Week 14: Holidaying in Malta

This weekend my brother and his wife have to come to Malta for the week. I have been truly blessed by the number of people coming out to visit me in Malta and was glad to see my new visitors as I had felt a bit homesick earlier during the week. They are staying in Bugibba which reminds me of the town Portstewart back home as it also has a promenade with lots of tourist shops, restaurants and ice-cream shops. Every year Malta has a fireworks festival which lasts for a week to celebrate their accession into the European Union and it happened to finish in Bugibba the day Stephen and Emma arrived. The festival has gained a big reputation for itself with Maltese and international companies competing against each other for different prizes which resulted in an amazing fireworks display!

Amazing fireworks display!

My new visitors for the week!

Malta is known to have the most bank holidays in the European Union and Friday brought forth our 5^th bank holiday since being here in Malta. It celebrates Labour Day which is also known as May Day and is celebrated all over the world, despite some countries including Northern Ireland celebrating it on Monday instead. It also coincides with Malta joining the European Union in 2004 and the feast of St Joseph the worker. This was specifically celebrated in the area we live in, Birkirkara by the ringing of bells and letting off of cannons in local masses.

The local chapel

The weather here has definitely started to get a lot warmer even within this week, with the highest this week being a rather hot 29 degrees! With this only being the start of May and the beginning of summer temperatures will continue to rise, with the hottest temperature to be recorded being 44 degrees which was recorded in the shade in August 1999. This Sun-Tropical Mediterranean climate has resulted in schools taking a whole 3 months off school for summer holidays. There has been some debate about the length of this holiday as neighbouring countries with similar climates don’t have as long as a break and still manage. The large break means a lot of time is spent at the start of the term recapping on what children have previously learnt, therefore adding to the time lost during summer, where children are only in school for approximately 7 and a half months of the year, of which the school day is only 5 hours long. As a result this had led to a lot of children being privately tutored for revision over the summer months and to help them keep with a full syllabus and lack of teaching time throughout the year. Grech (2010) suggests that the school day should be lengthened in order to at least accommodate for the busy curriculum. Others including many parents call for shorter summers as this will reduce pressures on them to plan and pay for childcare whilst also ensuring their children aren’t wasting their time away playing video games etc.

Feels like more than 27 degrees to me!