We found the pastizzas!

Hola from the Mediterranean!

Well Audrey and I managed to find a pastizza and man were they good. We each got one of the mushy pea variety and the ricotta cheese. We decided that the mushy pea one sounds gross, but tastes like split pea soup, so really it was delicious. It tasted like something you would have with dinner though, not really something you would have for dessert. The cheese one however could go all ways. I think it was my favorite of the two. But i mean who wouldn't like melted cheese in a flaky pastry. YUM.

p.s. sorry i look like a goon! Between the rain and the pastizza and trying to be coordinated enough to hold the umbrella while eating the pastizza...well it was a challenge..haha

Yesterday morning we all took the morning to sleep in. However, there is some construction going on next door and apparently they think it's a good idea to start at 8 am...so sleeping in failed. But it was a beautiful day, a little windy, but overall warm and sunny. The flat received some new visitors for a couple of days, so while the Luther gang was at class, i welcomed them here and took them for a walk along the water and through Sliema. It felt a little weird to be on the tour guide side of things. I almost feel like i live here. France seems like a long ways off at the moment. I think it'll be hard going back and getting into the swing of things again. Especially that whole speaking French 24/7 thing...

Last night we went to a bar called Simon's just down the block. The owner, Simon, apparently has pretty close connections to the groups who come here each year form Luther and Concordia. It's even gotten to the point where he has t-shirts from both schools! He's a very lively character, always cracking jokes and dressing up in weird outfits. It was a good place to finally try the local Cisk beer. It was better than the local soda, Kinnie. Much better. I had heard they were similar, but after an official tasting i can say that i approve.

This afternoon we are going to a place called the Blue Grotto. It's a natural arch built into the cliffs on the southeast side of the island. It sounds like it should be really cool. There are also some old temples nearby that we are going to check out as well. Apparently they are the best preserved temples on the island. I think they date back to 3000 BC, which is just so ridiculously old. It's a hard concept to grasp on to. There's only one bus that runs out towards these things, so we'll see how well that works. As you've seen in the previous blogs, the buses are always questionable here in Malta. We're kind of just playing the day by ear to see how things go. Spotaneous days with no concrete plans are my favorite. I like adventures.

Today is also the start of Karnival in Malta. So there are lots of decorations going up everywhere, especially in Valetta where most of the events take place. We don't quite know what it's all about, but we do know that it gets crazy around here. There are a lot of dancing competitions, and people dress up in masks and costumes, with the goal of being unrecognizable. We kind of think Karnival is equivalent to Halloween at home, except that it's not supposed to be scary, just crazy. We'll go check out the festivities in Valetta either later tonight or tomorrow morning before i leave. There is also something called a Karnival cake, which is a big deal around this time of year that we want to try to find before i leave as well.

I probably won't get a chance to fill you in on the next couple of days until I'm back in Nantes, so I hope all is well with everyone! Love and miss you all!

Kelsey :)