Malta musically

Hi, Y'all,

The Maltese are good business people, but they are not just focused on numbers, data and facts. On the contrary - all the Maltese people I have met so far have a strong love of music, dance and/or singing. It starts with the fact that all Maltese, without exception, are ardent supporters of the Eurovision Song Contest and Malta takes part every year (definitely more successful than Germanyzeropoints). The event is the number one topic of conversations for weeks, and on the evening of the broadcast, the streets are as empty as in Germany during the World Cup final with La Mannschaft participating. There is also of course "Malta's got Talent" (i.e. "Malta sucht den Superstar" in German), "Dancing with the Stars" (in German "Let's Dance" - haha) and countless smaller events where local and extremely talented artists perform. On the small island of Gozo are even two opera houses, and the tenor Joseph Calleja is internationally known. I even saw him lately in a Netflix documentary about Mario Lanza.

Even international artists like to come to Malta - Elton John has been here, for example, and Tina Turner; Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera and André Rieu performed here this summer (there's no arguing with taste, though), and Ed Sheeran will be here next year. I'm still waiting for an appearance of Depeche Mode, and although that is unfortunately not in sight, hope dies last.

And then there are all the local music groups, the so-called band clubs, of which there is definitely one, if not several, in every small town. Mellieha, for example, has at least two. A band club of course also has a clubhouse, but it's not just a place where music is played, but often also a real pub or restaurant where you an have a decent meal for small money. These band clubs do great youth work, which means that from around the age of five, the young artists are introduced to an instrument with regular lessons, the instrument is provided by the club, and participation in the practice lessons or choir rehearsals is free. There is also no membership fee or additional payment for the uniform (e.g. polo shirt with club logo, uniform scarf for women or tie for men) - which means that there are a lot of excellent musicians in Malta, because anyone who wants has access to musical education.

Who knows me well also might know that I was with various choirs since the age of 7, although I haven't actively sung in the last few years (only a few shower performances here and there). But it deemed a good idea to start again, because it's a great way to get in touch with people and to integrate into society. And so I've been singing with the Choral and Orchestral Society Maria Bambina since July!

A few days before our daughter's wedding we had a huge concert with our orchestra and some guest musicians. It took place in the church square in Mellieha and was part of the extensive activities of the big annual feast at the beginning of September. We presented a colorful mix of English, Maltese and Italian musical and pop songs (e.g. The Ascot Gavotte from My Fair Lady, Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles, a Tina Turner medley and one by a well-known Maltese group). In between there were also instrumental pieces by our orchestra, some accompanied by various dancers, and at the end - as almost always on the island - there were fireworks as the grand finale.

Last Saturday we had a concert with sacred or classical music in the Mdina Cathedral. By the way (insert a little education here), Mdina was the old capital until they chose Valletta in 1571 to be the new capital of Malta. The reason behind: From Mdina you can see almost the entire island, but from Valletta you have a better overview of the harbour and the sea - the risk of being attacked from within was probably lower than from the sea. Anyway, Mdina is beautiful and its cathedral is stunning. Our concert was a matinee (Saturday morning, 10:30) and moreover a collab with the La Valette Band Club which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

Not exactly sure whether Monsignor Marco Frisina came to Malta specifically for these celebrations, but his timing was extraordinary. If you're wondering who he is (and I surely did): Monsignor Frisina is an Italian priest, choir director and composer (among others, film music). Under John Paul II he was bandmaster of the Lateran Basilica, he has composed for various TV and film projects and has even worked with Ennio Morricone. For Benedict XVI he has written several oratorios and has been a lecturer at two pontifical universities for 20 years (yes, there are several).

We rehearsed a Maltese piece and four of his own works in advance (and that was definitely a challenge, I can tell (or sing)), and then we had the great honor of having Monsignor Frisina himself directing our choir and orchestra.

And because the man is truly gifted, everything worked out wonderfully! As I said, his works were quite demanding, and considering we only had about six weeks to practice (but three times a week), we can give ourselves a little pat on the back. And in retrospect one can say: The first rehearsal was terrible and everybody thought it would never work. Then the first rehearsal with the orchestra was even more horrible, no one could hear the singer standing next and everybody doubted him/herself and the overall situation. But that's perfectly normal, and somehow everything will work out in the end - each and every time, believe me.

