Hey
So I'm trying to be better about writing, so here we go. After Malta, well I went back to work. The night I got back I got to see Chris, Matt, Amanda, Nick, Sammi, and Victoria. We went out. I didn't even go back to my place first, I just went to Sammi's and we went from there. They were impressed. Kathleen texted me asking if I was ever coming home. I did go home eventfully. It was good to see the though. I feel like my core group of friends is Jenny, Victoria, Chris, and Sammi. Amanda and Matt are basically there too.
The biggest thing that happened was Mike Denton came to visit. Yes, I'm not seeing him, but he lives so far away. Hopefully, he'll move closer. Victoria and Amanda liked him though (SCORE) all is good. We facebook constantly and when I start twitching I'll text him. I need therapy.
Jenny's back too!!! She got stuck in Malta because of the volcano ash. Hahah. Kathleen and MT got stuck in Greece so I had the place to myself for another two days. It was golden. I got to stay up late and watch the Avalanche games, go to bed about 6am and wake up around noon.
I went out with Jenny, Victoria, Amanda, and Nick last night as a welcome home Jenny get together. Victoria and I ended up at Lloyds until they closed just talking about our stories. I have to send her parts of mine.
But basically, nothing really has been going on. I work all the time, but somehow it only adds up to 20 hours a week. I'm heading to work in about an hour even though today is my day off. Er.
Oh there was one thing. We did a quiz night at the club on Saturday and I worked it. I got way too excited during two of the questions. The first one was, "Who hosts the show QI?" I was basically jumping and mouthing, "I'm seeing on May 4! I'm seeing it on May 4!" And the other question was, "What is the national emblem of the United States." Steve let me say the answer. I was very excited. Helen and John brought Archie (their cute little dog. I usually don't like small dogs, but he's cute) so in one of the breaks John came to the bar to get his Stella and I gave him a bowl of water for Archie. I was over at their table and trying to get one of the answer sheets, but Mike was holding onto it. I said, "Second call, sheet please." But I was ignored so Archie barked and that got his attention. Good Archie!
Well quick post, but I should go to start getting ready for work. Need to shower.
26 April 2010
17 April 2010
Malta- Last two days
So let me continue Malta. Friday was cool. Max drove Jenny and I around since somebody doesn't have a license. I got an offer to drive, but I declined because of the other side of the road thing and I don't know my way around Malta. I'm not sure I could do the whole move to the side of the road to let someone by thing either... I am the most important person when I'm on the road. Everyone should be getting out of my way. Anyway.
A few generalizations about Malta. Do not be insulted Jenny. Everywhere there are small roads barely big enough for a car to drive down, the buildings are tan and made of stone except where it was bombed and replaced with white. The bus system is third world, the bus stops just say BUS STOP and not what buses stop there or when. The buildings, to the average American, need a little cleaning and new Coke signs if sponspored by the company. But I loved it. It was very Meditterean and different from what I'm used to. Like England, it's full of roundabouts, but unlike England has arches in the middle of the road that cars can drive through. When we were on the bus, it went around the arch. Most of the roads are okay though the car did hate us when we were going to the Limestone Place and the road was well worse than the roads leading to the cottage, just not sand.
The Limestone buildings were cool, and said to be older than Stonehedge. They put big dome tents over them and unlike Stonehedge you can get really close to them. They are roped off too, but have walkways built so you can go through them. Jenny said you used to be able to touch them, but no longer. I saw an island/rock off the coast, it reminded me of the island/Azkaban fort thing in Casco Bay. We had lunch in a very pretty town in Malta, but it was soooo windy that I was actually cold.
(Picture of the stones)
(Second building right by the water)
Friday was also the geekiest day I've had in awhile. Max said something, Jenny had a nice retort but was a little crude, so Max replied, "Oh Potter you rotter." But stopped, so in the back, I continued, "Oh what have you done? You're killing off students, you think it's great fun." Heheh. And then later, Max started singing the Hobbit drinking song from Fellowship of the Ring and Jenny and I started singing with her. Yep, three geeks together is a dangerous thing.
