We’re driving in our Car

One thing we never thought we would do in Malta was drive a car. From the way our neighbors fly down the road, to the fact that nobody uses turn signals (actually that is the same practice as back home) to the fact that it appears to be impossible to find a parking spot in our neighborhood it just didn’t seem worth the trouble. We can walk to almost everything we need, and with some patience take the bus almost anywhere else. However, when one of our students sprained her ankle and we discovered just how long it was going to take her to bus to school, we decided to give driving a shot. It was especially easy when we found out we could rent one for about $5.00 a day!

It is an experiment that has been modestly successful, but one that we’ll be glad to see the back side of in a week. Yes, it is nerve wracking, yes, parking is a pain, and yes, people just honk their horns for no good reason.

Really dude behind me? Don’t you think I would get out of your way if I could? But there are 20 cars stopped in front of me and nobody is going anywhere so just calm the heck down.

On the positive side the car has allowed us to enjoy the island in ways that would have required hours of painful bus riding, and that is what I would really like to highlight in this post.

Dingli Cliffs

Our first outing in the car was to the Dingli Cliffs. As spectacular as they are from the shore, we can’t wait for warmer weather so that we can experience the cliffs from the water side. You just don’t get the scale from pictures but these cliffs are 250 meters. Straight down.

We arrived in the morning, just after the rain had stopped. So although we knew we were in the right place we were well ahead of the rest of the tourists and hikers for the day. After a couple of long dead ends that led to some nice scenery, we hit the jackpot and were rewarded with some spectacular views.

After hiking the cliffs, we continued south to check out the Blue Grotto. Again, a bit of hiking away from the normal tourist crowd left us alone with plenty of time to just take in the sites. We had yet to actually find the Blue Grotto, but after we returned to the car, we were informed by the local captain that he was the parking lot guard for the day. He said this as he extended his hand with palm up, ready to accept a euro coin from us. We were not sure exactly what his duties were, but he told us where we should go to get a good view.

The little island in the picture is called Filfla and it looks like an aircraft carrier. So it was used for target practice by the British air force during world war II.

Golden Bay

Another weekend, and another short car trip. Remember that Malta is only 122 Square Miles. So we never have that far to drive. This time toward the Northwest side of the island where there are a series of bays, the most famous of which is called Golden Bay.

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This bay actually called Ghajn Tuffieha, was the site of the incident with the sprained ankle. All I can say is that after seeing the place in person, I’m glad they called the ambulance. I can’t imagine trying to carry a person with a sprained ankle across the rocks, then the beach, then up all of those stairs!

The weather was great and the scenery was spectacular. We just walked slowly and took in all of the great sights. In the distance we could see the sheer cliffs of the southwest side of Gozo. The water is so unbelievably clear that you can see the bottom of this bay from the top of the cliffs. Its not terribly deep but at least 12 meters we are told. Now that is some visibility. It definitely motivates us to want to dust off our SCUBA diving skills again before we leave the island.

Marsaxlokk

This last Sunday we took a morning drive to Marsaxlokk (pron. Marsa-Schlock). This is a smallish fishing town at the very south of the island. On Sunday mornings they have a great farmers market with fresh produce and tons of fresh seafood. We ended up at a stall where the lady was nice enough to educate us a bit about finding fresh fish. I was pretty sure she was being truthful with us as there was a chef from a restaurant also at the table getting fish for his restaurant. Clear eyes, red gills. The clear eyes thing is a bit subjective, but the Sea Bass we bought was Amazing. After a couple of youtube videos on how to fillet the thing (thankfully our fishmonger gutted it for us) we had some nice fillets for Sunday lunch.

There is a nice looking fish market on the way home from the university that I will not hesitate to try in the near future. I think some nice King Prawns and risotto is on the way to our table soon.

Where we go from here with respect to the car is an unknown. It goes back next Monday, and I think Jane and I will both breathe a sigh of relief. Although once we get back from spring break we will not have too many weekends left on the island, I think we may take advantage of a one or two day rental to continue to get out of Sliema and enjoy the open spaces of Malta.