But there is no rest, as rehearsals for the festive season will begin on Friday - the first four performances have already been fixed... So I say goodbye with the holy three catchy tunes: Rockin' around the Christmas Tree, All I want for Christmas is you and Last (but not least) Christmas.

You're welcome :-)

You can't make this up...

Hi Y‘all!

When you go on a journey, usually you have something to tell afterwards. However, I would never in my life have thought that it would be the story that is coming now... Sit back, get comfortable and yourself a tea, or even a Snickers bar, because it might take longer!

Some time ago last year, our older daughter brought the happy news that she and her dearest significant other wanted to get married. We, the proud parents, were very happy, organized a chic outfit right away, because the occasion calls for celebrating in style, and instantly we booked the flights. Lufthansa Business Class - of course - because hubby didn't want to leave anything to chance with such an important event. Only LH (and AirMalta) take you from Malta to Stuttgart, and unfortunately not directly, but only with connected flights. So we were supposed to fly from Malta via Munich to Stuttgart and the return flight was to be via Frankfurt. So far so good.

I finished work extra early on the Wednesday before, in order to take Heinrich to the dog sitter without any hassle, pack our suitcase in no stress and then take the airport bus line to the airport the next morning. That worked out wonderfully. After checking in at the business lounge, we merrily passed our time and were ready for boarding. A sip of champagne to get you in the mood and off we went.

When we landed in Munich, our plane was rescheduled at short notice to a place far out on the airfield, which was okay. But they didn't think about the fact that in that case we would also need stairs and a bus. So we had to wait a quarter of an hour for the stairs, and when it arrived, we had to wait another twenty minutes for the bus. With a connecting flight, that's always great. But no problem at all - the connecting plane was also a good half hour late, haha! Supposedly due to a lack of staff, but I heard that excuse so often lately, I won’t comment on in any more...

A while ago, we bought two AirTags for our luggage, to be able to track the suitcases via GPS. Immediately after landing in Stuttgart, hubby told me: I think our suitcase is still in Munich. I thought he was making fun at first, but apparently he was not joking at all. He then contacted Lufthansa support right away, but it seemed as if we knew better than them where our suitcase was located. We then went with our youngest daughter, who kindly picked us up, to her home in Ditzingen, because we were supposed to set up camp there. At that point we were still relatively relaxed; after all, we had experienced something like this years ago with Delta Airlines on the flight to Austin/Texas. A suitcase had gotten stuck in Atlanta, but was forwarded on the next plane and delivered directly to our hotel the same night. And as it was only Thursday late afternoon, we assumed there was plenty of time.

We had actually planned a cosy evening at the Wichtel brewery in Ditzingen with Sarah, her boyfriend and his family - we finally wanted to get to know them. Since we didn't know when the suitcase would come, we considered moving the event to Sarah and Eric's home at short notice. But then, oh wonder, we received a notification that the suitcase was approaching Stuttgart and was scheduled to land at 10:50 pm. OK, we thought, then we'll have to stay up a little longer than planned, but now let's go for dinner with the family.

It goes without saying that hubby had already made it perfectly clear at the first contact with Lufthansa, that time was of the essence. He had provided them with our temporary address in Ditzingen with the remark that we, as parents of the bride, needed the suitcase by 10:00 am next morning at the latest, because it contained our outfits, shoes, hair clips, makeup... even my thyroid hormones were in it (ok, for a day I had them in my hand luggage). So it was really urgent. The evening progressed - we tried again and again to get someone on the line, but in vain, because from 8:00 pm everyone had finished work.

The next morning from seven o’clock on we incessantly tried to move mountains and get the suitcase to Ditzingen. A call to Stuttgart Airport revealed that Lufthansa always commissions a specific courier service to forward baggage. They told us to send them an email, because Stuttgart Airport is not responsible, only Lufthansa is. We sent said email and at the same time tried to call the courier service. There was only one phone number available in Hanover, and I was kicked out several times after hanging on the line for ten minutes each time (btw the waiting message pointed out that if the call didn't work out, you should email instead – as if they knew very well that nobody would ever pick up these calls)...  

At the same time, hubby had a so-called Lufthansa service employee on the line, from whom he wanted to know why we paid for priority luggage if no one gives a f’ing fuck now? The employee said dryly: I know that this is very bad service, but that's all I can do. The suitcase will come to you, but I can't tell you when. Why don't you get it yourself if it's urgent? There is simply a shortage of personnel." I'm still very impressed by the hubby's self-control...  

