No Spoilers for Me!

For many of you that don’t know this I have been working on a Microsoft Certification. It consists of 6 tests. I am not a big fan personally of the certification, but if I achieve it while working with the State Department I get a pretty nice pay bump. So on Friday I took the fifth of the exams and successfully passed. Since I successfully passed this exam, and there is only one left to take, I decided I deserved a little break. Mainly I wanted to finish the new Harry Potter. Lynne read it within a day after I bought it (which was the Monday following the release). I bought it very early so Lynne and I could read it quickly - I was really concerned because I was sure I'd hear spoilers from someone, somewhere. So following the test I decided it was time to read and get it over with. This also would allow Lynne to talk about the book while I was home, which up till now was forbidden. So from Friday after the test till Sunday evening that is pretty much all I did. I am done! No one can spoil it for me. I will not say anymore than I have read it because I don’t want to spoil for anyone else. Although I have a feeling anyone who was worried about that already finished the book before me. Now that is behind me I have started to study for what should be the last of the test to get my certification. My goal is to finish before the baby comes. Unfortunately nothing very exciting is happening in Malta for me.

Our house is clean!

Well, half of it anyway - the upstairs. We have finally succumbed to what seems to be a major foreign service rite of passage - the employment of domestic assistance. Around here, everyone seems to have nannies, gardeners, cooks, housecleaners, and in some posts even drivers. I'm not employed, so it seemed to both of us that at least until the baby comes I can certainly handle the household chores.

Turns out we were overly optimistic. First, this house is more than twice as big as our house in Philly. It is much more open to the outside and there is constant dust in Malta (presumably related to the lack of nice greenery to anchor the dirt to the ground). Second, we also have the pool and the landscaped yard to care for. Third, because of poor preservation methods and frequent energy outages the grocery shopping must be done at least weekly, which involves 2 separate trips - 1 for groceries and 1 for produce. Sometimes additional trips are needed. I have a feeling we are about to add the trip to the butcher after our first tasty purchase there. And fourth, I can't be a drudge-drone all the time. (fourth-and-a-half is that the bending over involved in mopping is becoming much more uncomfortable as I get closer to my 8th month)

Our cleaner came for the first time today. She also works for my landlord/neighbor, who raved about her. From my previous efforts to clean this house I estimated how long it should take her to clean the parts of the house I had asked her to clean. She was almost exactly on target, so I congratulated myself on my predictive abilities ... until I noticed that she cleaned several areas I had mentioned she didn't need to worry about. Basically, she is just plain amazing. Given that some of the areas she covered hadn't been touched in the 3 months we have been here, all future cleaning should be easier for her. I can't wait for her to come again (in 2 weeks) and make the downstairs all nice and pretty.

Good eats

I know, we have complained a lot about the quality of food we have found here. So, this should be a pleasant surprise ... we have found good food!

Ambrosia is located in Valletta. I had eaten lunch there a month or so ago, and both my friend from the embassy and I had risottos. They were both delicious, however, I reserved judgment because I have found that outside the USA you can generally get a good risotto even if the restaurant has nothing else to recommend it. When my friend Bethany was visiting, though, we decided to go for dinner.

The place is tiny, although both times I went there were no problems getting seated - lunch was on the late side, dinner was on the early, so that may have helped. The menu is on a chalk board on the wall, and we were happy to see several veggie options - we had ruled out Fusion Four for dinner because there was exactly one item on the menu Bethany could eat and it was a starter salad. I had a lamb and aubergine (eggplant) tart, which turned out to be lamb and potato with roasted aubergine and morrow (zucchini) as the side. The crust was perfectly light and flaky, the meat well seasoned and tender, absolutely delicious. Bethany had the goat cheese tart and it was also everything we could have wanted it to be. Terry will have to write in what he had because I can't remember. Dessert was something chocolate that wasn't too sweet - a problem i have encountered more frequently than you'd think - and although there was no room in the belly to finish it, I gave it my all.

