Second Maltese Anniversary

On Monday I will have spent two years living in Malta and so many things have happened since then that I felt the need to put in writing a balance that would portray my analysis of this wonderful time.

In two years I got married, I found a comfortable job where I will have spent a year in a couple of weeks, a nice flat where I have been paying rent for a year. I also found that feeling of safety which I didn’t have in my home country. My English has improved considerably and I feel confident not only when I speak but also when I write. I don’t need to struggle when reading, watching movies or TV (except if I am not familiar at all with the accent). I also started blogging and I find it to be a pleasurable activity especially given that my job is based on routine thus the subtext of my blog: My creative retreat.

I have travelled too. I went to Greece in March and have gone to Sicily twice. When I was in El Salvador I couldn’t afford going on holiday abroad, except for the neighbouring countries from time to time.

In general, my quality of life has really improved. Malta is such a safe place that it is hard to remember how unsafe and scared I felt in my country. When I open the taps there is water and I don't have to rely on a private cistern (if I can afford to have one) like the way it was in El Salvador, my job can't be compared to any of the jobs I had in my country, I have benefited from the very good health care system, my diet has also improved considerably and I eat more healthily than some years ago, I have more buying power and can therefore afford the clothes and shoes that I need which was something I couldn't really do in my country. I love the Mediterranean sea and to have three islands so close to each other for one's enjoyment is very interesting.

Also as I mentioned in my post yesterday, my approach to life is more positive now, thanks overall to David's influence in my life. Of course, the best thing of living in Malta is to be with hubby :)

In a nutshell, many good things have happened but there are also some not-so-postive points. I was expecting to be part of a family which would welcome me. Unfortunately this was very far from reality. My mother-in-law passed away a couple of months after my arrival and the rest of David’s family have been very awkward towards us. They don’t keep in touch and don’t seem to have clicked with us anyway. That surprised me because it looks like Maltese people in general are really close to their families and can count on them in times of need. Well, that was not our case I can assure you. The only time I have happened to see these relatives was at my mother-in-law’s funeral and at the Christmas parties (05 and 06, but this year’s I am not planning to go). Don’t get me wrong, not that I didn’t try to be close to them. I really tried but nothing good came out of that so I gave up. I don’t like begging people for their time.

I learned since I was very young that I can only count on myself and nobody else. Now David and I see each other as a team and are mature enough to know that our parents and other relatives are no longer there and by the look of it never will.

Of course, that has made things a bit more challenging for us here, especially when I couldn’t work because I was waiting to obtain my documents. We were waiting to live in a flat that belongs to David’s father but nothing good came out of that either. And then we started to pay rent and bills.

The fact that Malta is so small and limited sometimes has gotten to me. I say limited in the sense that the job offer is not as wide as that in places like London or Madrid for instance, the high cost of living compared to the average salaries or things like the dreadful public transport system which really limits you on the amount of places you can visit at any time.

Making friends hasn’t been easy either. It’s true I have met many people but so far those acquaintances haven’t really turned into real friendships. In fact, we have been very disappointed when it comes to the friendship area in our lives. It is only natural somehow because people already have their friends’ circles and their families and as a foreigner, well, I just don’t. Since hubby lived abroad for a long time, his friends proved to be the total opposite to the concept of friend that I have and he has also had to start from scratch.

I must mention that meeting Grego has been very nice and I believe we could turn out to be friends in the near future hopefully! I have also met an Argentinean couple who have proved to be very nice to us. The only thing is that they are in another stage of life and this year we haven't been as close as before. We are also very close to Yao, though we don't meet that often unfortunately. Also Trevor and Mike and a couple of colleagues at work: Caroline, Martha and Jaime. So little by little I think we are getting there :)

Fortunately my friends in El Salvador are true friends and I know I can count on them. In fact, we are still very close thanks to the technology advances. I really miss them and hope we will soon meet again. Some of these Salvadoran friends are also in Spain.

Anyway, this is more or less my personal balance of these wonderful two years that I have spent on this small island; with its ups and downs (of course not everything is “color de rosa”, perfect). I hope you will virtually keep on joining me for the ride of what is to come.