Puppies at the dog shelter

Sorry my post is a bit late this week, my mum came to visit so I was busy showing her around Malta (I'll put a post up about it over the weekend).


My housemate and I volunteer at a dog shelter on Monday mornings and this week there were two puppies there!!

They were soooo cute and playful. It was definitely a two person job to clean out their kennel, as one person had to keep them occupied so the other could clean.

When I'm away from home I miss my dog a lot. Visiting the shelter really helps, especially when I get lots of hugs.

  

The beautiful view of Marsaxlokk, on the walk to the shelter. In the Maltese language, 'x' is pronounced as 'sh' so it's pronounced 'Marsa-shlock'. Its a really pretty fishing village.







J :)

Carnival weekend

The week running up to pancake day in Malta and Gozo is one massive party. I didn't realise how good these events were until I went to see them for myself. The floats were big, the costumes were bright and the atmosphere was amazing. The perfect way to celebrate the end of exams woop woop!!

Last Saturday I got the ferry over to Gozo for the first time; it is very different to Malta as it's more rural, whereas Malta is very built up. In the  afternoon/ evening I went to a dance show that was put on by classes from different schools. Each had a different theme such as seasons, films/ Disney and Native Americans. All the kids did really well; the younger kids were cute in their flower costumes and the older kids put on a funny performance based around the London Olympics.

Dance show in Gozo

Then it was time to get ready for the street party!! This was very much for older teens/ people in their twenties. I had never been to anything like this before; floats were going down the road, everyone was dressed up (some more controversial than others) and the bars were outside.

Monday afternoon I was waiting for the bus back home, after going to Marsaxlokk, with my friend when we heard music; we went to check it out and managed see the parade in Floriana (next to Valletta). These were stunning!! Massive florescent coloured floats were travelling around blasting music with people in elaborate costumes dancing on them!!

Parade in Floriana

All in all in was a great experience and I would highly recommend going if you get the chance - Malta certainly know how to celebrate.

We started our semester two modules at uni on pancake day and didnt get home till late (lectures here can be any time between 8am and 8pm). We made pancakes before we went and heated them up when we got back, then played a game of rummy-cub. Perfect end to a good weekend.

J :)

Year abroad in Malta

I'm living in Malta!!

If someone had told me a year ago that I'd be living abroad I wouldn't have believed them.

It was a really spur of the moment decision to come out here. I was sitting in a revision lecture last march when we were told there were still some spaces left for a study year abroad in Malta. Me and the three friends I was with just looked at each other, this sounded like such a good idea. After the lecture we spoke to the guy in charge and he said that the places were ours if we wanted them. So in under two hours we had decided to move abroad for a year! This is something I never imagined myself doing, and it seemed  really out of my comfort zone, but with my friends by my side I couldn't wait to embark on this adventure. 

Less than six months later we moved to this beautiful sunny island and have loved every minute of it so far (apart from the coursework and exams but then that is the reason we're out here, so can't complain too much).

After living out here for just over four months we have grown to love it very much, I will definitely be sad to leave at the end and will come back to visit as often as I can. 

Valletta, Malta's capital city.

J :)