That night, we went to a house party. It was a low keyed event, but it was so much fun. I met a kid who was born in Malta, but lived in St. Louis for 10-15 years. We heard some great 80's music, they had VH1 on so good music and weird videos. One of her friends makes jewerely so I ended up buying a pair of earrings that I thought were cute.
After spending an hour or two by the pool on Saturday morning, I went to the airport. Jenny's mom drove me. We had a nice lunch at the airport pub and then went upstairs. Now I'm always worried about getting places on time, but because it was Malta and Jenny flies back to London all the time, I believed them when they said it would take 5 minutes to get to my gate. We get upstairs... wow, it looked more like Heathrow or Boston than Malta. I'm still not sure why. I did online check-in, so all I had to do was give them my bag, but that took 40 minutes and I ended up getting on the plane like 10 minutes before we took off. So when my bag wasn't in London, I can't say I was shocked. But I didn't expect it to take two days to get to me. Poor bag. I also got detained at Heathrow...again. The guy I talked to said he was going to try and have my visa problems removed from my record or I will get stopped every time I fly. YEAH! Doesn't that sound like fun.
So that was Malta. Good times. I'm so glad I went.
A few generalizations about Malta. Do not be insulted Jenny. Everywhere there are small roads barely big enough for a car to drive down, the buildings are tan and made of stone except where it was bombed and replaced with white. The bus system is third world, the bus stops just say BUS STOP and not what buses stop there or when. The buildings, to the average American, need a little cleaning and new Coke signs if sponspored by the company. But I loved it. It was very Meditterean and different from what I'm used to. Like England, it's full of roundabouts, but unlike England has arches in the middle of the road that cars can drive through. When we were on the bus, it went around the arch. Most of the roads are okay though the car did hate us when we were going to the Limestone Place and the road was well worse than the roads leading to the cottage, just not sand.
The Limestone buildings were cool, and said to be older than Stonehedge. They put big dome tents over them and unlike Stonehedge you can get really close to them. They are roped off too, but have walkways built so you can go through them. Jenny said you used to be able to touch them, but no longer. I saw an island/rock off the coast, it reminded me of the island/Azkaban fort thing in Casco Bay. We had lunch in a very pretty town in Malta, but it was soooo windy that I was actually cold.
(Picture of the stones)
(Second building right by the water)
Friday was also the geekiest day I've had in awhile. Max said something, Jenny had a nice retort but was a little crude, so Max replied, "Oh Potter you rotter." But stopped, so in the back, I continued, "Oh what have you done? You're killing off students, you think it's great fun." Heheh. And then later, Max started singing the Hobbit drinking song from Fellowship of the Ring and Jenny and I started singing with her. Yep, three geeks together is a dangerous thing.
That night, we went to a house party. It was a low keyed event, but it was so much fun. I met a kid who was born in Malta, but lived in St. Louis for 10-15 years. We heard some great 80's music, they had VH1 on so good music and weird videos. One of her friends makes jewerely so I ended up buying a pair of earrings that I thought were cute.
After spending an hour or two by the pool on Saturday morning, I went to the airport. Jenny's mom drove me. We had a nice lunch at the airport pub and then went upstairs. Now I'm always worried about getting places on time, but because it was Malta and Jenny flies back to London all the time, I believed them when they said it would take 5 minutes to get to my gate. We get upstairs... wow, it looked more like Heathrow or Boston than Malta. I'm still not sure why. I did online check-in, so all I had to do was give them my bag, but that took 40 minutes and I ended up getting on the plane like 10 minutes before we took off. So when my bag wasn't in London, I can't say I was shocked. But I didn't expect it to take two days to get to me. Poor bag. I also got detained at Heathrow...again. The guy I talked to said he was going to try and have my visa problems removed from my record or I will get stopped every time I fly. YEAH! Doesn't that sound like fun.
So that was Malta. Good times. I'm so glad I went.
12 April 2010
Malta
Alright it's Malta time. I wrote a few entries while there, so here's the first one. Written the first night I was there.
