My Maltese Adventure 2015: June 2015

Friday, 12 June 2015

Week 19: The beginning of goodbyes!

This week has involved a lot of endings and it’s just beginning to hit me that I only have a limited amount of time left of my Malta Adventure! It’s scary how fast time has flown whilst being here and that five months ago I was in the midst of preparing to begin my adventure.

Saying goodbye to Olive

The first of the goodbyes was to our placement school. Having missed our teaching practice at home there was no doubt that when the opportunity to visit a Maltese school came up I took it! Despite the stress, pressure and high work load involved during teaching practice, I have always enjoyed it. Working with children has always given me a sense of satisfaction by being able to help them to grow as individuals. The positive impact you can have as a teacher has always appealed to me and is the main reason why I am pursuing teaching as my career. Although I didn't have many days of placement I still got to know some of the children and enjoyed seeing their individual characteristics come out in different ways.

On Thursday Rachel and I handed in all of our assignments, one of the best feelings ever! Bushnell is correct when he said “the ultimate inspiration is the deadline.” Having the deadline of our friend Gillian arriving on Friday, kept us motivated as we worked hard to ensure all our assignments would be finished and handed in so that we would have all our time to spend with her. To celebrate handing these all in we went to Marsaxlokk to have lunch and then on to St Peter’s Pool, to enjoy a relaxing afternoon sunbathing and swimming in the Mediterranean Ocean.

Swimming in the Mediterranean Ocean!!

St Peter's Pool

The next afternoon we arrived at the airport (my 13^th time being there!!) and greeted Gillian. As she had just finished her PGCE and to reward ourselves for all our hard work on our assignments we arranged that we would have a massage and relaxing afternoon at the spa! Each of us thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, a perfect way to catch up on all we had missed over the past couple of months and a great way to rest ourselves for the rest of our jammed packed agenda! In just 4 days we managed to fit in scuba diving, a trip to the water park, a visit to see St Paul’s Island, a boat trip to the Blue Lagoon, a tour around Gozo, dinner at Mdina and of course not forgetting a visit to the capital city Valletta.

St Paul's Island

The three amigos

Just after our boat trip

Our last night at Mdina

Introducing Gillian to my favourite ice-cream shop!

However at the end of these 4 days I had to say goodbye to my main Malta buddy Rachel as she was travelling home with Gillian! I have spent the last 19 weeks doing pretty much everything with this girl and it felt very strange travelling home from the airport by myself and coming back to a half empty room. Proverbs chapter 17 verse 17 states that “a friend loves at all times.” I can truly say this of Rachel’s friendship to me as she has always been there for me during this experience, through both the good and difficult times.

Saying goodbye to Rachel

Thursday, 11 June 2015

Week 18: A Maltese Dining Experience

After a busy week of exploring with Rachel’s parents last week it was time to get back to completing and finishing off our assignments this week, especially as deadlines are fast approaching and we have a friend coming to visit us next week.

One of our first deadlines is for a module titled, 'Children in Society.' I have found these classes very interesting as we have studied how children are affected by the environment they are brought up in and the impacts this can have on their education and achievement levels. The assessment for this module gave Rachel and myself the opportunity to work in a group along with another Maltese classmate, Jasmine. We were given a range of topics to focus our essay on, we decided on 'The Effects of Poverty on Children in Society.' This assignment has been quite different to what I have been used to as I have never co-written an assignment before and have never had the freedom to choose the title of my essay, however I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the opportunities it has opened up, learning more about my own country and Malta as we compared the impacts of poverty on both during the essay.

On Friday night Jasmine invited us to her house to add some final touches to our assignment. To reward us for all our hard work her mum was very kind and made us an amazing 3 course traditional Maltese dinner! Although I have already had the opportunity to try some traditional Maltese cuisine it was great to have someone to explain the background to the dishes. I was truly shocked by the spread of food her mum had prepared! To start with we had 3 different types of goats cheese, pastizzis, (which Rachel and myself have come to love, despite their negative health impacts!) snails, (which I was shocked to find that I really enjoyed!) and bruschetta, to name only a few! During the main we enjoyed the Maltese special of rabbit, cooked in several different ways and a pasta dish. We finished the meal with a Maltese take on a bread pudding dessertwhich was washed down with Malta’s 2 exclusive drinks- Kinnie and Cisk.

The dining experience was a great break from essay writing and saved Rachel and myself from having to rummage through our cupboard to find something to cook. The family were so hospitable and made us feel right at home, having even invited my parents around when they come to visit me! The experience has encouraged me to always be welcoming and friendly to others. It is not only a generous and compassionate deed to offer to others, but it also lets you see how other people live, offering you a first-hand account of their culture, traditions and values. As Jasmine has applied to study at Stranmillis next semester as part of her own Erasmus experience, I look forward to returning the favour and letting her try some traditional Northern Irish delights like wheaten bread, champ, fifteens and not of course not forgetting our famous Ulster fry!