Malta - Week 1

 We flew into Malta early Tuesday.

A view from the plane.

Upon our arrival at the airport, the Spitzers were there to welcome us. They are the couple whom we are replacing. Sadly, we didn't get a picture with them.

Using their car and a taxi, we managed to transport everyone and our luggage to the apartment. After a brief tour of the apartment, we set out to explore the town.

Next, we visited the Go Internet Store to set up our internet service and buy a cell phone plan. The store was located in a shopping center near the grocery store, so Karen guided me through the huge grocery store to help me locate items. The internet store clerk seemed to be new, which resulted in the account setup taking several hours.

We had a delicious lunch at Hungry Jake

                                                  

The Ceasar salad was delicious!

They showed us where the church was and then they drove us across the island to their hotel before saying good-bye. They left us with the car, the keys, and the apartment's address to input into WAZE for our journey back home. It was quite the adventure! We suddenly found ourselves alone, navigating the left side of the road back to the apartment. Although Steve has had experience driving on the opposite side of the road during our travels over the years, nothing could have prepared us for the challenge of the island's busy, narrow, and winding roads, dotted with roundabouts, during rush hour traffic!  It was a nail biter for sure!!!

 Somehow, we made it back safely!!!

 Enough driving for the day, we decided to walk into the town of Mosta to look around. 

Rotunda of Mosta

Our apartment is located in Naxxar, adjacent to the city of Mosta, where our church is located. The town square is a 10–15-minute walk away. The Rotunda of Mosta or commonly referred to as the Mosta Dome stands as the town's most prominent landmark, surrounded by numerous shops and restaurants. 

One of the roads along our walk.

Mosta Town Square

The Mother Mary statue that stands in front of the Mosta Dome

The old British phone booths have been preserved and we see them located all over Malta, but the phones have been removed.

During the next few days, we also took several walks to Naxxar. This city, too, is built around a beautiful church, surrounded by numerous shops and cafes.

The Church of the Nativity of Mary

Each time we pass by the church, a bird is perched on the hand of the statue.  

Our week was busy with unpacking, settling in, grocery shopping, acquiring necessities for our apartment, and making several trips to the internet store due to some issue preventing our internet from working.

When Friday rolled around, we opted to make a trip to Sliema. Despite being just 6 miles away, it took about 25 minutes to get there due to the narrow, winding roads, which make for a challenging drive.   The Point Mall is the largest shopping mall in Malta, and I was excited to check it out.  It is a beautiful mall, but we were surprised at small it was!   It was four stories high, but you can almost see the entire mall from the entrance.  By US standards, it would be considered small. 

However, we were excited because it was located at the seafront and since we live inland, it was nice to finally see water and realize we live on an island!  We were pleasantly surprised to see the entire skyline of Valletta from the Harbor.  We took a stroll along the waterfront and snapped a few dozen pictures!

The beach!  

Everyone lays out on these hard rocks and the bay is roped off for swimmers. The water is clear and beautiful so it looks like the swimming would be great!

St Paul's Pro-Cathedral in Valletta

A steep walk down to the beach!

We started our official duties on Saturday night by attending English Connect.  This is an English class where we teach English as a second language. There are about 50 people who attend twice a week.  There are 3 classes, beginning, intermediate and advanced.  The majority of those in the class are Spanish speaking, many of them from Columbia.  But there are others who attend as well. 

On Sunday, we attended church for the first time, and it was wonderful!  The members were all friendly and welcoming!  We are looking forward to getting to know each of them better!

The chapel sits atop a Kebab Shop along the main road in Mosta. On the second floor, you'll find the foyer, chapel, restrooms, and a small classroom. The third floor has two additional classrooms, the branch president's office, a nursery, a small restroom, and the clerk's office. Continuing up the stairs will take you to the rooftop.
 

Chapel & Multi-purpose Room

There are two hymnals placed on the chairs: one in English, the other in Maltese. Most hymns are sung in English, but there is invariably at least one in Maltese. All the members are passionate about singing, and they belted out all the hymns with great enthusiasm.

Views of the street as seen from the rooftop of the church.

Somehow, we survived the first week and we are still alive after driving on some of the world's craziest roads!  Steve is still pretty shaky behind the wheel and I'm not even going to attempt it!  I sit right next to him and carefully navigate all the way.  I'm looking forward to the day when it becomes second nature!