Should be sleeping, but thoughts of what I have seen so far are keeping me awake. My first thoughts of Malta: Small. Mix of Greece and Italy. An exotic place full of history.
Jenny's house is quite nice. Looks more like a museum than a house. Outside her window you can see the University and hospital along with the street below that has a wire fence holding in a horse and a deer. Random? A little. The ocean is visible, but you can't smell it. The roads are even smaller than in England as are the cars.
Malta is a cool place in some aspects. Cool from a history point of view that it is still being rebuilt after the Second World War. The Opera House is still in ruins as are a few buildings in Three Cities. Malta is fixing some of the roads though because the Pope is coming next week. Their are signs all over the place announcing his visit.
The first night, we went down to Three Cities. It's by the harbor and a cool part of Malta. Very beautiful. There are churches EVERYWHERE! I heard one for every day of the year, which I actually believe. The old ones have at least two clocks with different times... why you ask? To confuse the devil. Apparently saints have Rolex's. The harbor is full of boats, most of them privately owned and it costs a lot of money to keep your boat there. We went by one beach that was full of foreign students who come to Malta to improve their English. Jenny said that they are all annoying and drinking and partying is code for improving their English. I met Jenny's best friend Max who was IN GLADIATOR!!!!!! She was one of the children sitting on the steps when Lucilla and Commodus ride back into Rome. So have to rewatch that scene and figure out which one is Max.
(Down in Three Cities)
We got dinner and I had pizza (shocker, I know) and then we went to the movies to see Kick Ass. We are a sick culture to laugh at that movie, and yet I did. An 11 year old is killing EVERYONE and it was funny. And for some reason Nicholas Cage was trying to be William Shatner which was hilarious. I met more of Jenny's friends though and I found them pretty cool.
On Thursday, we went to Valletta, which is the capital city. I got to ride on a Malta bus!!! Haha, well I've never ridden one, but it reminded me of an old Southern bus and I thought I'd be seeing Rosa Parks. It was so hot on the bus!!
(Malta bus)
We walked around a little bit, I got postcards to send to Auntie Helen and Grammy and wrote them while sitting in front of the President's House. We went down to the water around St. Elmo's and saw the bell that the British gave to Malta for their help during the War. After that and failing at trying to tan, we went to The Pub. Ollie's Last Pub. Where Oliver Reed died. I sat in his chair! AHHHHHHH! He had a heart attack after multiple bottles of liquid (rum or vodka) and arm wrestling Royal Navy sailors. Hehehe. I signed the book and yes ended it with, "What we do in life echoes in eternity". I had to. Someone else put Strength and Honor.
The pub itself is so cool. It gives a new meaning to the phrase, "Hole in the Wall", because it looked like someone had dug into the stone and set up a bar. The ceiling was jagged and stone like. It was very small maybe six tables and few bar stools. I got served Bulmers from a can. A CAN! I buy cans at Costcutter, but put it in a pint glass and it tastes the same. I was so amused though. On the walls, one side had Oliver Reed pictures and articles from his death and the other side was for the Royal Navy. It is a traditional British pub. There are a lot of regulars and we got to talk to a few.
One guy was from Scotland, from Fife, I believe and he was on the last ship out of Malta when the British left. He's come back and might settle in the area. I have to read up on my Scottish history because we were talking about William Wallace and the other figures from that time and what I learned in Scotland was different from what they were talking about. Ugh. So must do my own research. There was another guy, this one from England, who lived in Canada for awhile and was on the Antarctica Survey Team. That was cool. He was a big guy and he stood up to show me his jacket and nearly fell over. Haha. It was like 4pm. I tried to talk hockey with him, but he just complained about TV timeouts in American sports and how it disrupts the game.
I really enjoyed my time in the pub. Graham was closing early because he's the only one working behind the bar. His wife does help out, but she had an operation so she's recovering. I'm so glad though that Jenny texted him or we would have missed out on the pub. I would have cried.
The weather was okay, warmish but very windy. I had a coat with me at all times.
I'll finish my Malta post tomorrow, I still have Friday and the chaos of going home.
