Like MJ - I wanna be starting something

I woke to the sound of drilling today. Right below my window. Apparently there was some sort of work that needed to be done on the street in front of my apartment and today was the day. I took a picture and a video clip of the noise but I haven't loaded them yet. It made it tough to watch The Golden Girls with my coffee this morning but I struggled through!

I don't think I've posted yet on the cafe across the way from my window. I know it's in my fieldnotes and I kind of forget what I've said where. But anyway - there's a cafe across the way and it's normally run by these 2 younger dudes and is a lot more "traditional" in the sense that they don't seem to cater to the tourists they way the one below me does. They also don't care that the square is a shared space and they act like they own the whole square. Today they decided they didn't like the sound of the drilling (which was being done by a friend of theirs actually) and so they kept yelling over it and imitating the sound of the drill. They kept this up over the sound of the drilling AND the club music they pump from noon until 1 for at least 20 minutes. Eventually the guy drilling gave up and went for siesta while the dudes at the cafe settled into their 1pm Maltese SOAP OPERA that they couldn't hear because of the drill. hahaha - talk about machismo!

I had my interview with George today which went....well, it went. I'd forgotten that it takes him awhile to get comfortable with his English, relax and just answer questions without being concerned about what he sounds like. So by the time he loosened up, I was done. But the good news is that he gave me the contact information for one of the marble workers he uses for tombstones, and said he'd introduce me or that I could name-drop. He also told me he'd take me to the store where he sells coffins sometime next week. After a cappuccino and writing some notes about the interview I decided to put on my big girl pants and head back over to the religious artifact store.

It turns out that Mykelena (Kelena for short) is very friendly and was only too happy to talk to me. We talked for an hour about funerals, her store, her volunteer work, her son who carves statues for Festas who she wants me to meet, and a bunch of other things. After awhile my head was spinning with too many details so I asked her if I could come back tomorrow to talk with her some more. She said yes and said she'd talk to her son to see if he'll let me check out his studio while I'm here. I'd forgotten how friendly Gozitans are once you crack the outer surface. It made me feel so good to have taken the plunge and talked to her. Hopefully it will lead to other connections as well.

Crap - speaking of Connections - this place is closing. Better run.