Monday night, the good gastronomy continued at Bouzouki in St. Julian. Unfortunately, we had eaten snacks that turned out to be larger than necessary before the movie, so Terry wasn't very hungry for dinner afterwards. He got the basic Greek salad - which was a larger version of the side salad I got with my meal - and it was pretty much everything you'd want in a salad. The veggies were fresh, the dressing good enough to want to sop up every last remnant with the bread, and the feta was too good to be pasteurized - so Terry got mine as well. My sea bream was just grilled with lemon (Maltese lemon, for the first time I have seen in a restaurant) but it was as good if not better than any fish I have had in any restaurant since I have been here. Terry's big complaint was that the awning covering the entire outdoor section blocked all breezes, so he was too hot. I was comfortable. We'll go back in cooler weather.

Terracotta Warriors

Last night we went to the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. We wanted to see the collection of Terracotta warriors from China before it left town. The display was very good. The major problem was that there was no air-conditioning in the Museum. While I am sure this is lovely in December, in July it is just brutal. It was so bad that after a half hour Lynne needed to leave. One thing Malta is trying to do is increase the tourism from the Scandinavian countries and Germany. I don't think a lot of Swedes are going to love looking at one of the bigger tourist attractions on the island when inside it is 95 degrees.

The Maltese really may want to take a larger view of the tourism offerings in this country and how to make them more attractive. Although there is a wealth of history and natural beauty here, a lot of people are turned off by oppressive heat that can not be escaped in a museum. Lynne and I had decided that we would not go to the museum back in April figuring we would leave the presumably air conditioned activities until summer when walking about outside was too hot. What a mistake. I never heard of a museum not being air-conditioned. OK there is one in New Delhi, but that is India! I don't think the tourist industry of Malta would like to be in same class as India. Other than the temperature issues the display was impressive. I will mostly go back in the winter to view the entire (permanent) collection.

Here is some information on the Terracotta warriors.

Jellyfish, Jellyfish Everywhere

I have been really behind on added to the blog. Luckily Lynne has more then filled that void. So here is the run down from my perspective for the last few weeks.

I have been swamped at work and I am trying to catch up following an upgrade that happened at post. Lets just say it did not go as smoothly as advertised.

Work at home has been more than anticipated. Keeping up with the pool, lawn, etc. Has been a bit of pain. This was compounded by the long hours at work.

Went out on a boat last weekend with some people from the embassy. All in all is was a fun time. I was the first in the water when we anchored. This was probably related to the fact that I was melting in the Mediterranean Sun by the time we were anchored. Within about two minutes I swam into a jellyfish (or maybe it swam into me). That was quite a startling pain. It hurt like hell. We poured salt water over it for the first couple of minutes then some white vinegar and that helped. There was a mild burning after that, and it lasted for a few hours. You can see the picture of the sting area above. After getting sea sick (I am such a wimp on boats) I later went swimming again. This time I took the goggles and a snorkel so I could see better in the water to keep the jellyfish at a distance. With the goggles you could easily see the bottom - 8.5 meters down. That is almost 28ft for us US Standard people. The water was extremely clear. As you swam around you could watch the fish and jellyfish swim around below you. The are really interesting to watch from a distance. Most of the fish are pretty small but it was still fun to see them. I have a link to one of the fish I could confirm that I saw. I have not been able to find a nice reference site for the fish off the island of Malta. If I find one I post some more fish picture links. Here is the link to the White & Saddle Bream.

Jellyfish, and our first trip to Gozo, sort of

On Sunday, we went out on a boat with a number of other Americans. It was an oppressively hot day, which made it perfect to be on and occasionally in the amazingly cool and refreshing, sparkly blue and perfectly clear Med. We motored over to Gozo and anchored at Dwerja bay, right by the Fungus Rock (so called because of a fungus that grows there that is reputed to have medicinal properties. It is forbidden to actually climb onto the rock.) This was technically our first time to Gozo, but given that we never touched land I am not sure it counts.