Should be sleeping, but thoughts of what I have seen so far are keeping me awake. My first thoughts of Malta: Small. Mix of Greece and Italy. An exotic place full of history.
Jenny's house is quite nice. Looks more like a museum than a house. Outside her window you can see the University and hospital along with the street below that has a wire fence holding in a horse and a deer. Random? A little. The ocean is visible, but you can't smell it. The roads are even smaller than in England as are the cars.
Malta is a cool place in some aspects. Cool from a history point of view that it is still being rebuilt after the Second World War. The Opera House is still in ruins as are a few buildings in Three Cities. Malta is fixing some of the roads though because the Pope is coming next week. Their are signs all over the place announcing his visit.
The first night, we went down to Three Cities. It's by the harbor and a cool part of Malta. Very beautiful. There are churches EVERYWHERE! I heard one for every day of the year, which I actually believe. The old ones have at least two clocks with different times... why you ask? To confuse the devil. Apparently saints have Rolex's. The harbor is full of boats, most of them privately owned and it costs a lot of money to keep your boat there. We went by one beach that was full of foreign students who come to Malta to improve their English. Jenny said that they are all annoying and drinking and partying is code for improving their English. I met Jenny's best friend Max who was IN GLADIATOR!!!!!! She was one of the children sitting on the steps when Lucilla and Commodus ride back into Rome. So have to rewatch that scene and figure out which one is Max.
(Down in Three Cities)
We got dinner and I had pizza (shocker, I know) and then we went to the movies to see Kick Ass. We are a sick culture to laugh at that movie, and yet I did. An 11 year old is killing EVERYONE and it was funny. And for some reason Nicholas Cage was trying to be William Shatner which was hilarious. I met more of Jenny's friends though and I found them pretty cool.
On Thursday, we went to Valletta, which is the capital city. I got to ride on a Malta bus!!! Haha, well I've never ridden one, but it reminded me of an old Southern bus and I thought I'd be seeing Rosa Parks. It was so hot on the bus!!
(Malta bus)
We walked around a little bit, I got postcards to send to Auntie Helen and Grammy and wrote them while sitting in front of the President's House. We went down to the water around St. Elmo's and saw the bell that the British gave to Malta for their help during the War. After that and failing at trying to tan, we went to The Pub. Ollie's Last Pub. Where Oliver Reed died. I sat in his chair! AHHHHHHH! He had a heart attack after multiple bottles of liquid (rum or vodka) and arm wrestling Royal Navy sailors. Hehehe. I signed the book and yes ended it with, "What we do in life echoes in eternity". I had to. Someone else put Strength and Honor.
The pub itself is so cool. It gives a new meaning to the phrase, "Hole in the Wall", because it looked like someone had dug into the stone and set up a bar. The ceiling was jagged and stone like. It was very small maybe six tables and few bar stools. I got served Bulmers from a can. A CAN! I buy cans at Costcutter, but put it in a pint glass and it tastes the same. I was so amused though. On the walls, one side had Oliver Reed pictures and articles from his death and the other side was for the Royal Navy. It is a traditional British pub. There are a lot of regulars and we got to talk to a few.
One guy was from Scotland, from Fife, I believe and he was on the last ship out of Malta when the British left. He's come back and might settle in the area. I have to read up on my Scottish history because we were talking about William Wallace and the other figures from that time and what I learned in Scotland was different from what they were talking about. Ugh. So must do my own research. There was another guy, this one from England, who lived in Canada for awhile and was on the Antarctica Survey Team. That was cool. He was a big guy and he stood up to show me his jacket and nearly fell over. Haha. It was like 4pm. I tried to talk hockey with him, but he just complained about TV timeouts in American sports and how it disrupts the game.
I really enjoyed my time in the pub. Graham was closing early because he's the only one working behind the bar. His wife does help out, but she had an operation so she's recovering. I'm so glad though that Jenny texted him or we would have missed out on the pub. I would have cried.
The weather was okay, warmish but very windy. I had a coat with me at all times.
I'll finish my Malta post tomorrow, I still have Friday and the chaos of going home.
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