Fredag 05. juli 1996
Tilbake til hele juli 1996 Tilbake til hovedsiden Ett r siden
04. Juli 1996 |
06. Juli 1996  |
| Sted: | Malta/Gozo |
Marius:This was going to be really one of those great weekends on Malta. It most of all reminded me of all the crazy things we do in the committee in Oslo. First, it was work. Thomas (German) and Adrian (Northern Ireland) had got the Friday off, so they went quite early to Gozo. I met them just as I set off for work. As usual, I had to wear a shirt and tie for work, but luckilly I start quite late, 8:30, and ths means that I am the last to leave the apartment (we are 5 people living here right now), and get the bathroom to myself for some time every morning.I walked to work, as usual, it is just 5 minutes walk down from Lija to Balzan. When I got there, Charles who is responsible for the economic part of Terranet said that I had to go to Valetta to register, and get my work permit, and at the same time, Chris told me that The two of us and Kurt would have quite a lot to do this morning, we were going to install a leased line from us to an internet cafe which YMCA is setting up in Valetta. In addition to this, we had to create mirror hard drives of or main servers, to have in case of a breakdown, plus a couple of other things. Suddenly, Max (Marcell) told me that he had some errands in Valetta this morning, and that he would drive me down to Floriana and Valetta to get all my formalities over with. So off we went. Max, just like everybody in Malta, is an experience to drive with. As my boss told me the first Friday, when we went out for lunch, driving in Malta consists of a few simple rules; 1. There are no rules 2. See rule number 1 3. Drive in the shade To this I could add myself 4. Hoot if there's something you like / don't like / want / don't want / see / want to inform about/ or just for fun. So, after a typical Maltese ride, we finally ended up in Floriana. Here we had to drive around a bit to get a parking spot, and the go to the "Alien Office", where we ended up in a queue behind a bunch of stupid foreigners who were reigistering for something. The Office was quite different from what I imagine it wolud be in Norway. There were lots of shelves with binders wih names on them, like "Tanzania" and "Ready work permits" etc. In the middle of the room were three government officials in police uniforms, typing up thingsafter the famous "SFP" method (search-find-press), typical Maltese... When it was Our turn, the girl looked at the papers Max had brought, went over to the binder marked "IAESTE" (wow!) and fornd that yes, IAESTE Malta had already applied for my work permit and permission to stay, so it was just getting a stamp in the passport, and a couple of papers which were to be signed by various offices. Ok, and off we go to the next office. It was also in Floriana. When two offices in Mata are in the same Village, it usually means they are in the same block, villages in Malta are really that small. So, this was the tax-office. Also here, they had an IAESTE/AIESEC binder (yes, she didn't even have to search for it. Max started to sound impressed... And, it even said that I didn't have to pay any tax if I stayed in Malta for less than 6 months. Off ew go to Valetta. The time was approaching 12, and we were driving around and around in Valetta trying to find somewhere to park the car. Max said that Valetta was so full of historic places that couldn't be demolished, that it was not possible to build a car park. Too bad. In Valetta,we first went to pay the insurance on the company car, then another signature on my papers, from the national insurance office, and finally out to pay for the road tax. It was quite some running around, and this was, I think, the first violation I have observed of the rule "Maltese people are never in a hurry, except when driving". Max was really rushing around, but on the way, he had time to point out a couple of interresting things, like the Mediterranean hall which was used by the Knights of St.John as a hostel, The remains of one of Europes most beautiful opera houses, demolished during the 2nd world war, And the Presidential Palace, where the Parilament is now. We also needed a short stop to look at some new clip-on glasses for Max, the old ones were falling appart. Max didn't fancy the ones they had, and would rather go to Barkiri the next morning. On our way back to the car (a little more relaxed, all the errands were settled), Max invited me to a drink, and we had something for me quite unusual, it was almond squash, (white) with a drop of raspberry(?) on the bottom to create a nice pinkish color. It was very nice ndrefreshing. On the way, we also passed by YMCA, and had a look ay the site for the internet cafe. They were actually covering the wallswith quite a thick layer of Rockwool. Tis seemed quite hot to me, but it was obviously to stop the soud, rather than keep the place warm. It was very unfinished, and Max was a litle conserned about the heat, and whether the airconditioning ould be good enough. He was