky that I sound a lot more scary then I am) What in the heck makes men/boys think its OK to talk to women like that!  He may well have been drinking, but he didn't appear drunk. 

It was time to color my hair, so I picked up what looked like the my usual product at the market.  Well, it wasn't the same color, at all!  My hair was a harsh, dark red.  Oddly, I see this color on a lot of women here, but it's such an unnatural shade. This would just not do, so I got another box, one shade lighter and tried again.  No change, once it's dark, you can't make it lighter again without professional intervention.  I went to a local salon and showed her the color I was going for and she got to work.  First she bleached all the color out.  That scared me a little since it now looked and felt like pale yellow straw.  She assured me it would be OK as she was mixing the next batch of brew.  She slathered the new color on and we both waited to see what would happen.  Not the most confidence inspiring message she could have sent...  Eventually the moment of truth came and she rinsed it out.  The wet hair looked a bit lighter then anticipated and an odd color, but the real test would be what would it look like dry.  My hair is long and thick and it took a while to see the end result, but when she finally put down the blow dryer, I was OK with the look.  It's much lighter than I wanted, but at least it's a good color.  At first my friends were surprised, but now I think they've gotten used to it.   I still want it a little darker, but I'm giving my hair a rest for a few weeks. 

 

 

 

I'm still waiting to see if I get residency in Malta.  I should know in about a month; or at least my permit to stay expires then.  The Maltese government is notoriously unorganized. I know people waiting 1-2 years for their ID card.  The up side of this for me, is (hopefully) they will extend my permit while the decision is pending.  If it gets denied, I will try to get a work permit, probably teaching English.  The problem with working a regular job here is that any prospective employer has to justify hiring a non EU citizen over an EU and Maltese person.  I have a teaching certificate, I just need to see if it is enough or if I need to sit for a lengthy exam that is only offered twice a year.  The next one is in November.  Plan B is to go to the UK and try to get residency there.  (That would allow me to come back to Malta) My original plan was to spend 3 months in each country, but the logistics are too tough.  First, its hard to rent an apartment for less then 6 months.  2nd, it's a hassle and expensive to ship all my belongings each time I move.  I came here with just 2 suitcases, but the reality is, I would need to buy at least some items at each new place, if only so I felt like I was in a home and not a hotel.  I decided to stay in Malta because I feel like I have ties here, I have great friends and I really like living here.  Which is not to say I don't still want to  travel every chance I get!  The problem with my current situation is I can't leave the country while my application is pending.  Or more accurately, I may be denied reentry.  The would truly suck!

 

Link to pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/118205599704530902363/albums/6131565488283369633?authkey=CJuKmv7x6oS1wAE