Since my former company is located at the airport, I even called a former colleague to see if he could bring the suitcase to us. Unfortunately, he was already on his way to Mannheim, but recommended a specific taxi company. Unfortunately (I sense an inflationary use of that word in this blogpost...), Lufthansa doesn't just hand over the luggage to a taxi driver, but only if it orders it itself - but obviously they didn't have the capacity to do so due to a lack of staff. Going there ourselves was no longer an option, because getting a taxi not only expensive, but also difficult when you are in a hurry. With the S-Bahn it would not have been possible in time. 

So we bit the bullet, ironed the hubby's shirt from the day before, washed his socks and ironed them dry, and I borrowed one of my ex-dresses from my youngest daughter. I hardly ever had worn it, thus I had given it to her before we moved to Malta - that came in very handy now. Maybe the hubs should have gifted one of his suits to Sarah's boyfriend Eric before moving :-) It was also very practical that I wore a pair of fancy sandals on the flight instead of sneakers. With the semi-elegant red dress that would have created a weird combo…

Well, thanks to Sarah's makeup palette, toothbrushes and other help, we were reasonably presentable, only not as impeccable as we had planned. Thank God I had my jewelry in my purse and not in my suitcase. Due to track works, the tram was not really an option (anyone who has ever heard the word rail replacement service knows what I mean), so hubby had already ordered a taxi in the morning to pick us up at 12:30 pm and take us to the registry office. So we were waiting in the road, when he got the call from the taxi driver at exactly 12:30 pm, he was stuck in a traffic jam and could not come! Ahhhhh!! Uber wasn't available, so we called six to eight local taxi companies, but they weren't in the mood for customers. One said: "I can't do it for another three quarters of an hour," the next bluntly told us that he had lunch break now. Service - what's that???

We didn’t want to bother the bride and groom with these hickups but at  that time we had no choice but to inform them, and thanks to Marie's ingenious organizational talent, her brother-in-law-to-be was on the doorstep shortly before one (remember: marriage ceremony was to start at 1:00 pm) and took us to the registry office in Weilimdorf, disregarding all speed limits (shoutout to Sebi aka Schumi!). In the meantime, the bride and groom had softened the registrar to wait for the bride's parents before starting the wedding ceremony (this is quite remarkable for officials on a Friday afternoon...), and at 1:15 pm we arrived at the registry office - just within the academic quarter. 

But doors were closed already, because it was Friday afternoon! So we called again for someone to come down to open the door for us. The gatekeeper wanted to brush us off, but we just overran her, and the wedding ceremony could finally begin!

The ceremony was beautiful and moving, the wedding hall very pretty, and the registrar really nice. We all had tears in our eyes and buttonholes, and suddenly our children were married. The groom's kungfu club then welcomed the bride and groom with soap bubbles and sparkling wine outside the registry building, and the Weilimdorf market visitors also had something to look at. A young man with an unmistakable American accent was so enthusiastic about the groom's outfit that he had to take a picture :-)

We were then driven from the registry office to the event hall in a VW bus from 1968.

And all of a sudden, the tension was gone, and the party could begin. And we partied hard until three in the morning, I can tell you that!

Shortly after six on this memorable Friday, Sarah was finished with her university work, and since she passes the airport from Tübingen on her way back home, I sent her a photo of the luggage receipt, and she just tried her luck at the airport. She was sent to a hall where hundreds of suitcases were standing around waiting for their owners, but ours was not there. She was then led into a second hall where even twice as many suitcases were waiting to be picked up. (Imagine the amount of money standing there and the huge bag of emotions attached to all that luggage...) My suitcase has a very significant pattern, so she was able to identify it quickly, and it was handed to her just like that (without any signature or anything).

Right when she told us via WhatsApp that she had the suitcase in her hands, the courier service informed us that they had never received an order from Lufthansa to deliver our suitcase. I don't have to mention that according to the last mail from Lufthansa, our suitcase is now considered lost...

Well, we had a terrific wedding and spent a great weekend with the in-laws of our two girls, and on Sunday, as mentioned above, we were supposed to travel from Stuttgart via Frankfurt to Malta. But Lufthansa had rebooked us from the flight to the train, and we were supposed to leave Stuttgart main station at 5:23 pm - does Stuttgart 21 and the corresponding construction site chaos ring a bell? Bearing that in mind we took the S-Bahn from Ditzingen to Stuttgart very much in advance. 