assured that it would be all right. The ride back was not quite as rough, and we arrived there just in time for lunch. Every Friday, we usually go out for lunch in a restaurant. We went to Rabat, or actually on the border to the old capital of Malta, Mdina. There wsa quite a nice Pizzeria there, with a magnificient view over Malta. Anywhere you go on Malta, if you climb a hill, you can allways see the sea, it's not a very big island. In the car, Jean Paul had explained the rules for lunch, No talking about women, because he (JP) is married, and no talk about technical things. This would rule out about any possible subject we could think of, so Jean Paul, Chris and Max started an energetic discussion about being married (Max is also married). Kurt was trying to hang on to the discussion, but most of it was just not my topic at all. The food was very nice, I ordered maltese pizza, But first we had garlic bread, also on request from Jean Paul. The pizza was with maltese cheese, maltese sausage and boiled eggs, which ws quite unusual for me, but it tasted OK. LM 3.50 was a little more thn I had expected, but I'm only in Malta once... The lunch really took it's time, so, after going back to the office, I ddidn't get very much done before the clock started approaching 5. I was about half the way through a job involving a crash course in using a gas powered soldering iron, when I realised this. I thought that I had to finish the soldering of an extensin for the telephone we use in the big computer room at Terranet before leaving for the weekend. If you have evver tried to solder as fast as you can, you'll get an Idea... at 5:10 I rushed out and back to the residence, where I had only a very short time before we were going to Gozo, and I had to pack all my stuff. At 17:30, I was ready and in the reception waiting for the others. Of course, this took about 15 minutes, as Kevin (Irish) had been late, and everybody had to wait for him. The 45 but went up Naxxar Road, just a few minutes walk from the University Residence (where we were staying). Of course, we had to argue which stop was the nearest, and Sioux (Susan fra Canada) had to borrow the 11 cent for the bus to Marfa, and Erika (Chile/Canada) had to run after the bus, banging it to make it stop, before we were on our way. Busses in Malta are quite a sight in themselves. the busdriver owns his own bus, and he has it decorated to his own taste, which means that there are not two identical busses. On the outside, they are usually customized to lokk like a classic car, which is quite funny. Inside, it may range from katholic to classic car to modern. But, all of them have in common that the drivers drive like Maltese... The bus trip was nice, though. From the very densely populated area around Balzan/Lija/Naxxar out into the countryside. Marietta wanted to follow the route on the map, so I lent her mine. We went through Mosta, with the world's largest "real" dome (whatever that means), to San Pawl il-Bahar (Saint Pauls Bay), A real holiday resort, up the hill to Mellia, and down into Meliha bay, a very large sandy beach, must be ideal for tourists, and other bathers. On the other side again, we climbed up in Marfa Ridge (second gear.... first gear...nghh..). As we came over the top we could see... Gozo! and Comino. It was really such a short distance, I had though it would much further away. Actually, I don't think there would have The ferry departed from Marfa Point, and it was just about to leave when we arrived. We barely had time to run up to a kiosk and buy a can of the local lager; Cisk. Well on board, I was supprised that nobody payed, I expected this to be quite expensive, ~1 LM. But we learned that people allways pay on the way back only they usually go the same way going back. The ferry trip was nice andfor the first time (but by far not the last) thecamerascame out, and we got some (hopefully) nice shots of Gozo, Comino and Malta. Sue fell for a small boy (6-7 years) who got really anoyed with Marietta, because she was drumming on the rail. Then, after arriving in Mgarr in Gozo (There is another one in Malta), we had to find some more means of transportation. We asked a bus driver how toget to Xlendi, and he said that busses to Xlendi stop going around 18:00. This was bad news, and therewere thousands of suggestions for what to do. Adrian and Thomas were awaiting us at the Moby Dickrestaurnt in Xlendi at 8 o'clock, so we didn't have to much time. We ended up deciding that if we got to Victoria (Gozian Capital, where all busses start), then We would be much nearer to our goal, and we could even walk if nothing else. From Mgarr, there was nother steep hill up, and after a relatively short ride, we were in Victoria (Gozo is SMALL). On the way, We pass Xewkija, where the dome is supposed to me one of the tallest in the world... Well there, Erika and Kevin actually managed to convince the busdriver to take us all the way to lendi, for some "black money". (People in Malta really don't want to pay VAT, except when they are forced, when there