Aches, Pains and Malta

Just in case you wanted an update on my ankle, it's still in pain, probably because I am VERY bad at doing what I'm told to do.  And I am VERY bad at being patient.  I hope I'll be able to make a trip to Berlin fairly soon, but there's a while before I go, so now I am really trying to obey the physio in every detail and simply not be my usual headstrong self.  

Meanwhile, I've been looking through old slides which T. has kindly been scanning for me. I stopped taking slides about 12 years ago and in some ways I'm sorry. The colours are slightly more muted than digital pictures, but when projected, the range of tones is far more subtle.  Since I have hardly been anywhere or done anything this month, I thought you'd like to see a few of the slides I took in Malta when I was on assignment for Islands Magazine about fifteen years ago, and hear some of my rather rambling thoughts about the place.

If  you have read this blog for a long time you'll know I moved from Belfast to Malta when I was 17, so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, to see how things had changed.  To my surprise, they hadn't changed quite as much as I'd expected they would.  

So, these are boatman in Senglea, a district of Valletta.  

These boatmen are (or were) incredibly tough and strong and these ones had been involved in some way with the Regatta which takes place in Grand Harbour twice a year, when teams of boatmen are pitched against each other. It's a tremendous event and lots of fun.  This boat's similar to the traditional Maltese "dghajsa" water taxi (below - not my picture) though as you see it is  not the same.

When I first saw Malta, there were usually working dghajjes in every harbour, but now they're really just a tourist attraction. A shame because they are beautiful and colourful.

And I can't tell you how exactly how to pronounce "dghajsa" (I say "DY-SA"). Maltese is an interesting language, and looks as if it is very difficult to read. I think it was probably originally written in Arabic, as  it is a blend of Arabic and Italian.  Here is a documentary starting with a beautiful dance sequence narrated in Maltese,  so you can hear this interesting language.

If you speak North African Arabic, or Italian, you can probably understand most of the rest of the documentary too. Nothing shows better than the Maltese language just how much this tiny island has been a cultural crossroads for centuries.     

I don't know how much Malta makes of its culture to visitors, but essentially the feel of the place is very much Southern Mediterranean,  not North African.  Each village has its annual "festa"  centering around the Virgin Mary, and the fireworks are truly spectacular.  I've seen many wonderful Disney fireworks shows, but they look quite tame compared with some of the elaborate displays you see in little Maltese villages.  Here are some preparations for giant displays of Catherine wheels in Mosta - do you see the men on the left fixing all the fireworks on the frameworks? 

 When these structures burn, they make a sequence of beautiful ever-changing shapes in the dark. 

Malta has 30-odd small fireworks factories which sometimes blow up, as there was, and perhaps still is, a very laid back attitude to safety around fireworks. Below, you might be able to see that the crowds clustered right around the frames, although we did have to stand back when the fireworks were lit.   Sorry about the high contrast - that's one of the problems with scanned slides, I guess.  The atmosphere was very exciting and full of happiness. 

So the fireworks were as good as ever, but on this trip I was also eager to see the buses again.  During my teenage years, each bus route had its own distinctive colours, so you could immediately see which bus was yours.  Our route had green and white livery. The buses were of various vintages, and each belonged to one particular driver, who decorated it to suit himself.   They were really quite remarkable and I hoped they hadn't been scrapped.

On the trip for "Islands" I saw that the colours had been standardised to orange and yellow, which seemed a bit pointless to me,  but the buses were still very distinctive, and nearly always beautifully kept and clearly well loved as individuals. 

Decorated inside, too. 

I remember on our bus route when I was young one bus had the message written over the door: "GOD IS WATCHING, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WEAR!" which seemed to be directed just at teenagers. 

Now, they have modern buses in Malta.   I know things have to change, but it's kind of sad. I wonder if the drivers still sit to one side of their seat, so St. Christopher can sit next to them.

I do have many more pictures of Malta, not all of them scanned, but I think this is enough for now, and I hope you've enjoyed seeing them and hearing my thoughts on them. 

And, oh, I forgot to say that I also have developed a dental problem.  Our practice has recently been taken over, and I needed a  molar crowned, but within hours of my new dentist fitting the temporary crown, it came off again. The other dentist in the practice tried to re-fit it, but found that it came off again immediately.

He decided there was something wrong with the temporary, and made another, which was fine. But when my own dentist came to fit the permanent crown, she had difficulty as it didn't seem to fit. She tried to blame the other dentist for creating problems (!) and somehow got the permanent one in, and it didn't feel right. Somehow she managed to get it to seem OK, it wasn't hitting the one below, but after she cemented it in, I found that something about the alignment is wrong when I am actually eating. My lower tooth puts terrific pressure on one edge of the new crown. It feels like I'm constantly biting on something too hard.   I know if it continues I'll develop neuralgia, so I'll have to go back on Monday. This time I hope to get the other dentist, and I sure hope he can fix this.

After that, I think I'll be moving to another dental practice.  

Enjoy Your Visit! ... and Memories of Malta

Couldn't believe this was a genuine sign when I came across it in a London park.  But it is.

Now what else could I add to the list?  How about this one:

"Just don't come here at all" ?

Actually it was quite a nice park, and perhaps better for not having all those things done in it - who knows?

I mightn't hurry back to that particular park, but one place I WOULD like to be is exploring the incredible fortifications of Grand Harbour, Valletta,  Malta.  I've just written a little piece about the island, and it reminded me so much of what it used to be like when I lived there as a teenager. What fun it was clambering around these huge ramparts - probably quite dangerous at times, but I didn't think about that.

My dad worked in the big building shown in the picture - it's called the Auberge de Castille.   It was very grand.  We would go to balls there occasionally. For a teenager it was rather amazing, and distinctly Edwardian, dancing quadrilles, believe it or not) wearing long evening dresses,  in these vast, grand, wood panelled rooms. (Er, what century was that, again?)

If I could walk into that old picture I'd be able to go and visit my dad at the Castille. Then I could catch the huge rattly lift down to the launch, and go back by sea to the lido near our house, and my mum would be there, pruning the grape vines or something..

Sigh, oh well, those times are gone. I am glad I had the chance to do it, though. Malta's got a lot more developed since those days, and I'm glad I knew it when the dghajsas and luzzu (traditional boats) were used every day, and not just for tourists,

(Photo  www.triporiginator.com)

....and donkeys were used to work the stony farms and we'd go and idle away hot afternoons with lemon granitas and cheese pies from the venerable Caffe Cordina.  

It was a hard life for most people,  though and I imagine most Maltese people prefer it the way it is now.  I went back more than ten years ago to write a feature on it for an American magazine, and I was pleased that so much remained unchanged, although I doubt anyone dances quadrilles any more.

In fact I can hardly believe that we did it then. But we did. While searching for a clip I found this, which I think is quite brilliant.    I love to see him changing partners, advancing, etc. all by himself.  Actually when danced for real (rather than extra-carefully as a "historical dance") it's lots of fun.