We spent most of the day in and out of the water, eating, chatting, and getting in or out of the sun as temperature and need for fresh air shifted. Sunscreen was strongly recommended and frequently reapplied. We also took turns going out in the dinghy to explore some caves nearby. In the caves the temperature was a good 10 degrees Celsius cooler than outside, at least. Some of the guys took the route of crawling from one cave to another - there is a rocky ledge that you can walk along, then a small opening where you have to crawl on all fours to get through to the other side. I was not permitted to take that trip. I am surrounded by mother hens ... even Terry, who went through on a second trip out, said it was good I didn't try. Hmph.

Several people had masks and snorkels, and we worked out a relay system whereby folks on the boat - who could see the water more clearly - would alert those heading into the water whether or not jellyfish were spotted nearby. Then, folks in the water with the masks would check out if they saw any approaching.

Terry, and another individual, still managed to get stung. Terry made me take photos of the marks on his arm, which I can only presume he will post when he gets around to it.

Luckily, folks who have been here longer than we have had all the necessary provisions to promptly handle the sting - white vinegar and anti-itch cream. If you get stung by a jellyfish, you want to first rinse the area with salt water (NOT fresh water, which releases the toxins even further) then apply white vinegar to the area. When it has dried off, apply anti-itch cream. It won't be pretty, and it will continue to sting and sort of burn for a while but it too will heal and if all goes well without a scar.

As a side note, when I was snorkeling around, I could see tons of little fish, as well as jellyfish that were quite pretty when they stayed far away. The water was reputedly over 10 meters deep (I think. Terry will correct me if I got that wrong) and we could see all the way to the bottom. The clarity of the water here is unbelievable.

Olives, honey, and camping in

Last night we attended a CLO-planned event that was one of our highlights of our time in Malta so far. A pretty decent contingent of embassy folks showed up at a gorgeous estate towards the north end of Malta where Sammy Cremona is almost single handedly reviving olive oil pressing on the island. With his small batch press, he even invites folks with orchards to bring their own olives. He is also the producer who presses the Ambassador's olives (the Residence has orange and olive orchards, among other things)

Their main walkway is lined with olive trees, along with the resident emu (penned) and dog and cat (roaming freely on the property). The owner took us to his olive press and explained the process, also telling us that there are olive trees on Malta that date back 2000 years and that his farm is part of a program to re-introduce more of the native tree. The night was cool, the atmosphere relaxed. You couldn't ask for more!

All the food they prepared was grown on their, or neighbors', property, and was some of the best food we've had in Malta. I had a piece of the sheep's milk cheese before I knew what it was, and it was heavenly. I drooled over, but did not partake in, either the port-dark beef carpaccio drenched in their oil, herbs, and served with kiwi slices or the tomato-red sashimi tuna. They brought out loaf after loaf of Maltese bread and homemade rosemary foccacia cooked in their brick oven, served either simply with their oil or with this spiced pea spread. I was quite content to stick with this "acceptable" food.

They have relatively recently begun to make honey - just a few years - and Sammy showed us some of the trays of honey that were ready to process and bottle. They smelled delicious. One of the older hives works off carob trees, and their honey is chocolate dark. I can't wait to get my hands on some of that! Apparently, a hive will find a kind of flower they like and work that until there is no more nectar. The cookies they served for dessert was made with their honey and some kind of nut (I think almond, but I know they have pine nut trees so it may have been that), topped generously with powdered sugar. Mmmmm.

Here is some information about the husband and wife team.

The adventure of the evening continued when we got home. It turns out that the air conditioning units in our house are not all they are cracked up to be. Poor Bethany had no AC in her room the entire time she was visiting us last week, and the night she left the AC in our bedroom died. Our landlord called the AC folks but this is their busiest time so they can't come until this upcoming week.

Walking into the sauna that was our second floor, we realized we couldn't sleep there. When we moved into the house, both guest rooms had single beds ... we ended up putting the two mattresses from the main guest room up in storage on our third floor and putting our double bed, that we had shipped from the USA, in that room. So, we had extra mattresses that we had expected to use to house overflows of visitors - we're still waiting for an overflow of visitors! The mattresses were brought down and we slept on the floor in the living room, where the air conditioner seems to be leaking (there is what looks like a wet mark down the wall) but still working. I guess we will continue to sleep here until the weather cools off (October?) or the air conditioning folks can come and fix the units. Mind you, the units were brand new and installed the week we moved in - only 3 months ago!