I Want to be an Archeologist

I think I might want to be an archeologist when I grow up. In the last week we’ve had four lectures involving geology, geography, and archeology here in Malta. All of them have been fascinating along multiple dimensions. It has been such a positive part of our Malta experience that I wanted to write my thoughts down right away. To give you a clue where this ultimately rather long post is going let me tell you what I find so interesting up front.

1. Observing some really good professors do their thing.
2. Getting to be a student again.
3. Learning how other fields do problem solving as good as CS.
4. Understanding what the phrase “learning in place” is all about.

First, its been really fun for me as a professor to observe other professors doing their thing. I know that we are really privileged to be getting some of the best in their field to speak to us. But they are all really passionate about their topics and it is amazing to me how that passion comes through. I honestly walked out of today’s lecture with Professor Vella and said to Jane: “I want to be an archeologist when I grow up.” She may or may not have said that “I would never grow up,” so there was nothing to worry about. Then one of the students mentioned something about archeologists living in tents for long periods of time and that further tempered my enthusiasm.

Second, its really nice to attend class as a student. I’m sitting in on our History course called “Malta and the Maltese -- A Historical and Cultural Review,” and of course I’m attending our Paideia II course on “Ethics and Current issues in Malta.” I have to evaluate the student for this one. Most of the content of the courses I’m attending, I know absolutely nothing about. But I can’t even tell you the number of times during our lectures that I’ve had that little tingle of excitement at the base of my neck. I feel like the poster child for “lifelong learning.”

Third, in my own myopic way, I assumed that computer science, and some of the other sciences had a monopoly on problem solving. It turns out that archeologists solve some pretty interesting problems too. And they use some of the same techniques as the computer scientists. Or maybe its the other way around. To be fair the closest I’ve come to an archeology class is Indiana Jones.

Of course problem solving starts with a problem or a question, such as: How do we know that the so called megalithic temples were really temples? Why is metal better than stone? What can we learn from contents of the cargo hold of the Ulu Burun? As our lecturer said, I have a colleague who knows everything there is to know about this pot, its chemical composition, every marking and scratch. Meh. Who used this pot? What did they use it for? Who did they use it with? These are the important questions. Now the chemical composition may be important in helping us answer those questions. But we cannot stop with that. In fact it was chemical analysis that showed that of the four sites where obsidian could have come to Malta only two of the sites matched the chemical fingerprints of the obsidian on Malta. Which tells us more about who the people were that were coming to the island at that time.

In our history class we have heard much about the importance of Malta through the ages because of its location on the routes into and out of the Mediterranean. For the most part people have assumed that ancient sailors tacked their way through the Straight of Malta against the prevailing winds. It turns out that would not work well at all. In fact ancient square rigged sailboats could not even tack that way! So sailors probably made for Sicily, then south and around the island of Malta and maybe even further south around Lampadusa and then worked their way west. But you have to know a bit about sailing and ancient boat design in order to figure this out. I love how this incorporates techniques from lots of different branches of the academy.

Finally, The faculty of Luther College received an email from our assistant dean, Jeff Wilkerson, the other day inviting us to a discussion about “learning in-place.” I will have to respectfully decline, but I think that is exactly what we are doing here in Malta! There is something really compelling about our lectures when everything we are talking about is within about an hours drive on public transportation. We can learn some theory about the Megalithic Temples, and now I’m much more interested in taking the time to actually go see them. It feels like the entire island is our classroom.

Everyday on the news we hear about the migrant crisis in Malta and Italy. People from Syria and Somalia are fleeing their countries in fear of their lives. They are coming by the hundreds of thousands and overloading the ability of the Italian and Maltese governments to handle them. We have seen why this cannot be an easy decision for them, as many of the people who flee across the mediterranean in these boats die in the process. Three evenings a week, our students come face to face with people who have made this journey and survived. Most are the same age as our students. Only the young and strong can survive the journey.

Just think about that. How many of our Luther Students have truly had to risk their lives. How many of us in the Luther community even understand what it means to live under the threat of death? This is one part of living abroad that makes me very grateful for the security, relative safety, and freedom we have in our country.

Our students travel to the Hal Far detention center to work with the residents who want to learn english or to improve their english skills, so that they can leave the Hal Far center, find a job, and ultimately apply for citizenship somewhere in the EU.