Unfortunately, we had to leave the S6 due to route work in Zuffenhausen and change to the S4. The S4 then had to make an unscheduled stop at the Nordbahnhof, because another S-Bahn had broken down in the tunnel in front of the main station... Nevertheless, we reached our train to Frankfurt Airport and were just about to find our seats, when I saw on the display board: This train is a) delayed and b) does not stop in Frankfurt today. Am I in a very bad dream right now???

So we hopped on the next train at the opposite platform. According to the train coordinator - the small man with the big red cap - the train would be delayed, but if nothing went wrong, the train should be at the airport at 6:57 pm. Boarding was scheduled for 7:30 pm, so it was a close call, but we had high hopes.

Approaching the Frankfurt main station, the train driver announced: "Dear passengers, we will reach the main station at 7:01 pm, and unfortunately we have to uncouple cars 31 to 39 due to defects, because otherwise we will not be able to take the high-speed line in the direction of Cologne. Because this uncoupling can take ten to fifteen minutes, we recommend that travelers to the airport take the ICE 120 from platform 9. (Small pause...) I correct myself: we will not reach the main station until 7:20 pm, and then the uncoupling will happen, so we strongly recommend switching to the ICE 120. (Another little pause...) I correct myself again: We just get the message via the Internet that the ICE 120 has been cancelled completely."  

Hubby was already chatting with LH support again, but of course their hands were tied, because our flight was the last connection to Malta that day. I've already joked that we had a fair chance if the plane is delayed or defective – with our luck it wasn’t unlikely, and we were only one stop away from the airport. Then, all of a sudden, it became very cosy in our compartment and in the entire front part of the train, because all the passengers from the cancelled ICE 120 boarded, and all the passengers whose cars had been uncoupled also had to get in. 

There were already heated discussions, because everyone sat down where he or she found a place, and actually all prior reservations were cancelled by then, but of course there are always people who insist on their reservation. And there are people who don't have anything to do with it, but still interfere and strike a very wrong note. Suddenly the hubs lowered his voice significantly (quite impressive spectacle tbh) and the meddler went completely silent… But since our train now had to carry triple the amount of passengers, there was another announcement stating that the train was now overloaded and wouldn’t be able to depart at all unless some passengers get off voluntarily!

It was now 7:30 pm, exactly our boarding time, and so we decided to leave this fine establishment and check if another train or S-Bahn would take us one stop further. We luckily caught an IC that dropped us off at the airport at 8:00 pm. Bless us, the plane was neither defective nor delayed, it was gone. The friendly LH service employee thus handed us a hotel voucher for the Sheraton directly at the airport, including meals. Fun fact: The lump sum for dinner was 18 euros per person, but the cheapest dish in the hotel's restaurant was 21 euros without drinks. So we paid a little more, but at that point we didn't care anymore. We just wanted to take a shower, grab a quick bite and off to bed.

By the way, the food was really tasty, and one of the three waitresses was also very nice (the male rest hadn't really internalized the idea of service yet...). So we put our tired heads to rest and fell asleep in no time. At two o'clock, however, the hubs woke up, wanted to go to the bathroom and just hummed: We have a burst water pipe! It was dripping from the ceiling in front of the bathroom, and according to the reception, that was the A/C, and a technician would come by immediately. Indeed, he was there right away and did some repair work. But he was just gone, when it dripped again - his repair attempt was probably not that effective… Therefore we had to change rooms at half past three, and it took us quite some time to fall asleep again.

Every time we thought, it can't get any worse, something even more hilarious happened. You can't make that up, except in shows like "Pranked" or in pretty bad road movies. If this is the new normal in Germany, then I am really and truly horrified. What has become of punctuality and efficiency – these were always our pride and joy? Nobody cares for anything anymore, friendly service is obviously a forgotten term, but all the time you hear about staff shortages. That’s truly disturbing. A friend wrote me: "Oh, how nice - you went on vacation to a developing country..." 

But apart from that the breakfast was good, the return flight reasonably punctual and the suitcase was also where it should be. Because we had to pick up the dog that Monday morning, we ordered a Bolt driver (that's the Maltese Uber), who was there in five minutes, and he first drove us to the dog sitter, waited dutifully until we had collected Heini, and then brought us home quickly, safely and extremely cheap compared to a German taxi fare. Which means: As soon as we entered our wonderfully imperfect Malta, everything worked out perfectly.