are ticket controls on the busses, it is just as much to check the drivers as to checkt the passengers). Erika even managed to do a good piece of haggeling, the busdriver wanted LM1 per person, but she got it down to 42.8 Cent :-) And, I must say, Adrian and Thomas were very supprised to see us on time at "Moby Dick", as they had had to take a Taxi from Victoria, and had paid about LM1.50 each. They had been around in Gozo quite a bit, and seen the temples, and argued with the busdrivers, who most of the time absolutely refuse to speak english. In Xlendi, we decided to have dinner before going to the appartment. So, we all sat down outside at Moby Dick. The menu is just like the usual Maltese menus. They have quite cheap pasta and pizza, and some often some specialities which are slightly more expencive (Not by Norwegian standards, though). I had had the huge lunch, so I just joined in on a couple of bottles of "House Wine" which was actually quite good. Wen we sat there eating (and drinking), a curious looking gentleman approaced us, and obviously wanted to sell us a boat trip around the island of Gozo, with a stop at Comino. I thought this sounded really good, so I made it clear that we were interrested. He said that the normal price for the excurson was LM7, but since we were 20 people (some people from IAESTE Malta had silently joined us) our price would be only LM5, including free lunch and as much wine as we could drink. I though this might be a nice trip, and told him we were interested, and Erika and Ulrick were declared hagglers. They managed to squeeze the price down to LM3.5 without the wine, and we ended up paying LM3, including the wine :-). one LM to be paid in advance, and a professinal contract to be signed! The entire process had taken more than two hours, with the man leaving us, and coming back several times. Food and drink lasted for some time, including a thorough discussion on this boattrip. We were only going to see the coast of Gozo, and most of the interresting sitees were further inland. The coast mostly consists of high cliff, so we wouldn't see much of Gozo really, and, next Weekend IAESTE Malta was organizing a trip to Comino, so we didn't really "need" to go there this weekend, we could rather sightsee in the small villages of Gozo. Then we began the accent to our appartment. It was quite exhausting, several stairs, both outdoor and indoor stairs. And finaly, The Flat. It was a small flat, with two bedrooms with double beds, a small kitchen with a sofa, and a bathroom where the toilet didn't flush and there was only a trace of pressure in the shower. But, it had a large balcony. Adrian had told them that we were three people comming, and we were really 16. This ment that while the people owning the flat wanted LM10 per person, our price was LM2. Since this was the top floor, we had a really magnificient view over the valley, and over Xlendi. It as not a very big town, just a few restaurants and pubs in the center, and then lots of these "to let" appartment blocks on the hillside. The bay was very nice, with very clear water, and a small sandy beach. The evening came, and the purpose of staying in this small, remote village of Xlendi. The famous disco "La Grotta". A disco in a cave in the mountain, a sort of "semi-outdoors", with a view over the valley, lit with just the right light. The disco was in several floors, with a more quiet area for talking, further down. Unfortunately, they hadn't really got hold of the best music, but it was still OK, and we had a wonderfull night, with the IAESTE Malta people, who for once were not driving, and therefore could take it all out. Sitting there on the egdge, discussing the view with Marietta was also very nice. This visit was a great, and like so many before me, I'll highly recomend a visit to La Grotta if you ever go to Gozo. I was one of the last people (of our group) to leave, and the 10 minute walk back to Xlendi, in the middle of the warm mediterranean summer night just added to it. As we walked through Xlendi, we noticed a light in the window of our appartment. We yelled for Thomas, because we thouth he had to be one of the people on our balcony, and got a reply from Kevin, but in the middle of our nightly conversation, a bottle came from one of the other windows, and with a crash it ended our conversation for now, seems like some stupid people actually sleep in this country... After again climbing up the stairs to our appartment, in a less than elegant fashion, it was rapidly approacing bedtime for everybody, we had to get up reasonably early the next day, to buy breakfast and to go on the boattrip. The beds were already taken, and most of us had to sleep on the balcony anyway. I tried to calculate where the sun wolud be rising in the morning, and deployed my sleepingbag in the oposite corner of the balcony, after managing to drop my aftershave so it broke, and spilled all over the balcony, and in a desperate hope that this wouldn't attract to many mosquitos, I sprayed myself with "mosi-gone", and fell asleep |