Welcome to our large airport!

I just arrived to Malta International Airport a couple of days ago and the most funniest thing happened (and have done often). As soon as you step out from the airplane on that tiny airport you are greeted and met by an airport shuffle bus. You know that it would take you less than 2 minutes to walk from the airplane to the airport building. but of course you do not have to walk anywhere. You are in Malta! So you need to step on a bus, wait for it to load in all passengers (took about 10 minutes) and then the shuffle bus drives you for 1.5 minutes and you are there!

Amazing is it not? Waste of fuel, destruction of the environment and gaining of some kilo among the passengers that already have been sitting down for hours. Well that is up to you to decide!

Merħba Malta!

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Siesta time

The time has come – Siesta time is here ……. for good and for bad.
Good – for those who can take it!
Bad since:
– When it is siesta time is the time you realised that you need to do certain things that you suddenly cannot since people are not working, answering the phones or having their shops open.
– during siesta time you do not call people since they might be asleep.
– you are not sleeping but cannot do anything
– you are forced to work when no one is working with you
– it is an abruption during the day and your daily needs get twisted around
– If you managed to take a siesta yourself, your body will get confused and do not want to sleep later on when it supposed to.

Question:

So how do Maltese deal with this siesta in this “modern” world?

Thoughtful me

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Quote: Cows and pigs

On the bus from airport in Malmö, Sweden. Arriving from Malta. Swedish young man.

“Wow do you see the cows and pigs on the field? In Malta we never saw any cows….”

My thought:

Since there are non….. (running free)

Drive until you die

A rumour has it that driving in the Mediterranean countries is crazy. Indeed it is, especially in Malta. Driving in Malta consist of breaking all the rules you learned during driving school. It also consists of sacrificing yourself each and every time you take the car out on the roads.

Each and every time I have some visitors down the bad drivers in Malta chock them. They would never ever jump into a car themselves and try to drive around. A common question always arises during my discussions about me driving in Malta.

“ How do you drive here?”

Easy answer. Always, always look at the car just in front. Forget about all the rules and just try to drive safe and save your own skin before any others. You need to stop being afraid of “breaking” traffic rules (even though it is very hard for us Swedes) and just save yourself.

There are rules of course, the European traffic rules; however, it was first recently it became hard to take the driving test. People who took the driving test 10 years ago – I was told – just needed to drive around 4 poles. Rewind around the poles and that is it. Driving rules test did not exist. Which in fact explains a lot!

What also can be good to have in mind if you want to try driving in Malta. Be egocentric; always believe the cars around you do not know what they are doing. Honk the horn a lot, use the blinkers (since Maltese drivers do not), drive slower than you want and always, always expect an accident to happen.

What is truly a fact regarding the traffic in Malta is that Mata is the country with most accidents in Europe every year. However, with least deadly accidents!

So enjoy, go ahead, start honking that horn, swear when you feel like it and drive until you die!

Good luck,

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When a Sushi dinner became a hamburger

Malta is a small island but yet so much can happen in such a small place. Sushi dinner suddenly became one hamburger. How? Well, for sure Jesus was not here transforming water to wine…

If there is one thing that I would be so pleased to change about the Maltese culture it is the customer service mind,  the lack of customer service mind I mean. It is absolutely amazing and I do have so many stories to tell about this specific subject but I will try to stick to my sushi transforming to a hamburger this time.

After a lovely sunny day I got the cravings for something good as Sushi. Not to spicy, not to greasy, not to dry and not to boring food just like sushi! You all know how it feels when getting cravings, you just cannot drop it, at least you have to try to get it….directly.

So I did try. Starting to think where do I have sushi restaurants? Easy. The best ones are always to far away, the closest at Preluna hotel, not to recommend to anyone and then there were 2 left. Medasia or Fortina hotel. After some research on the desktop I decided to try Fortina hotels japanese restaurant.

I called to make my order, the phone ringed, a girl answer from the Hotel reception telling me that I need to call back later since they seem busy in the restaurant at the moment. But that you of course can order take away food.

Great I thought and indeed I called back.

No answer……

No answer……

So i started to walk to the restaurant, which is not far in reality maybe 10 minutes one way and totally worth it if you want to eat sushi. I enter the hotel. Asked for the restaurant in the reception. The man I asked “runs” to his colleague, a girl (most probably the girl i spoke with on the phone), approached me again – very ashamed. Asked if i was a guest at the hotel. I answer of course “no, I just want to order take away”.

He looks at me with puppy eyes and with extreme red chins (of shame?) telling me:

“sorry Miss, restaurant is only open for hotel guests at the moment!”

Hungry as i was I suddenly became “Hangry”, angry because of hunger.

I looked at him, probably with fire in my eyes, saying:

“…at the moment….but on the phone….”

Then the girl colleague interfered in our conversation telling me that the restaurant just opened, something about small place, not prepared bla bla bla.

Which of course in my hungry ears just sounds like a dumb excuse. But why could not i just order take away, I wonder? And how come the lady told me on the phone, that of course I could order take away…..