What a ride, Y‘all! Guys, if anyone knows a Hollywood director, we'd sell the story straight away. Although nobody would believe us, I suppose... But one thing’s for sure: That was a weekend we will never ever forget!!!

With this in mind, I would like to quote my own maid of honor
with the following advice:

Breathe, hold on, drink alcohol!!

 

 

Something old, something new...

Hi Y'all!

Who's linked with me on LinkedIn (haha, pun intended) might know already: I'm off the market! Well, off the marriage market for quite a while, but off the labour market too, lately. And that's how it happened: When i told my -now- former boss about our plans roughly half a year before moving, he had to swallow hard. Sure - never change a running system, and besides, we were an awfully good team. My wish to keep working for him and the team remotely from Malta could not be granted due to various laws and tax regulations (thank you, Germany). Therefore, my boss made me an offer I could not refuse (insert The Godfather original motion picture soundtrack here). Which means: I take unpaid leave for a year and keep my job and have the option to rejoin if I don't want to stay in Malta. If you consider us never staying very long at one spot, that possibility surely was worth contemplating.

Thus I accepted, but you know the drill: You can't live off love and thin air alone. And besides, after six months of settling in, doing Yoga, making my own sourdough bread, creating vegan spreads, cheese, ice cream, oat milk, singing in the choir and so on, I was up for a regular job. So, after a quick and intensive detour into the weird world of iGaming (don't ask!) I just contacted the EY Malta Country Managing Partner via LinkedIn who instantly provided me with an interview appointment. Well, and just like this I have been an employee of EY Malta since 3rd of July 2023!

Okay, you could argue how boring this is - first she has been working for almost 25 years for EY Germany, and now she has no other ideas than joining the same club again? Hm, it's not exactly like this. First, over the years I worked for four different executives and various teams, I changed offices five times and my tasks drastically evolved over time. Only one thing didn't change: Although there were difficult times and situations, I almost always liked being with the company. And to be honest: Us moving to Malta was jumping into cold waters, and for a change it might be nice to already know the waters I am testing... 

For sure I could have reinvented myself and start my own business as color and type advisor, wedding planner or crafts teacher and whatnot. But that's what hobbies are for, right? And to make it clear: A corporate life definitely has it's advantages - like health insurance (not always common in Malta for the employer to provide for that), paid leave and a few other goodies. I think, I did good by joining them. For instance, we have summer hours which means shorter working hours from mid July through end of August, because despite the ACs it can get pretty hot in here... I can take the bus free of charge and the bus stop is right in front of our office door (and up to now the conductor has been letting me enter all the time - I already talked about that). We get fresh fruit daily and freshly squeezed orange juice, and during lunchtime I can relax on the marvellous roof top terrace. And I have been reading real books again lately, because during my commute and in my break I have time to do that again - isn't that great? Yes, it is! Right now I am entertained by a series of books by Siegfried Lenz which had been in my bookshelf for ages.

Oh, and I don't work any more as executive assistant in assurance (at least not right now), but together with a full-time and a part-time colleague I rock the reception of our office! By the way: We only have one EY office in Malta - it's a small island, you know. And consequently it's a small office, too: Only 250 staff, appr. 15 partners and directors for all service lines together and about 5 secretaries. My immediate colleagues are super nice, and like everywhere else, there are people who collaborate well and not so well, besides it's a huge melting pot of a ton of different nationalities and backgrounds, and don't forget the bubbly emotional Maltese mentality - mediterraneously southern with a special liking for drama :-) As a reserved and cool German I can only remotely relate, but as I was born in Cologne I have some roman heritage as well. Which means I can very well live with it. But sometimes it's suffice to just sit, watch and mentally munch popcorn...

Last week we had an awesome summer party (pretty posh at the private club of an elegant resort, directly by the sea with a gin bar, a whiskey bar, BBQ, a dj accompanied by a saxophone player and fireworks at the end). Very fitting we were given fans - because it was very hot and humid. And later on I used them as centrepiece for our dinner table when we had our asian BBQ night on Saturday.