The glamorous life

A movie is being shot on our street this week. Our first alert of this fact was when we came home on Tuesday and there were signs all along our street that street parking would not be permitted for the next week (starting the next day) and a letter was wedged in our gate to the effect that the crew would be shooting from 6am until 8pm Weds-Fri, then Mon-Tues. It also advised that there would be explosions and fake gun shots - it is always good to have loud startling noises with an anxious dog in the house!

I have looked up the name of the movie and have seen nothing about it. I have no idea what production company it is, who the actors are, what the plot of the movie is. I have no idea if it will ever make it to a movie theatre anywhere in the world. But if it does, you will get a good look at my street, assuming all those scenes don't end up on the cutting room floor.

The crew and I have been completely pissing each other off. Yesterday was really the worst, mainly because I had to get Terry to a dentist appointment and my friend to the airport. When returning from the first errand, the police officer at the barricade at the far end of my block only let me through when I assured him I was a resident of the street and had off-street parking. While I was navigating the road, though, another individual or two felt the need to confirm those facts as well. It was a mass of humanity and cars - without drivers - blocking the road. We live only one house in from the other end of the street (the road at the corner is called Lord Strickland Street), but we have some debate as to whether it is legal to drive up the Lord Strickland - there is a sign at one end that it is one way except for residents, but then halfway up the street there is another sign just proclaiming that it is one way. I have seen plenty of folks turn onto my street from Lord Strickland, but then I have seen many clearly illegal driving tactics so you have to take these things with a grain of salt. Anyway, it did become clear to everyone that any further venturing from my house would have to take place via Lord Strickland. I thought that was the simple solution. Silly me, it never occurred to me that there would also be the unmanned truck parked directly at our gate, and when I asked them to move it I was told they were shooting right then and I would have to wait.

What idiot messes with a heavily pregnant lady in the oppressive heat?? They did end up moving the truck within the minute, and even helped me open the gates to our driveway. When I returned from that errand the guy manning the barricade was nowhere to be seen, so I moved them myself (they were less than 40lb, mom!) and again had to make them move the truck that was in front of our gate.

I am pretty sure I am their most troublesome resident.

more tidbits

• This is festa season. We have a lovely roof from which you can see a large swath of the island - it is very convenient to live in the middle of the island! Well, on a Saturday night we can just pull out our folding chairs onto the roof and check out the fireworks from the various festas. On June 30 we got good views of 2 fireworks displays, and a tree-obstructed view of a third. I have a feeling this is where we will spend many Saturday evenings in the summer (ah, and next summer I will do it with a cold beer or glass of wine in my hand!)
• We both swam in our pool, finally, 2 months after moving in. Terry went at night about a week ago, and it was too cold for me at that time. I went in during the day and it was incredibly refreshing. We want Kirby to get into it, he'd be so much cooler if he would, but I couldn't get him remotely close to me when I was in the water. We have a pretty large ankle deep area at the shallow end, so he could even lie down in the water. Terry will have to throw him in one of these days.
• I think summer is finally here in full force. The stuff at the produce stand didn't look as good as usual and there was much less selection. I went Tuesday morning, so it should have been full of prime stuff, the vendors get their new shipments Monday afternoons. We may be down to frozen veggies in the next month, and I don't think the fresh stuff starts up again until after the rains, which would be after October. Just think, baby will be here by then.

Tarxien Temples

I think I am going to earn a reputation for taking folks' parents out and about in Malta. One woman at the embassy is supposed to be vacationing with her mother right now, but because of an injury she can't travel, and her mom is having to find her own entertainment in Malta. Today we decided to go visit the Tarxien Temples, which I was promised were signposted very well. We did get lost, but only at the very end - we were within 1/2 km of the temples by the time we realized we didn't know where we were.

The temples were much nicer, in better condition and had more useful information than the Mnajdra and Hagar Qim temples - and many of the friezes and statues are replicas, so why they can't do that at Mnajdra and Hagar Qim I don't know. Tarxien were the last of the neolithic temples built on Malta, and . Here is some more information about them.