Here is one more example, that I find particularly interesting because it gets at one of my pet peeves about where we live in Malta. In a lecture on sustainability we were told that because of their colonial past the primary moral frame of reference for the Maltese is the family not the community. This is interesting, especially for those of us who think that community is a nearly sacred word on the Luther campus. But what does it mean to have a moral frame of reference centered around family? Do we see evidence that it is true? We are told that because the moral frame of reference is the family and not the community there is not a highly developed sense of citizenship or emphasis on “the greater good” here in Malta. We see this in the streets every day in the form of litter, and even worse dog poo casually left on the sidewalk by all sorts of people. People take very good care of their homes on the inside, but the public areas of the city are not treated with respect. One has to get used to looking up and down as you walk on the narrow sidewalks here. Down for the aforementioned reason, and up, because in many places there are drain pipes from overhanging decks that drain the water onto your head! We see further evidence of this idea as we hear about the myriad of government programs that are started, but never fully supported by the people, and therefore abandoned. On the flip side of this, the Maltese people are justifiably very proud of their country and its amazing history. We’ve been told more than once that most Maltese think their country is the best thing ever.

Of course, I’m still a newcomer here, and I’m not a social scientist, so I may be interpreting things all wrong. If I am, then I would be happy to have further conversation to understand better. For example, some of the issues in Sliema may simply be due to the large number of international people who are living here either on holiday, or as long term residents. I also know that I am generalizing, which is always dangerous. Just like any place I know there are Maltese who do not litter and care deeply for the environment, and work tirelessly to improve the island. I’m sure there are people who pick up after their dogs. Although I’m less sure about the latter than the former. There are lots of people who volunteer their time through NGOs. I’m sure it takes years to leave the laissez-faire attitude in the past. After all, Malta only gained independence in 1964, and statehood in 1974. After thousands of years of being conquered by almost everyone else, 50 years of self rule is hardly any time at all. I can imagine that after an entire history of being ruled by others, it would be easy to let external things slide and to focus inward.

I wish I could travel forward in time a thousand years to see what the archeologists of 4015 have to say about Malta in 2015. In the meantime, I know that I will enjoy the next three months and all that I will learn in that time.

Acclimating

A confession: I like my creature comforts. I like my nice modern home with in-floor heating and its “open concept” design. I like my big screen TV. I like my big kitchen with my fancy range, large refrigerator. I like things that are new and clean. I think that is part of what attracted to me to computer science.

When we were traveling in emerging economy countries like Vietnam or Cambodia we always knew that no matter what we saw during the day, we would return to our five star hotel in the evening and have all of the comforts of home. We saw some very poor living conditions in some of the places we visited, and I’m working on writing up a post about that, and what Jane and I took away from that experience.

But now we have moved into our flat in Malta, a developed country, with an advanced economy according the IMF. Yet, things feel very different and its going to take a while to acclimate. Moving in to a new country was always part of the excitement of taking on the directorship of the Malta program. The point was that we would get to settle in, and actually live in a place outside of the U.S. for an extended period of time. We are both excited about this opportunity.

With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to note some of the things that stand out right now, in the first week or so, and then revisit this at the end of our time in Malta. I hope what I write in the coming paragraphs will not be construed as overly negative. I’m not judging, just trying to record my feelings and observations as we get used to a new place.

Living Arrangements

Yes, we are on a mediterranean island, but they have winter too. The highs have been in the mid fifties. We have had some rain each day, and a bit of wind. The winters are short, and we are told that the temperatures will begin to climb again at the end of February. Hurray! The views of the ocean are everywhere, and they are beautiful. I can’t wait for a bit warmer weather to take more pictures of the boats in all the little harbors.

In the meantime, we are learning how to stay warm in a big stone building. We have no heating other than a little oil filled electric radiator, and an electric blanket on our bed at night. I SO want to go out and buy a big old 20,000 BTU gas powered heater and set it up in our hallway, but I think that will not happen. We are learning that running the dehumidifiers is important. Dryer air feels warmer. We dress in layers, and use blankets while relaxing in the evening. The chill has been the hardest thing to get used to in our first week. I hate being cold, and knowing that I’m here until June keeps me from finding a nice warm hotel room. We did join the health club at the Meridian Hotel, a few blocks away. The membership ensures us a nice place to work out, and a shower with LOTS of hot water. They also have a jacuzzi and a heated indoor pool that we can soak in to warm ourselves the evenings.

