Malta ( another one from memory lane) Posted by Ranu

February 12, 2013

Mediterranean Sea, on the coast of Malta (Sliema) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Arrivals lounge for the Malta International Airport. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Flag of Malta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Valletta – Malta (Photo credit: Ploync)

Mediterranean Sea (Photo credit: AudreyH)

Coat of arms of Malta. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Malta is a group of islands in the Mediterranean sea.The terrain is low and rocky with coastal cliffs.

Malta ,in the heart of the Mediterranean is a melting pot of civilisations with a history stretching

back thousands of years. The country has been inhabited since around 5200 B.C.a significant prehistoric

civilisation existed on the islands prior to the arrival of the Phoenicians, who named the main island Malat,

meaning ‘Safe Haven.’ Later the islands were for centuries the seat of the ,’Knights of the Hospital of St. John’

and then part of the British Empire.Malta became independent in 1964.

The national language is Maltese,which is part of the Semitic language family that includes Arabic.English is also

recognised  as an official language, and many Maltese speak Italian. The capital of Malta is Valetta. At the crossroads

of the Mediterranean, half-way between Europe and North Africa lies the Maltese archipelago, consisting of three main

islands, Malta(the largest) Gozo and Comino. Gozo the second largest is more rural,characterized by fishing ,tourism

and agriculture,Comino is largely uninhabited.

We arrived in Malta from Heathrow,London.We represented twenty-three different countries. We were received by Maltese officials. Later we were taken to apartments rented for us by our university.I shared the apartment with two students,one was from Malaysia and the other was from Japan,Zakiah Ibrahim,Yukiko Adachi and Chaman. We went to three different schools for our teaching practice.

I loved the children I taught. We stayed in school for the whole day.We came back late afternoon. Zakiah took over as the boss.Our duties were divided by her. I was in charge of breakfast,we had lunch in our respective schools,Zakiah was in charge of supper. Yuki did not have to cook. she was given the duty of washing the dishes after supper.

She was a lovely person,when it came to doing the dishes,she left it for later. In the morning I would wake up and find the dishes in the sink.I had no choice but to wash them.Yuki would in a drowsy tone apologize and say:’ Chaman just wash enough for breakfast.’I washed them all and this is the way it went. Zakiah reminded Yuki of her duty,it didn’t matter,she in her sweet Japanese accent would apologize and promise to take care of her duty.Nothing changed,she continued to be in her land of dreams, while Zakiah and I took care of the rest.We spent a month teaching and sight-seeing whenever possible.The weather in the month of June was fabulous,it was a treat for us.Let me tell you London wasn’t great as far as the weather goes.

Courthouse, Valletta, Malta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lower Barracca Gardens, Valletta, Malta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)