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures, but I served sate skewers with peanut sauce, a cucumber salad with sesame oil and rice vinegar, and a pasta salad with mie noodles, carrots, bell peppers, spring onions and roasted peanuts - very yummy. Only partly vegan, as the sate skewers were made with chicken.  For drinks I originally had in mind Tsingtao beer and plum wine, but to my disappointment none of that was available in Malta. Thus I opted for the fabulous Maltese Cisk beer and chilled white wine from this beautiful island. For dessert we had grilled peaches and pineapples with caramelised brown sugar with a dip of oat yogurt, fresh mint and lemon - that was incredible and I definitely will do that again!

With that being said  always enjoy your time 

and choose wisely between old and new!

Malta medicinal

Hi, Y'all!

May came and went and was very busy. I may (pun intended) make a separate post about it, but that busyness was the reason for this blog being very quiet last month. 

Being busy reminds me of the following: I am officially allowed to call the hubs "Oh captain, my captain"! Don't worry, he is not a dead poet, but he trained knots, signals and nautical law, passed his exams with Transport Malta and has officially obtained his nautical license! Which means he is allowed to cruise in the 12 mile zone around Malta, Gozo and Camino. After a year of practice he can apply for the next license where he is allowed to go further and can drive larger vessels. But that only on a side note.  

If you ask around, what works well in Germany, very often you receive the answer "health care system". Although I have to admit, there are mixed opinions about it. I assume, people waiting weeks or months for a specialist's appointment or people suffering from lipedema who have to endure lifelong lymph drainage treatments and compression stockings instead of one operation, might think otherwise... My personal experiences with doctors and health insurance were always good. However, my German health insurance is still nagging me to send them a plane ticket as confirmation that I really left Germany. I already sent them my deregistration certificate of the German Registration Authorities - that should be proof enough, right? I mean, my new address is none of their business. They do not provide any services and I do not pay them any fees - and that since seven months now. But I don't want to get upset, that's not good for my health...

And how is health care in Malta? Thinking of first aid services like Knights of St. John, Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Malta, it should be heaven on earth, health care wise, right? And what shall I say? You maybe right! At least as far as I'm concerned. Two hospitals come into my mind spontaneously, one in Gozo and one here in Malta, the "Mater Dei". These are not the only ones, but that is not the baddest number in relation to a population of 500.000 inhabitants. And both have a very good reputation, like the Maltese health care system in general. Of course, there may be a waiting list, if it is a predictable/scheduled operation. If something is life threatening, it will be done immediately, for sure. And besides, you always can ask the hospital in Gozo about their waiting list, maybe it's shorter.  

As far as I know, there is no mandatory health insurance. Either your employer offers to pay for health insurance, or you pay a private one. We did the latter when we relocated last year, and the most expensive tariff is still a fraction of what Alex had to pay in Germany for private health insurance. Moreover, there are no financial hurdles to be eligible. In Germany you have to earn more than a specific amount for a certain period of time, before you are allowed to be privately insured. Malta has a rather pragmatic approach: If you can and want afford private health insurance, you can do so. It's as simple as that. 

Dental procedures are always paid privately, there is no dental insurance, not even privately. I have no clue the price of a crown or something similar, therefore I won't judge anything. But I do not remember Maltese people having lots of crooked or otherwise bad teeth (like I've seen in the UK years ago), thus I assume, these procedures seem to be affordable. 

Nevertheless we already had contact to a doctor. These general practitioners - unlike in Germany - do not always have their own office, but they treat their patients in a designated room in the local pharmacy. For instance, every Monday, the pharmacy hosts Dr. X and every Tuesday Dr. Y. There you are treated "first come, first serve" which means, during flu season, you might have to queue at 8 am and have to go home untreated because the doctor cannot take any more patients.  

But here is the big HOWEVER: In Malta you have a lot of general practitioners who actually come to your home. And that without any hassle - you just send them a message via WhatsApp or Facebook messenger and the doctor will let you know when he can come to you. We did that in winter, when hubs needed a check up for his nautical license. We weren't in a hurry, and one evening, Dr. Vassallo came by for a cup of tea, the check up and a prescription for me. He took his time, was very thorough, and that experience could not have been further from German packed waiting areas and a doctor, who doesn't listen, because so many patients, so little time. Dr. Vassallo even explained in detail, which herbs and spices can support a healthy lifestyle. This combination of medicinal science, naturopathy and a doctor who really wants to help his patients we deeply appreciated and liked very, very much. 