The odd thing is that in the daytime it is nicer outside than inside. So yesterday we had a nice lunch on the roof in the sunshine and it was very nice.

Getting around

We have no car. We have no bike. We have no scooter. So we walk, and walk, and walk. When we arrive at our building we climb 3 flights of stairs to get to our flat. Walking is good, but with all the hills my shins really suffered the first couple of days. They are getting better now. We are also learning the bus system for the longer trips. But really the island is not that big and we can walk almost anywhere to get what we need. We are told that the Maltese would be appalled, as they will drive their cars two blocks to the store rather than walk.

They have people to clean the streets and sidewalks regularly, but its amazing what litterbugs people are around here. And many people let their dogs poop on the sidewalk!! They just leave it there for the sidewalk cleaner to pick up later. Watch your step as you are walking. You have to be alert to many things while you are walking. First the sidewalks in most places are so narrow that you can’t really walk side by side. If you meet someone, chances are one of you is going to step out into the street. You just better hope one of the drivers doesn’t choose that moment to get the carbon out of their car and come roaring around a corner at you. Most of the streets are one way, and are only wide enough for one lane of traffic. I’ve talked to several people now about getting a bike and they have all strongly advised me against it!

The People

We have been very fortunate to be welcomed to the island by some Luther alumni, both Maltese and American expats. This has been really nice. We haven’t really met many people in the neighborhood yet, but we have only been here a few days, so we surely look like we are just short term visitors to most people. The owner of the Ironmongery (a hardware store) was super nice to me today when I stopped by to purchase a gas grill for the roof. The people at the University have been very welcoming, and we have a long list of helpful advice and things to check out. We are looking forward to meeting more new people and reconnecting with Luther classmates who have come back to the island.

Everyone seems to speak english very well, and in fact english is the co-official language of Malta. However, most everyone we have run into seems to prefer to speak in Maltese. I assumed that it was probably a derivative of italian, since that is what it partially sounded like to my American ears, but in fact it is Siculo-Arabic. About half the vocabulary is standard italian, and 20% of the vocabulary is english, with the rest coming from this Sicilian Arabic dialect.

Shopping

There is nothing like a Target, or Walmart on the island. You do all your shopping at small neighborhood stores. If you need pharmaceuticals you go to the pharmacy on the corner. If you need a grill you go to the ironmongery on the other corner. If you need electronics you go to the electronics store. If you need wine, you can go, well, almost anywhere. Seriously, there are all kinds of little wine shops on every street. I honestly don’t know how they stay in business, from my own observations they don’t move a huge volume of wine in a day.

I kind of like this way of shopping. Its like we do back home for groceries, the coop for this, and Fareway for that, etc. However, back home I don’t hesitate to order from Amazon. Sadly, my Amazon Prime membership does not cover me here in Malta.

Another little thing to get used to is that most shops close up shortly after noon, and stay closed for an hour or two or three. Then they are open again until about 7 p.m.

Eating

Of course I saved my favorite topic until last. There is a wide variety of restaurants within walking distance of the flat. Great Pizza at Piccolo Padre is just a couple blocks away. Fish and Chips at the Scotsman Pub is a bit further, but appears to be a good place to watch EPL football, as does the Balluta bar just down the street, but we haven’t tried that place yet. Vecchia Napoli is another close by Italian place. We had lunch there the other day and found out that we had to sit outside under a heater since we had not reserved an indoor seat in advance! For lunch! We are trying to balance our eating habits so that we cook either lunch or dinner at home, and then try out a variety of eating places opposite. I’ll leave this post with my favorite discovery... I can buy an entire kilo of Parmigiano Reggiano for just 19 euros! I may need another suitcase to bring home my cheese!

We are generally late eaters back home. I don’t usually start cooking until around 6 p.m. But we are quickly learning that the dinner hour in Malta is very Mediterranean. Most places don’t even open for dinner until 7 or 7:30p.m. With the busy time coming around 9. Similarly, lunch time is also later with people eating at around 1 p.m.