Update

Well we’ve been kinda out of touch for the last couple of weeks, and hadn’t posted anything for a couple of weeks before that. Also we’re at the three month mark, which means that ¼ of our originally planned trip is already over. So we figure it’s time for an actual update on things. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of anecdotes about life in Malta to come.

First of all, we’d thought that we would get more responses on the last post, so we left it alone for a couple of weeks hoping to get more input. But then we had a visitor arrive and there was no time for further posts. Safiye, one of our bestest friends in the whole wide world, came to stay for almost two and a half weeks. It was a blast! Not only did we do all kinds of fun stuff like a day of swimming in the Blue Lagoon and lunch in Mdina with a view of the entire island, but we also spent lots of time just chatting and encouraging one another. It was very hard to say good-bye, and we’re now even more convinced that everyone needs to come and visit us! If you’ve got time for vacation, and friends in Malta, you’d better take the opportunity to have a personal tour guide on a Mediterranean isle. (we won’t mention any names, but someone with a broccoli flavored lamp shade comes to mind)

Another piece of great news is that Ben got a job! He’s teaching English at a small, new school called The Chamber College. It’s not a real college, as in a tertiary institution that can issue a degree. It’s just one of about three dozen official EFL schools in Malta. He’s currently teaching an upper-intermediate level of 8-12 students, a job that’s about 4 hours a day. The students are from Japan, Germany, Spain, Poland, Turkey, Italy, and China; most are teens, several in their twenties, and occasionally one or two in their thirties. He’s having a lot of fun, and in the words of his high school English teacher, “I can’t believe they pay me to do this!”

So after the fun of the last couple of weeks and with a real job, we’re finally settling down to a regular routine. Life in Malta is great! Although a visitor from home has made us home-sick all the more, so…