Maybe you know that I have a massive hypothyroidism (also know as Hashimoto) and do constantly need hormones, because my thyroid does not produce them anymore. Therefore I showed the doctor my meds I usually take, and on a note pad he scribbled the medical agent (the exact medication you can't get here in Malta) and that I need these meds daily and indefinitely. Stamp and signature, and the prescription was done. So on Tuesday I took that to our local pharmacy and was handed my meds. The prescription I got back and I assume I can re-use it next time. Btw nobody asked for my health insurance and we do not have a chip card issued by the insurance company. Everything low key and uncomplicated - I like. 

In comparison: In Germany I had to visit the doctor every three months to get a new prescription. With that I went to the pharmacy, got a pack of 100 tablets and had to pay shortly over 10 EUR, which was the fee for the prescription plus some compensation as my meds were more expensive than the medication my health insurer agreed to pay for thyroid hormones. And of course, you could not get more than 100 tablets with one prescription, and the reason they stated was that my condition might change on short notice, and then they could adapt the medication accordingly. Fun fact: My bloodwork and/or ultrasound to check my thyroid status was done every two years. Shouldn't it be done every three months, too, I am wondering? In the end, it's all about money, I guess...

Here in Malta, however, they informed me, that although my condition is permanent, the medical agent I need does not belong to the meds they give away for free, even if it's chronical. Therefore, unfortunately, I had to pay for my meds. I got two packs of pills (the dosage I need they don't have in one tablet) and each pack contained 28 pills and I braced myself. What would I have to pay now? Well, 2.48 EUR for one pack and 2.58 EUR for the other! That was a pleasant surprise, I can tell you! 

With that said: Please do not worry about my health care here in Malta :-) And in order to avoid leaving this post pictureless, please find this: 

It is common knowledge that you should have great variation in your diet (locally, seasonally) and if possible avoid highly processed food. Dr. Vassallo said the same, by the way. Therefore please find in that picture above figs fresh from your neighbour's garden (more local is impossible), baked with goat cheese, caramel syrup and hazelnuts, rosemary cracker with sea salt and sourdough bread with vegan feta and vegan butter with chives and lemon. The goat cheese, the grapes and the nuts were store bought, but the spreads, the bread, syrup and cracker were homemade by me.  

On that note: Have a beautiful weekend and stay healthy!

Il-Lingwa Maltija

Hi Y'all,

if you think that's Greek to you, you're wrong! It means Maltesian language in Maltesian language, and I thought I could talk a bit about it. Not that I am an expert by any means, but a few fun facts I surely can add into the mix. Might be a bit on the theoretical side, but someone's gotta do it! 

He takes treats presented in any language!

It all started when Facebook showed me an ad by Community College Winnenden offering an online course in Maltese for Germans live from Malta directly (no time lag). I always have liked community college language trainings, and so I enrolled and was very happy that it actually was happening (sometimes when there are not enough participants, they cancel courses). And now, every Monday evening, I sit in front of my computer while the Maltese language teacher gives us a basic understanding of speaking Maltese (in English, of course 😅). Distance between him and me is a few Kilometers, only - he is located in Gozo while I am in Mellieħa, and everything is organized via Germany, where the rest of the participants are based. So that's finally one good thing about COVID, I guess... Of course, it isn't the goal to have deep discussions about philosophy, quantum physics or things like that, but out of respect for country and inhabitants I wanted to have some basic knowledge of one of the official languages.  

I already explained a bit of the background but for completeness reasons here a few more facts: Maltese is the only semitic language which is written in Roman and moreover it is the only semitic language which is an official language in the EU. Due to its history and geological position Maltese is influenced by several languages, mostly Italian, Arabic and English. 

Unlike the English alfabet, "L'Alfabett Malti" doesn't consist of 26 letters, but of 30 letters in total - 6 vowels and 24 consonants. 

Regarding the vowels, there is an additional ie (two letters, but counts as one vowel) - thus we have

a, e, i, ie, o and u

And these are the consonants:

b, ċ, d, f, ġ, g, għ, h, ħ, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, ż, z

Here, too, the għ counts as one consonant, although it consists of two letters. It's a bit tricky, because you don't pronounce it directly, but it prolongs the vowel which follows after. 