….with a hangry mind i gave up the idea of good sushi. During my walk home i passed lovely restaurants with fantastic plates of fish and seafood, everyone seemed so happy with their plates.

I piety myself since I was in real need of  food quickly, angry of the lack of customer service and about all the lying in this country (just to sound good in front of others) so i jumped in to the queue to a hamburger bar. Fast, tasteless, salty and greasy. Just what I 1 hour earlier never would have wanted.

Bad customer service just pulls me down …. I wish upon a star that one day, one day that the Maltese customer service branch would actually work on their mind of customer service and not just pull lies.

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Quote: Eurovision

All europeans are aware of what happened the past weekend. Sweden won eurovision song contest (again). A contest which is political and socially interesting to watch. In Malta this contest is huge. Almost fanatic even though they have not won ever since the contest started in 1956.

Anyhow, everyone is discussing this contest, before, during and of course after. The day after I was sitting at my job in a “ditch”, in a archaeological trench. My “lovely” workers were discussing intense as usual something. Suddenly I heard the words Eurovision, China.

Which of course made me so curious so i asked them what they were discussing:

“When China participated in Eurovision Song Contest.”

– no comment from my side.

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Quote: Paceville

Last night when walking from a club in Sliema my dear friend said:

” I never believed the day would come when I need to take the night bus to Paceville, to be able to go to sleep”

Wonderful comment since 99.9% of all times you take the bus to Paceville (Party town) you go there to party….not to sleep!

Sometimes you just cannot choose where you live….

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Reggae island no 1

This past weekend i experienced a wonderful sensation of island hood. In Bugibba in north of Malta in a club called Amazonia – Juuls organised this fantastic eve with Reggae music, vans selling lovely jewellery and other gadgets. On the dance floor it hit me – how beautiful people are! What fantastic creatures the human kind actually is! We are all so different on the outside and on the inside but at the same so similar which is just amazing. No?

It also hit me while dancing, that if there is one typical music type that is appreciated on these islands it is the Reggae music. How come is of course my next thought? Malta, a small island group in the Mediterranean far away from where the Reggae music started – Jamaica. Is it because of the palm trees, the heat, the sandy beaches, the “mañana, mañana” life style or what?

This will probably be a mystery for me for a long while. However, I it is clear the Maltese inhabitants like reggae. The huge place of Amazonia was full and the party just kept on going. Compared to my reggae experience in Sweden, Goteborg (which is a good place to attend reggae events) Malta rocks!

I will for sure enjoy the summer reggae party and if you want to try yourself to feel the reggae flow on the rocks, keep an eye on:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/juuls/10150960513679696/?notif_t=group_activity

http://www.facebook.com/zionmalta

See you there beautiful creature!

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Work Morale

During the last couple of months i have “suffered” the lack of work morale among the hired workers on several projects in Malta. As an archaeologist, you usually work with so-called “workers”. They (should) do the heavy lifting and the duties that takes a lot of energy – the dirty work so to speak. These workers, usually men, have the tendency to not work at work. They are chatting so much (and of course cannot work at the same time while talking) that IF they have worked as much as they chat – Malta would rule the world. However, this will indeed never happen!

As a swede, with swedish work moral indoctrinated in me i become very upset. As an archaeologist you are not really supposed to tell the workers “hey you lazy bastard – work!”. However, i cannot really keep my mouth shout…. which of course puts me in an uncomfortable situation. The workers showing up in the morning, not really eager to meet me and the whole “teaching them that you work at your job” twists around and absolute nothing is done instead. An act that I feel is very childish. Right?

After complaining to their bosses and project managers etcetera I realise that the workers have a reason for their behavior. Namely – lowest salary on the islands!! Of course no one want to discuss what they make, but a bird told me 3 euro an hour!! 3 euro an hour! You cannot even buy a bus ticket to and from work and a proper lunch for that. Who wants to work then? One of the heaviest and dirtiest jobs you can do….of course you chill out, talk, having fun and not doing a thing!

The moral at work is absolutely different compared to what I am used to – but i do understand the “lazy bastards”. 3 euro an hour and no possibility to grow in the company, not getting support or engagement in the company they work for. They are not even getting the safety cloths they need or the tools….

…this is a huge problem since i do not know what to do. Become as inefficient as them? Be constantly the evil supervisor pushing them to work harder or just pray that one day (soon) they will get what they should earn?

Until then, i guess i just have to be inefficient, because – who want to be the “bitch” telling them to work faster when you know the reason why they are sooo lazy?

The Maltese Islands

This blog is about my own experience, thoughts and emotions regarding my stay on the Maltese islands. Since 2007 i have come back and forward to these islands. First to study, then for love and then for work. These islands have created a sense of love and hate inside me. I love the mediterranean life but have hard time adapting to the social system including administration, planning, bureaucracy, the view of health and safety and the view of respect, moral and ethics.

Adapting to a society which is new and different is always hard. The mediterranean life is extremely different to the society i grow up in, the swedish society.

Therefor I need to ventilate myself, both from positive and negative point of views. My maltese hate and love emotions needs to be explored.

Why do i hate the maltese society, and why do i still live here?