Two Months

11/8
Today officially completes the 2nd month I’ve been in Malta. It also means I now only have 2 weeks left until I head to Belgium! I’ve decided to mark the occasion by posting some random things that I’d hate to forget to tell you in the funeral frenzy I’ve had of late.

· I’ve discovered one “plus” about doing all of my laundry by hand – I haven’t lost one sock in the two months I’ve been here. Not one. I think this fact points a nasty finger in the direction of those fancy washers and dryers if I may say so.

· Another laundry related item – I feel I have to endorse “All: Small and Mighty” – it’s done a great job for me on this trip. I chose it because I wasn’t certain what the laundry sitch would be and I knew I might have to do it by hand. Small & Mighty is technically for the machine but it’s got a note on it that says it’s safe for hand washing. Considering the sensitive skin issues I have, I was concerned about this. But it’s recommended by dermatologists for sensitive skin, and is concentrated for 3x the strength in a little bottle. It’s served me well and I think the whole bottle might see me through to the end of the trip YET still get my clothes nice and clean. I’m considering sending my laundry pictures to All just like one of those cheesy commercials where some lady writes in about leaving her lipstick tube in her pocket. Kidding. Sort of.

· The thing I feared would happen finally came to pass – I fell down the stairs at the Duke. The entrance is actually about eight steps below the main level/ground and they are these marble steps that get slippery anytime it rains. Well today, it rained. I took two steps down and then bam! Slid the rest of the way. I was carrying my computer in my backpack but thankfully it was the kind of fall where your heel goes out from under you and you sort of end up on your bum without much damage. Well – excepting for the bum that is. Thankfully the computer is fine. Also, thankfully, my ego is intact. It just so happens that though the entire front of the mall entrance to the café is clear glass yet I took my spill right behind one of the support columns so no one saw me. Nice!

· Remember when I posted about those two guys that work at the café across the square and how they sort of “owned the place”? Well, here’s an endorsement for longer fieldwork periods. It turns out that I was wrong about one of the dudes. The one that wore the “God is a DJ” t-shirt hasn’t worked there once since those first two weeks. He’s been around the square, that’s for certain – hanging out at Grapes with his friends just about every day around 5pm…watching football games at the place across the way…but he never works there. If I had to post a retraction, my guess would be that he was covering for the other dude while he was on vacation. Just thought I should clarify. Although then again – it’s not like you’d ever know the difference. But still.

· I went to the movies tonight and saw The Proposal. I am happy to report that the Maltese audience loved it. Though it was interesting for me to watch this scene where Ryan Reynolds talks to his Dad about how he doesn’t want to take over the family business while sitting among people who would really be agreeing with the Dad’s character more than Ryan Reynolds. That’s kind of the way it works here in Gozo…your family has a business and you take it over. Your dad was a carpenter, you’re a carpenter. Your mom owned a gift shop, you own a gift shop. Of course, there are more choices today but the principle still remains. Like when I was talking to Tony about whether his children would take over his gift shop and he said he feared they wanted him to open a restaurant for them instead. Same idea, different business. In fact, when I was talking with one of the funeral directors he asked me what my passion was and what kind of business I wanted to own. I told him I wanted to work in a museum and he said something to the effect of, “yes, I understand but where is your heart? Your courage?” He then talked about how he “works” at the hospital but his heart is in his funeral business and how he built it from the small business his father started to what it is today. He asked me, “Don’t you want to have something of your own?”

· So you know how Wisconsin bars and restaurants have adapted for cold weather by adding those sort of plastic entry ways to their front doors? They keep the cold out of the entire place by letting you close the door behind you before you actually enter the main door of the restaurant? Well Grapes Wine Bar has done something similar that I have yet to see at another café so I thought I’d share. The outdoor portions of cafes are open all year long as most places don’t have the seating capacity indoors and the weather is usually nice enough for it. But on days like yesterday and today when it’s windy, it can threaten business. So they’ve also employed plastic. But instead it’s these huge plastic sheets that go about 4 ft high and they stretch them from one sign post to another and essentially wrap them around the café creating their own wall to keep the wind out. It must work – they seem to draw more people on windy days than a lot of other spots.

· I’ve switched from watching TV shows while I eat dinner to playing Mahjong. My sister goes in spurts of being addicted to it and is quite good so I thought I’d give it a shot. Lori, you’ll be happy to know that you will remain Mahjong champion for quite some time. I’m sitting at a 30% “win” rate on the basic turtle board – it’s quite pathetic.

· I know most of my friends from my trip to Gozo last year probably don’t read this but I still need to report that Ben & Jerry’s is no longer in Gozo. It has been replaced by a place called “riri’s.” It still serves Ben & Jerry’s but only in those little pre-made quarts and not in the scoops. The scoops are straight up gelato. Bummer! I know Rhys would be so disappointed.

· I ran into Ted again at the Duke Saturday. He told me he’s not coming to change my linens until next Friday even though it’s already been 2 weeks since the last time. He’s apparently heading to Scotland for three weeks to visit his son so he wanted to do it right before he left. He returns from Scotland the same day I return from Copenhagen…I hope we don’t end up on the same Air Malta flight.

· I haven’t had as many weird dreams lately though it’s still been very tough for me to get to sleep at night. Friday nightI laid there until about 4:30 just staring at the ceiling. I’ve never had a problem like this before and I hope it goes away when I return home.

Speaking of…it’s technically bedtime so I’m going to give it a shot.