And how do you pronounce that in general?

a is pronunced as in (people) are (people)

b is pronounced as in blasphemous (rumours)

ċ is pronounced as in Fletch

d is pronounced as in Depeche Mode

e is pronounced as in everything (counts) 

f is pronounced as in (songs of) faith (and devotion)  

ġ is pronounced as in just (can't get enough)

g is pronounced as in get (the balance right)

għ is silent (it prolongs the vowel)

h is silent as in heir (sorry, I found nothing fitting)

ħ is pronounced as in halo

i is pronounced as the y in policy (of truth) or the e in (personal) Jesus

ie is pronounced as in (nothing to) fear 

j has the consonantal value of the English y in (I feel) you

k is pronounced like in construction (time again)

l is pronounced like in lilian

m is pronounced like in master (and servant)

n is pronounced like in never (let me down again) 

o is pronounced like in condemnation

p is pronounced like in parsley

s is pronounced like in sage

r is pronounced like in rosemary 

t is pronounced like in time (thyme won't work here, sorry)

q i has no corresponding guttural sound in English; it indicates a glottal stop - like when you say "I ate"; the glottal stop happens between "I" and "ate

u is pronounced as in (it's no) good

w is pronounced like in words (are)

v is pronounced like in very (unnecessary)

x is pronounced as sh like in (walking in my) shoes or in shake (the disease)

z is pronounced as ds or ts like in (love in) itself

ż is pronounced as the z in jezebel

If you paid attention you might have noticed that I like Depeche Mode and that there is no y in Maltese (and nobody is missing it, to be honest). And something else you won't find: The combination of two vowels following each other (except with "ie", but as mentioned before, that counts as one). Sometimes you pronounce them, but you don't write them down. An example: "Il-lejla t-tajba" - which means "Good evening" and when spoken, it sounds  il-lejla it-tajba. Because the evening (Leila) is feminine in Maltese, it ends on "a", you have to omit the "i" in "it", as there are no two vowels allowed one after another. Sounds funny, but we have to accept this, I suppose. 

By the way, I found a Spanish word which made its way into Maltese: "pero" which means "but". As one or the other pirate once visited Malta, such things may happen... Oh, and when counting I detected a similarity with German, because in double digits Germans tend to mention the singles before the tens, for example "zweiundfünfzig" instead of "fifty-two". Maltese count similar, as fifty-two is "tnejn u hamsin", where "tnejn" means "two" and "hamsin" is "fifty". We did not yet talk about three digit numbers, though 😆. 

You might have guessed that "u" means "and". We know that from Italian, where you only need one vowel for "and", and that is "e", and in Spanish "and" means just "y". U c,  the "u" is in good European company. 

A Maltese friend told me lately that their language adopted a lot of words from other languages, but they made it Maltese by using their Maltese way of writing it. Here are a few examples:  

"Bonġu" and "bonswa" - You might sense, that this is about saying "good morning" and "good evening" and that they clearly have French roots. Rather informal and independent from the time of day you can always say "ħelow" - exactly,its' origin is the English "hello". And if you want to part and leave, the most simple thing you could use is "ċaw". What could that be? Sure the Italian  "ciao"! "Grazzi" means "thank you" and can't hide its' Italian background. The"furnar" is the baker; and when you order something "al forno" in the pizzeria, you know that this dish was baked in the oven. Therefore, the "furnar" as the guy handling the oven makes perfectly sense. 

Here some vocabulary which might make you smile:

ċips: 

these nasty fried potato sticks

ċikkulata: 

one second on the lips, a lifetime on the hips...

kejk: 

perfect for your afternoon tea (and the lips and hips thing, too)

wejter:     

in a restaurant he serves the kejk or the ċips 

xawer:     

refreshing and cleansing

ġelat:     

frozen balls in a cone (oh boy that sounds weird...)

ġakketta, gwardarobba:     

the former you can wear or put in the latter, if you don't need it 

garaxx, karozza:     

if I own the first thing, the second thing doesn't have to stay out in the rain 

larinġ:     

sunny coloured citrus fruit

sejf:     

for my precioussssss or my treasures

trakk:     

a very large karozza, which doesn't fit in a normal garage

And I bet you know how to pronounce this one here: "ħaxix"... Means veggies or grass...😆

And last but not least something difficult: "Is-sliem għalikom". Which means "peace be with you" - and know you might guess its origin, which is the Arabic "Salaam aleikum". You will here it rather seldomly, but I found it highly fascinating!

With that said: Is-sliem għalikom, Y'all!

And if you're in the mood for some electronic music now, thank me later...  😆